Kashmir a Valley where the lives of people are left in Jeopardy

Dating back to the division of sub continent, Kashmir has been the main bone of contention between Pakistan and India. But the present day Kashmir seems to be more divided and commercialized than it was back in 1947. Although regular attempts by both the countries have been made to resolve the dispute through various meetings and bilateral talks but nothing so far has been fruitful, thus leaving the lives of the Kashmir human rights in imbalance.

One of the main reasons is the intensified promotion of religious politics by main political parties from both the countries. When one side tries to justify the two nation theory highlighting the point that Muslims cannot live with one another, the other side starts promoting nationalism by demanding that Muslims must be considered as second class citizens. Due to this reason, the gaps between the Hindus and Muslims living in the Kashmir have been widened enormously.

Political History

The Kashmiri people on the other hand have been very active to get the freedom that they deserve. Dating back to 1932, first political ever political party named as the ‘Muslim Conference’ was founded by them in 1932 whose president was Sheik Abdul. Sheik Abdul was influenced by liberal ideas and believed that the feudal system which existed in the city back then was the reason for the Kashmiri people living a miserable life. Later on the name changed from Muslim Conference to National Conference to allow people from all communities to join hands against the monarchy of Maharaja Harj Singh, but the problem started when at the time of partition Maharaja was reluctant in joining either India or Pakistan, sheikh Abdullah supported India.  He was also appointed the prime minister on March 17, 1948. 

Under his rule many Muslims which were mere labors, go their lands under the radical land reforms and this kind of efforts made him a popular leader amongst the people. In 1953, the Indian government sacked sheikh from the Prime minister ship for the betrayal against them jailed him from 1953 to 1975. In the meanwhile the Indian constitution ranted a special status to the state guaranteeing its autonomy except for defense, foreign affairs and communications. Until the death of sheikh Abdullah in 1982, Kashmir stayed politically calm and stable. The movement started again in April 1988 which gathered momentum through a close nexus between Jammu & Kashmir liberation front and Pakistan reaching its peak in the mid nineties. The present controversy on Amarnath Shrine Border and other subsequent incidents are also deeply affecting the whole freedom fighting movement of the Kashmiri people