Facing the Kashmir Conflict: Politics, Violence and Religion

The transfer of power into Indian hands in August 1947 created new conditions for the political and economic development of independent India and the newly created Pakistan. Post-colonial evolution and state-building in the new sovereign countries required the development of friendly relationships with each other. However, in the years following their independence, India and Pakistan have been hindered in tension and conflicts, clashing over disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which remains over the past 60 years one of the core issues in international relations with respect to conflict resolution. At its heart, the Kashmir dispute is a sovereignty-based conflict with religious dimension between India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir. This paper will provide analyses of political and religious issues of the Kashmir conflict from 1947 to 1990, when a new bloody war broke out between the Muslims of Kashmir and the Central Hindu government.