CHIMUN 2017

10ᵗʰ, 11th & 12th August

Room: GA4

Research ReportTHE QUESTION OF: THE KASHMIR CONFLICT

CHAIR NAME: Panashe Mangezi

CHAIR POSITION: Deputy Chair

FORUM: General Assembly, 4th Committee

ISSUE: The Kashmir Conflict

STUDENT OFFICER: Panashe Mangezi

POSITION: Deputy Chair

Introduction

Located between Pakistan and India, Kashmir has been a source of dispute between these two nations for the past 70 years, since the British Empire gave up its rule over the In-dian Sub-Continent in 1947.

When the Indian Sub-Continent was being divided along reli-gious lines by a British Commission, the Kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir could choose between joining India, joining Pakistan, or remaining independent.

Kashmir's leader chose to remain neutral but Pakistani troops were in Kashmir soon after, trying to claim the land which they believed to be theirs. Maharaja Hari Singh, the Kashmiri leader, turned to India for assistance and eventually ceded Kashmir and Jammu to India.

There have even been three wars fought between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Fighting for so long without much conclusion has proven that fighting may not be the way to find a solution for the Kashmir Crisis.

Definition of Key Terms

Instrument of AccessionThis was the document signed by Maharaja Hari Singh on the 26th of October, 1947 which ceded Kashmir to India after Pakistani Muslim tribesmen were sent to invade Kashmir.

The Line of Control (LoC)The Line of Control denotes the boundary separating parts of Kashmir controlled by India and Pakistan. It is nearly 700 km long.

"Disputed Territory"The state of Jammu and Kashmir which is claimed by India. Pakistan wants to keep Kashmir Valley for itself but India will not allow it.

Princely StatesThere were over 600 prince-led states in the Indian Sub-Continent during British rule, Jammu and Kashmir is one of these.

Separatist MovementIn 1989, militants began an armed uprising against New Delhi's control, taking up guns for the cause of independence. India accused Pakistan of fueling terrorism by sponsoring the armed in-surgency.

India's Armed Forces Special Powers ActThis gives Indian security forces wide-ranging powers to shoot, arrest and search in battling a separatist insurgency.

General Overview

Origins of the Conflict

The Kashmir Conflict dates back to 1947 when a British Commission divided the Indian sub-continent into majority-Muslim Pakistan and majority-Hindu India at the end of the British Em-pire's rule in that region. The provinces of Bengal and Punjabi were divided between these na-tions, dependent on the religious majority in an area. Kashmir was one of 562 Indian princely states affected by the partition. Two-thirds of its population was in India whilst only a third was in Pakistan despite the fact that majority of the Kashmiri population is Muslim. Maharaja Hari Singh, the leader of Jumma and Kashmir at the time, was a Hindu but with majority of his pop-ulation being Muslim, he could not decide which country to join so he decided to remain neu-tral.

This neutrality did not last very long because in October of 1947, Muslim tribesmen were sent to attack Gulmarg, a town in Kashmir on the border of Pakistan, and quickly captured large

parts of it. Maharaja Hari Singh went to India in desperation and ceded Jammu and Kashmir to India through the Instrument of Accession. India quickly airlifted troops to fight against the Pakistani tribesmen.

The Current SituationSince the 1989 Separatist Movement, about 70,000 people have been killed and 8,000 missing as reported by the local human rights group, CCS. There is a huge military presence and India has sent thousands of security personnel to Kashmir, making it one of the most heavily milita-rized zones in the world.

A truce was called in between India and Pakistan in 2003, where the newly accepted border known as the Line of Control, was established. In 2004, talks between the Indian government and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference significantly reduced the bloodshed , especially with the liberties which Indian security forces had through the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, but a solve for the conflict could not be agreed upon.

Most recently, in 2016, the unrest was sparked after a Kashmiri militant commander, Burhan Wani, was killed. The situation was even described as 'war-like'. The violence had decreased by December 2016, but it is still present in Kashmiri daily life. The situation is more tense than it ever has been and a solution needs to be found soon.

