120 Whither Kashmir? (Part II) - Islamabad Policy Research Institute

4 IPRI Factfile
PREFACE
Pakistan (Muslim majority state) and India (Hindu majority state)
emerged as independent dominions in South Asian Subcontinent on
August 14/15, 1947, leaving the fate of about 500 princely states
undecided. However, these states were required to accede to either of the
dominions on the basis of their geographical location and the wishes of
their people. Accordingly, the state of Jammu and Kashmir should have
acceded to Pakistan because of its overwhelming Muslim population and
geographical location. 1 The non-adherence to the accepted principle
resulted in Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, besides two limited wars in
Kashmir during 1947-48 and 1999 and several stand-offs, the last one
being in 2002 for about a year. The United Nations resolutions agreed to
by both India and Pakistan required that the “the accession of the state of
Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the
democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the
auspices of the United Nations” 2 . The plebiscite remains stalled because
of the Indian strategy of gaining time as spelled out by its first Prime
Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru when he told Sheikh Abdullah of
Kashmir that “we are superior to Pakistan in military and industrial
power”, and with the passage of time Pakistan will “accept a settlement
which we consider fair, whether in Kashmir or elsewhere”. 3 Accordingly,
in 1950s, India refused a dialogue on Kashmir on the plea that Pakistan
had joined Western sponsored “defence pacts”, and now “terrorism” is
cited as a reason for non-resumption of composite dialogue.
Consequently, owing to non-implementation of the UN resolutions, the
people of the state of Jammu and Kashmir continue to suffer; the state
remains a “disputed territory” awaiting resolution and a nuclear
flashpoint.
1 The state has a total area of 84,471 square miles which is approximately the
same as of Great Britain. Its irregular borders in the north and east coincide
with those of China (Tibet and Sinkiang) for about 600 miles, with northern
Afghanistan for about 30 miles and with Pakistan in its south and west for
about 603 miles. At the extreme southwestern end, a strip of land forms border
with India. In 1947, the state had 77.11 per cent Muslims, majority of whom
would have liked to accede to Pakistan.
2 UN Resolutions, August 13, 1948, January 5, 1949, and December 23, 1952.
3 Iqbal Jafar, “Misleading assumptions”, Dawn (Islamabad), March 21, 2010.