The struggle for control of the rugged, beautiful mountains in the disputed Kashmir region between India and Pakistan has been ongoing for many years. It is a focal point for the fierce rivalry between those two nations that has raged ever since British India was partitioned in 1947. Kashmir is the only area in India with a majority of Muslims, and Pakistani-supported insurgents have been fighting a guerrilla war against Indian authorities for independence. Declaring a "jihad" or "holy war," the irregular Muslim forces backed by Pakistan are devoted to driving out the forces of majority-Hindu India from Kashir. The Indian Army fights back, and in the isolated mountains both sides fight openly and in the shadows. The vitriol caused by this long fight spreads far from Kashmir into the rest of both India and Pakistan, with both sides accusing the other of atrocities and oppression. Now that both countries possessing nuclear weapons, the Kashmir dispute has the potential to turn into something much more than simply another India-Pakistani war.
Questions to consider: How does India look at the conflict in Kashmir? How does Pakistan look at it? How exactly do both countries see the other at fault? What is the role of Islam as a motivation for the Muslim insurgents? How has the acquisition of nuclear weapons by both countries increased the risk? How do both countries defend their acquiring nuclear weapons? What does the U.S. and the rest of the world say? Is there a double standard in nuclear proliferation? What does Kashmir have to do with the recent military coup in Pakistan? What can we expect now from the new military government in Pakistan with respect to Kashmir? What can we expect from India and her government? What can the United States do to help solve the problem?
RESEARCH LINKS:
Check out this excellent CNN perspective on India and Pakistan: 50 Years of Independence. Yahoo! has a good area dealing with India-Pakistan relations, and go to the BBC's South Asia Flashpoint Kashmir: Special Report or the CBC's Fighting for Kashmir. Also check out these great links dealing with nuclear proliferation: Ground Zero: The Nuclear Threat Resurfaces, Growing Nuclear Family, Second Round of Nuclear Tests, How to Reduce Nuclear Proliferation, and The Danger of Loose Nukes. Jaswant Singh The man who announced India's nuclear tests discusses their meaning. The Kashmir Dispute With areas claimed by India, Pakistan and China, peace eludes Kashmir. Nuclear Reaction What are the regional implications of India's and Pakistan's nuclear tests? Going Nuclear Pakistan responds to India's nuclear tests with a series of its own. India's Reaction India's ambassador to the U.S. discusses Pakistan's nuclear tests. No More Nukes? The first five nuclear powers urge India and Pakistan to stop their nuclear tests. Lastly, check out India Decides.
Check out these links dealing with the latest hijacking: Freed cleric vows to continue fight in Kashmir, India hijack-swap militant calls for holy war.
More or less objective views on Kashmir: Jammu Kashmir- The Complete Knowledge Base, Kashmiri American Council, and India: Arms and Abuses in Indian Punjab and Kashmir.
From Indian Perspective: Indiamonitor, Kashmir Information Network, Heroes of Kargil, Army in Kashmir: The Truth About Kashmir, and Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
From American Perspective: Samuel Berger: U.S. Government.
You also might find articles of interest in the following Indian periodicals: Indiaexpress, Deccan Herald, The Hindu, The Hindu Business Line on Indiaserver, IndiaWorld, Times of India, AllIndia News, Bharat Online, The Asian, Hindustan News, North East News Agency, India-News, Kashmir Times, The Statesman, The Sisat Daily, and The Tribune
From Pakistani Perspective: Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, Martyrdom of Kashmir- 50 Years of Indian Brutalities, Kashmiri-Canadian Council, Truth About Kasmir,
Kasmir - Paradise on Fire,Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Indian Held Kashmir at Gunpoint, Beauty of India. Don't forget to check out the webiste for The Government of Pakistan and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs
You also might find articles of interest in the following Pakistani periodicals: Pakistan Link, Pakistan News Service, News Network International, Information Times - Pakistan, Daily Hot News International, and Dawn the Internet.
NPR Radio programs: Pakistan/India Partition, India/Pakistan at 50, India Acquires Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan Nuclear Weapons, Nuclearn Proliferation, India Hindu-Muslm Tensions, Gandhi Assassination, India-Pakistan in Kashmir Dispute, Kashmir Dispute, India-Pakistan Dispute in Kashmir, Kashmir Dispute, Kashmir Dispute and Nuclear War, Kashmiris Caught in the Middle, Kashmir History, India and Kashmir, India-Pakistan, Siringar as Flashpoint in Kashmir, India-Pakistan talks.
Pakistan -- Owen Bennet-Jones tells host Noah Adams that one of three Kashmiri militants released by India after the hijacking of a passenger plane appeared today in Karachi, Pakistan.