Major Parties and Countries Involved

Jammu and KashmirThis state in Northern India was established in 1947 after the partition of British India by the British Empire in 1947. The Kashmir Valley in this state is the focus of all the tension and con-flict as Pakistan and India are fighting over which of them will have control over the area.

IndiaKashmir was handed over to India through the Instrument of Accession when Pakistan invaded Kashmir, so they claim that Kashmir is theirs.

PakistanPakistan claims that according to the two-nation theory Kashmir should have been with Pak-istan, because it has a Muslim majority. This is why Pakistan has put up a fight for Kashmir.

The United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP)The UNCIP was established through Resolution 47 of the United Nations Security Council and was tasked with carrying out a peaceful, impartial and free plebiscite, to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir conflict peacefully.

The United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP)The United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan was established to support the UNCIP and is originally based on Resolution 47 of the Security Council. Its main and only task is to supervise the ceasefire at the Line of Control in the Jammu and Kashmir region and to report to the United Nations about it. After the termination of UNCIP, UNMOGIP was to fur-ther observe and is still in effect nowadays, based on the Resolution 91 of the UNSC and more recently Resolution 307 of the UNSC, even though the efficiency and necessity is to be ques-tioned.

Key Issues

1. Territorial DisputesThe fight for who deserves and will eventually get Kashmir is definitely the main issue which needs to be solved. The fighting has led to the deaths and injuries of many innocent civilians so this is crucial, even on both a political and humanitarian level.

2. Relations between India and Pakistan India and Pakistan are bordering nations so in dealing with this issue, whatever conclusion is reached should preserve what is left of Indo-Pakistani relations, and should potentially im-prove them.

3. Public OpinionThe opinions of the population residing in Jumma and Kashmir have not been taken into ac-count so the fighting is not taking what the Kashmiris want into consideration.

Previous Attempts To Solve This IssueThere have been attempts to solve the conflict but none of them have been successful.

- UN Security Council Resolution (S11196) of January 5, 1949.

A plebiscite was called for through this resolution but both India and Pakistan raised objections with this resolution. India felt that it disregarded India's legal access and Pakistan's aggressions whilst Pakistan objected to the allowance of Indian troops to remain in Kashmir.

Possible Solutions

The idea of a plebiscite can be revisited but this time, the objections which were raised in the 1949 resolutions can be taken into account when coming up with terms for another plebiscite. There should also be stricter repercussions if India and Pakistan do not follow through with the plebiscite. Furthermore, the UNCIP should be reinstated to oversee these procedures. If the plebiscite is inconclusive, Jammu and Kashmir can assume independence for a specific time period and then another plebiscite can be held. If specific lines vote for different nations then Jammu and Kashmir could be divided between India and Pakistan.

What Do You Hope For The Room To Achieve

I hope that new and innovative routes to solving the crisis can be found and that each resolution takes into account the three key issues which this crisis entails. If you want to use a method which has already been used (and failed), then make sure you take a different approach to that method because it initially failed for a reason. Also, remember that this a topic whose outcome should be for the best for Kashmir and Jumma over everything else so it should definitely be the focus of each resolution.

Bibliography

The Economist, "Videographic: India, Pakistan and Kashmir."<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rmUiLwy7kI>

The Telegraph, "A Brief History of the Kashmir Conflict"<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1399992/A-brief-history-of-the-Kashmir-conflict.html>

Wikimedia, "Image"<https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Kashmir_map.jpg>

Birmingham Mail, "What is The Kashmir Conflict? Why Pakistan And India Fight Over It"<http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/what-kashmir-conflict-india-pakistan-13283550>

Susmit Kumar, "History of Kashmir Conflict"<http://www.susmitkumar.net/index.php/history-of-kashmir-conflict>

CNN, "Kashmir Fast Facts"<http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/08/world/kashmir-fast-facts/index.html>

CNN, "Kashmir: India and Pakistan's Biggest Disputes"<http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/09/25/india.kashmir.explainer/index.html>

Kashmir Valley Website, "UN Resolutions"<http://kashmirvalley.info/un-resolutions/>