Government (Many of the links are not functioning or function occasionally. Since the military coup in the fall of 1999 there are restrictions on information in Pakistan)
(Many of the links are not functioning or function occasionally. Since the military coup in the fall of 1999 there are restrictions on information in Pakistan)
The region of Kashmir is divided between India, Pakistan, and China. India controls the bulk of it because it won the first war over the region back in 1947-48. The region remains in dispute. India and Pakistan fought gain over the region in 1965, almost in 1990, and briefly in 1999. China and India fought a brief war over it in 1962. The dispute cuts to the heart of a number important and fundamental issues for all the nations involved. The region is mostly Muslim. Pakistan therefore feels it should belong to Pakistan. India sees its existence within India as proof that India is a multiethnic, multi-religious state. The people of Kashmir are divided between those who want more local autonomy within India, those who want independence, and those who want to merge with Pakistan. An insurgency against Indian security forces in Kashmir began in 1989. Tens of thousands have died since then. When India and Pakistan detonated their nuclear devices in 1998, they both indicated that Kashmir was one of the reasons. Note the source of the information here. These sites may have points of view. Some of them are clearly propaganda. I give you a number of them, even if they are propaganda, because it will give you an idea of the points of view of each side and the passions raised over the issue.)
Kashmir Information Network (Blames the crisis on Pakistan-funded fundamentalist Muslims; it is pro-religious liberty, Muslim and Hindu, but against fundamentalist versions of either religion)