The evolution of the Kashmir conflict is a complex one that successive governments have failed to address comprehensively.
It needs to be recognized that Pakistan is not the only problem factor in Kashmir and that there is an internal crisis too.
How did Kashmir accede to India?
While Pakistan was aggressive to get Kashmir to accede to it, kashimiri leadership wanted to retain their independence.
Due to Paksitani aggression and the tribal invasion of 1947, the Kashmiris leadership was left with no option but to accede to India conditionally.
Hence, Kashmir acceded to the Indian union under unique circumstances that defied the logic of religion based partition of the sub-continent.
Because of this, article 370 was provided as a special protection in order to safeguard its cultural and ethnic composition.
Notably, despite strong opposition, the charismatic Sheik Abdullah had convinced the Kashmiris that joining India was the best option for Kashmir.
What caused the alienation of Kashmiris?
Hindu communal forces, led by the Jan Sangh, began agitating from 1950 for the removal of Article 370, which was seen as a threat to the Kashmiri identity.
This had a major psychological impact on the Valley’s population and on Sheikh Abdullah personally, which marked the beginning of internal strife.
While Mr. Abdullah became Kashmiri Prime Minister in 1951 (the head of the Kashmiri state was called PM then), his government was dismissed in 1953.
He was also imprisoned by the Nehruvian government on the suspicion lobbying internationally for creating an independent Kashmir.
For two decades after that, New Delhi rigged elections and appointed its own proxies as Chief Ministers, eroding the valley’s faith in Indian democracy.
How did militancy start?
While the Indian state was engrossed with Pakistan’s foray in Kashmir, it failed to rectify its meddling in the valley’s polity, which strained its legitimacy.
An agreement reached between PM Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah in 1975 granted some autonomy to the valley and did promise a new beginning.
But with Abdullah’s death and his son Farooq’s rise, the India government under PM Rajeev Gandhi soon backtracked and the progress was stalled.
These actions eroded the legitimacy of the Abdullah clan, which was the face of moderate Kashmiri sub-nationalism and provided impetus to extremists.
The elections of 1987 were openly rigged in order to diminish the anticipated performance of the extremist party “Muslim United Front” (MUF).
But this action contrarily increased the popularity of the MUF, and people came to the streets and subsequently took to arms from 1990 onwards.
In the midst of this internal churn, Pakistan, unsurprisingly threw its weight behind the proponents of “Free Kashmir”, although it was against its stand.
