{"id":50289,"date":"2019-09-03T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=50289"},"modified":"2019-09-03T10:32:27","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T00:32:27","slug":"the-myths-of-kashmir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-myths-of-kashmir\/","title":{"rendered":"The myths of Kashmir"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The Indian government\u2019s recent decision to revoke<\/a> Kashmir\u2019s special semi-autonomous status has raised fears of yet another conflict with Pakistan over the disputed territory. But in order to understand the implications of the events unfolding in Kashmir\u2014a heavily militarised geopolitical tinderbox situated at the crossroads of central Asia\u2014it\u2019s essential to dispel the many myths and misunderstandings surrounding it.<\/p>\n

The first myth relates to the name itself. While news reports focus on the \u2018Kashmir region\u2019, they often fail to note that Kashmir is only a small slice of the affected territory, called Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), which also includes the sprawling areas of Ladakh and Gilgit\u2013Baltistan.<\/p>\n

Moreover, calling J&K a \u2018Muslim-majority region\u2019 fails to reflect just how ethnically, culturally and religiously diverse it is. Indeed, while Kashmir is majority Muslim, Jammu is majority Hindu; and the vast, sparsely populated Ladakh is traditionally Buddhist. Gilgit\u2013Baltistan is also predominantly Muslim\u2014Shia Muslim, to be precise (though Pakistan\u2019s government has for decades been encouraging<\/a> Sunni Muslims to relocate there and gradually form a majority).<\/p>\n

J&K residents who speak the Kashmiri language of Koshur are concentrated mainly in the Indian-administered, densely populated, predominantly Sunni Kashmir Valley, which has become a hotbed of Pakistan-backed jihadists fighting to establish an Islamic emirate. In early 1990, the jihadists launched a rapid and bloody campaign of ethnic cleansing<\/a>, which drove virtually the entire native Hindu community out of the territory. Since then, the Islamists have been systematically replacing the valley\u2019s syncretic traditions with Wahhabi\/Salafi culture.<\/p>\n

Yet another common misunderstanding is that India and Pakistan are the only actors vying for control in J&K. In reality, the region is split<\/a> among India (which holds 45%), Pakistan (which controls 35%) and China (which occupies 20%).<\/p>\n

Only India claims the entire region, as well it should: the princely state of J&K lawfully merged with the country under the 1947 Indian Independence Act<\/a>, which partitioned British India into independent India and Pakistan. (Thus, the notion that in revoking Kashmir\u2019s special status, India has effectively \u2018annexed<\/a>\u2019 the territory is just another myth.) The Pakistani- and Chinese-held portions of J&K are essentially the spoils of separate wars of aggression waged by Pakistan and China against India in the period from the late 1940s to the early 1960s.<\/p>\n

Yet Pakistan and China, both revanchist states, are not only committed to retaining control over the territories they already grabbed; they want to seize even more. Pakistan\u2019s terrorism-driven asymmetric warfare is aimed at securing the Kashmir Valley. (The military conflicts Pakistan initiated<\/a> against India in 1965 and 1999 failed to deliver territorial gains.) China, for its part, advances its claims to several Indian-administered areas of Ladakh through furtive, incremental and increasingly frequent territorial incursions.<\/p>\n

As the J&K issue has undermined both countries\u2019 relations with India, it has cemented their longstanding strategic nexus<\/a> with each other. In 1963, Pakistan ceded a segment of its own territory in the J&K region to China, which had earlier occupied Ladakh\u2019s Switzerland-sized Aksai Chin plateau. It is the only case of one country giving another a sizeable chunk of the territory that it captured in a war with a third country (India, in 1948).<\/p>\n

Today, China has thousands of People\u2019s Liberation Army troops stationed in the Pakistani-held part of J&K. So, beyond controlling its own section of J&K, which serves as a vital link between Xinjiang and Tibet, China benefits from an \u2018economic corridor\u2019 through Pakistani-held J&K territory to Pakistan\u2019s Chinese-controlled Gwadar port. The corridor connects the overland and maritime routes of China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative.<\/p>\n

China and Pakistan have hypocritically protested India\u2019s revocation of J&K\u2019s special status, even though neither<\/a> country has granted any autonomy to its portion of the region. And, in fact, it was Pakistan\u2019s relentless support for terrorism in the region that drove India to make the change, which will enable its federal government to take greater responsibility for J&K\u2019s security.<\/p>\n

J&K\u2019s new structure\u2014with Jammu and Kashmir as a union territory with an elected legislature and Ladakh as a territory ruled directly by India\u2019s central government\u2014aims specifically to compartmentalise the region\u2019s territorial disputes and could support India\u2019s ability to counter aggression from China or Pakistan. The change was approved overwhelmingly by India\u2019s parliament.<\/p>\n

Overseas critics, however, have condemned the move, including India\u2019s efforts to ensure security during the potentially tumultuous transition. But it\u2019s worth noting that India allows members of the media free access to its J&K territory, whereas Pakistan requires foreign journalists to obtain a military-approved \u2018no-objection certificate\u2019. China has never allowed international media into its portion of J&K.<\/p>\n

To be sure, it\u2019s a difficult time for local people: telecommunications and internet services have been disrupted, a virtual curfew has been imposed in some areas, and thousands of troops have descended on the region. But these measures are a response to the presence of large numbers of Pakistan-backed terrorists. If Pakistan halts its destabilising activities, India will have no need to exert such forceful control over J&K.<\/p>\n

The fact is that India is wedged between two nuclear-armed allies that routinely defy fundamental international rules and norms, including respect for existing frontiers and territorial sovereignty. Until China, the world\u2019s most powerful autocracy, and Pakistan, a mecca<\/a> of jihadist terrorism, change their ways, India will have little choice but to take all necessary steps to protect itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Indian government\u2019s recent decision to revoke Kashmir\u2019s special semi-autonomous status has raised fears of yet another conflict with Pakistan over the disputed territory. But in order to understand the implications of the events unfolding …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":482,"featured_media":50291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52,69,2315,251],"class_list":["post-50289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-china","tag-india","tag-kashmir","tag-pakistan"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe myths of Kashmir | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-myths-of-kashmir\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The myths of Kashmir | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Indian government\u2019s recent decision to revoke Kashmir\u2019s special semi-autonomous status has raised fears of yet another conflict with Pakistan over the disputed territory. But in order to understand the implications of the events unfolding ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-myths-of-kashmir\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-03T01:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-03T00:32:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/GettyImages-1052038266.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brahma Chellaney\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brahma Chellaney\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-myths-of-kashmir\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/GettyImages-1052038266.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/GettyImages-1052038266.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"SRINAGAR, KASHMIR, INDIA - OCTOBER 13: An Indian paramilitary trooper stands alert at a polling station, during the third phase of municipal polls, on October 13, 2018 in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir, India. 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