Can you please explain the situation in Kashmir what is going on there? To be honest I don't know to much about the area from what I know is the Kasmiris are struggling for freedom against oppression by Hindus correct?
Well prior to the year 1947 - this region (South Asia) was under British Colonial Rule & called as British India & then after year's of struggle in the August of 1947 we won our freedom as the Dominions of Pakistan & the Dominions of India which were created as a result of the Partition of British India into a predominantly Muslim Pakistan & a Hindu India !
I won't go into the causes of the Partition of British India for that would take the conversation on a tangent but briefly the overwhelming majority of the Muslims believed that they'd be better off in a separate State & hence they created the State of Pakistan. Man in my Avatar is Muhammad Ali Jinnah - the Founding Father of Pakistan !
Some Muslims & the majority of Non Muslims believed that India should not have been Partitioned & should instead stay as One Country !
Naturally both thought & still think that they were correct whilst the other was wrong as is the case with all disagreements but what is done is done & Pakistan is here to stay & we're very proud of it !
The basis of the Partition of British India was such that the Muslim Majority Areas of British India went to the State of Pakistan whilst the predominantly Non Muslim Majority Areas of British India went to the State of India !
Then in addition to this were the Princely States i.e these were Kingdoms within British India whose Kings payed allegiance to the British Government in return of them being allowed to remain Autonomous within British India. These States were allowed to either remain Independent, to join Pakistan or to join India.
In most cases the Muslim Majority States choose Pakistan whilst the Hindu Majority States choose India - an exception to this was Kashmir, Junagardh & Hyderabad !
The Ruler of Kashmir wanted to remain Independent of both India & Pakistan but was being pressurized to choose one or the other !
The State of Kashmir was overwhelmingly Muslim & hence the Muslims wanted to join Pakistan ! When they started protesting they were brutally crushed by the Ruler of the State with thousands (some say Hundreds of Thousands) of refugees flooding into the newly created State of Pakistan from Kashmir to escape those brutalities - Some of my Family Members ran for their lives & came to Pakistan but along the way most of their family members were cut down by either the Ruler's Men or Enraged Hindu Mobs who wanted to join India instead !
In fact an Uncle of mine's family of 20 or so people was left with only he & his younger brother alive whilst all the rest were killed !
I'm sure the Muslims retaliated in kind as well by committing atrocities against the Hindus out of vengeance so it was a shameful state of affairs all round !
Then when the Muslims of Pakistan heard about what was happening to their fellow Muslims in Kashmir they started agitating !
We didn't really have an Army back then to do anything but the make-shift Army we did come up with was Commanded by British Officers because we had very....very few Muslim Officers & so when the Founding Father of Pakistan (Who was also our First Governor-General - a little like a President) ordered the Army to attack Kashmir to stop the slaughters - the British Officers including the British Chief of Army Staff refused !
Thats when Tribesmen from Pakistan picked up arms & fought against the Armed Forces of Kashmir's Ruler who had by that time signed over Kashmir to India (which is still disputed) & the Indian Army & captured whatever portion of Kashmir they could !
At the same time the Muslims in the Army of Kashmir rebelled & took up arms against their own Ruler & created the Azad Kashmir Regiment (Free Kashmir Regiment) which fought alongside these Tribesmen & captured whatever portion of Kashmir they could !
Up North, in Northern parts of Kashmir - the Muslims rallied together with their Scouts & Paramilitary Forces & beat back the Indian Army & the Army of the Ruler of Kashmir to win whatever portion of Kashmir they could !
In the end when the ceasefire was signed between Pakistan & India - we controlled 37% of Kashmir while India controlled 43% of Kashmir with the remainder falling into Chinese hands later on !
As part of the ceasefire agreement - India agreed to conduct a plebiscite in Kashmir to determine whether the Kashmiris wish to join India or whether they wish to join Pakistan !
The prerequisites for this referendum was that Pakistan would withdraw her forces from Kashmir & give it over to India first - Naturally Pakistan refused !
So a new UN Resolution was later drafted by, I've forgotten the name....something Arthur, which talked about progressive simultaneous withdrawal of both Indian & Pakistani Forces !
It hasn't happened since then !
Apparently 11 or so different mechanisms have been proposed by the UN for Kashmir all have been accepted by Pakistan & all have been rejected by India - as said by Pakistan's Foreign Minister at the UN according to a TIMES excerpt I read !
Now they - the Indians - aren't even willing to consider the UN Resolutions & instead say that Kashmir is an integral part of India & so no referendum !
So on the Indian side there are protests & insurgencies against Indian Rule whilst on the Pakistani side - we're fine !
You can gauge by the fact that us - Kashmiris - despite being less than 3% of the population of Pakistan are more than 9% of the Pakistan Army because we're very proud to call ourselves Pakistanis !