Tag Archives: Jammu and Kashmir

A decade after being displaced by the Baglihar Dam in Indian-administered Kashmir, locals are caught in a web of poverty and debt with some experiencing mental health issues as a result of losing everything.

When the international media are reporting about Ladakh they do that without even mentioning the vital connection to the Kashmir conflict, a sore wound in the body of South Asia that is damaging not only neighboring countries but first and foremost the Kashmiris. ‘Kashmiri Lives Also Matter’ is the message that should be taken in by the world.

Tensions are simmering between India and China, following their first deadly conflict in at least 45 years, resulting in death on 20 Indian soldiers, has pushed the bilateral relationship to an all-time low. But did the two Asian giants ever had cordial relations?

Modi’s plans aside, his colonial action will backfire and serve as a blessing for the Kashmiris. India’s misadventure has in fact paved the way for Pakistan to internationalize the issue. It is now established that India is an illegal occupier and it ultimately will have to leave the entire Kashmir. 

India may be trying to make the world believe that the situation in its administered part of Jammu and Kashmir is well, but the realities on the ground are changing the dynamics of the conflict as Kashmiri youth take over the reigns of 70 years old struggle for the right of self-determination.

India cannot claim to be “the biggest democracy in the world” while refusing to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir. If Scotland, Catalonia, and Crimea can vote to decide their own futures, so should Kashmir.

With water availability plummeting, Pakistan is close to being declared a water scare country, but better management of surface water resources and groundwater aquifers shared with India can help avert the crisis.

India needs subtle strategies to contain and counter “threats” from Pakistan. The jingoistic and threatening rhetoric in a section of Indian media in response to each “provocation” from Pakistan does India no good. India’s power ought to be felt by its adversaries and not flaunted.

The latest India-Pakistan border tensions indicate a strategic shift in New Delhi’s policy which is becoming more aggressive with each passing day. Reports from India indicate that the new policy is being orchestrated by the country’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, a decorated former intelligence official.