Ever wondered how it became 95% majority..? Nearly a million Hindu pandits were terrorised into leaving their native lands by these same separatists and now giving into their demands only validates that ethinic cleansing done in the early 90s.
In a democratic country they have every right to protest for whatever reason they see fit.
But that doesnt mean the state has to fulfil every one of their demands.
The MahaRaja signed the accession of Kashmir in 1947 and that is there to stay.
This struggle based on a flawed notion of religious intolerance and the supposed supremacy of one religion over other cannot be entertained in a secular democracy.
PS: the bolded apart caught my eye.If by any chance you are mentioning the supposed raping of two girls in Shopian,then sorry it has been proved that they were not raped and they died by drowning in the nullah.
The governement doctor under pressure from the local separatist leaders fudged his report and that has been proved.
So all the killing of unarmed civilians,raping etc are by and large only of propaganda value fed to keep the hate against India alive.
First of all kindly get your facts straight regarding the Kashmir Valley, there has always been more than 90% Muslim Majority in the Kashmir Valley since long before the creation of modern day India and Pakistan.
In the 1901 census it was more than 95% Muslim majority in Kashmir valley.
The Kashmir valley actually had much more population of Muslims than any other area since this was heavily populated as opposed to other areas further North.
Now you do not accept this fact but try to paint a picture of ethnic cleansing, that is not only wrong but a deliberate attempt to distort facts and remain in denial mode.
There has never been a case of Muslim minority becoming a majority due to ethnic cleansing in Kashmir Valley.
By denying Kashmiris the right to determine their own fate, it seems that religious intolerance indeed came into play. The Maharaja was not a Muslim so he did not honor the wishes of the Muslims.
The secular democracy promised these people that their wishes would be honored and now we stand here today when there is civil unrest, so i do not think the Kashmiri Muslims in the valley feel that their wishes have been honored.
Clearly something is wrong here for Kashmiris to still be upset and if there is debate raised about the majority of Muslims in Kashmir Valley as being a farce then it only proves that there is a deliberate attempt to reject the validity of the demands of local population of Kashmir Valley.
What of the Maharajah who cared not about what the population in Kashmir Valley felt?
The heads of the states of Hyderabad and Junagadh decided to join with Pakistan but the matter was taken out of their hands by virtue of the majority population being non Muslim, clearly India did not adhere to any one principle here so at the end of the day we have to see whether the population of the subject area is happy or feels agitated.
Regarding the r ape case, you are ignoring huge criticism not from the local population but many Indians including leading doctors.
You are so confident to disprove it as just a lie by the separatists who are raping and killing their own to discredit Indian State...this kind of attitude is what shall turn the Kashmiris away from India.
The judicial inquiry into the matter proved that there was brutal violence and r ape and there was the matter of police cover ups and the police/paramilitary pickets around the area.
The torture marks did not occur due to drowning and the autopsy did confirm the r ape and murder.
There is severe criticism of the later U Turn taken in this case to disprove the r ape thus acquitting those responsible and closing the case as natural deaths due to drowning.
That too by doing tissue testing after 3 months!
The criticism comes from all circles including leading doctors in India as well who question the credibility of doing tissue testing after three months of death!
To disprove a r ape like this is incredible and has only resulted in more unrest.
This is not a one off incident and it clearly shows what the problem is, a breach of trust which only becomes wider day by day.
The reason for this is mutual dislike of Kashmiris and the state forces which have been deployed there.
There is hate against Kashmiri Muslims because what they want is not something in line with the Indian interest, so much so that even the Muslim majority of Kashmir Valley is now seen as something which resulted from ethnic cleansing!
Slowly this dislike has resulted in more and more violence because the Kashmiri Muslim sentiments are seen as anti state...a very dangerous thing because this means there is a huge gray area for abuse of power to happen and ample cover ups.
I say this because the motto of serve and protect will not apply here when the Kashmiri Muslims are seen as traitors and we all know that if there is deviation from this motto, then there is no end to abuse of power which has indeed been taking place.
Anyways, India can continue in this manner only if it has already established that Local Kashmiri Muslims are not to be won over by peaceful means and deserve what they are getting.
Calling them insurgents or separatists would not change the fact that it is a civil unrest and there is a history of sweeping things under the carpet, otherwise situation would not have become so critical and the supreme democratic values would have won over the population which is supposedly being brutalized by the insurgents and being rescued by the Indian State...this is certainly not reflected by the emotions which are prevalent in the streets of the Kashmir valley.