Tag: Kashmir

India-Pakistan Situation

The age old conflict between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region of the Himalayas is getting hotter and hotter….keep in mind that both these countries have a nuclear capability…..that means they both have bombs in case that statement needed clarification.

Is this new edition of the Kashmiri conflict heading these two into a crisis?

Some think it is heading in that direction….

In August, Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan pledged that he would serve as an “ambassador” for the embattled people of Kashmir, who are besieged by close to a million Indian security forces. And on Friday, he did exactly that, using the world’s largest platform—the United Nations General Assembly— to voice their plight.

Khan excoriated Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and called on the world to prevent a potential “bloodbath” in the disputed territory, where for two months over nine hundred thousand Indian security personnel have imposed a curfew on the Muslim-majority populace. Thousands of civilians, along with hundreds of political leaders, have been arrested.

After Khan’s speech on Friday, Kashmiris took great risk to show their gratitude to the Pakistani leader, coming out on to the streets, setting off firecrackers, and calling for freedom from India. One Kashmiri man told Al Jazeera that he “felt solace” when Khan spoke, knowing that Kashmiris “are not alone.”

New Delhi’s annexation and siege of Kashmir will prove to be strategic blunders. Indian officials and the country’s compliant private media falsely claim that there is “normalcy” today in Kashmir. They also say that the region will see even greater development and investment tomorrow.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/india-and-pakistan-are-headed-towards-crisis-over-kashmir-86071

In case anyone would like to hear the speech to the UN by Khan…then I am here to help..

But in case you do not have the time to watch…let me help out…..Khan basically called for a war over Kashmir…..

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed the United Nations on Sept. 29 and threatened to change that. Mr. Khan took the 15 minutes of speaking time allotted him and went nearly an hour, using the entire speech to speak of “jihad” over Kashmir and rail against his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Nehendra Modi. 

“Jihad” is not a word the world wants to hear from a man atop a self-described Islamic republic that owns more than 100 nuclear weapons. 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/oct/3/prime-minister-khan-threatens-nuclear-jihad-over-k/

Then there are those that look into the possibility of some stupid setting off a nuke in this conflict and just what would such an act bring about?

The U.S. and other nuclear powers should rapidly stop nuclear proliferation, researchers at Rutgers University said Wednesday as they released a study showing that a nuclear war between India and Pakistan could kill 125 million people instantly before causing global mass starvation.

Published in the journal Science Advances, the new research shows that rapidly growing nuclear stockpiles in India and Pakistan, which are currently in conflict over Kashmir, could release 16 million to 35 million tons of soot, or black carbon, into the atmosphere if the two countries escalated their standoff into nuclear strikes by 2025.

“Such a war would threaten not only the locations where bombs might be targeted but the entire world,” said Alan Robock, co-author of the study and a professor of environmental sciences at Rutgers.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/03/new-study-warns-india-pakistan-nuclear-war-could-kill-125-million-immediately-then

Nothing good will come from the use of nukes…and yet we are still stockpiling these weapons….India and Pakistan need to settle down and find mutual ground to avoid in stupidity.

I Read, I Wrote You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Kashmir–The Saga Goes On

Not that great rock song from Led Zepplin…..but rather that region in the mountains around China, India and Pakistan…..a disputed land….

Let me go on record as I am not an expert on this region so my limited knowledge comes from reports I read….please if anyone wants to correct anything feel free to jump in…..I will not be offended.

India and Pakistan is at odds over the Kashmir region and then China is sitting on the Northern border of the region and have an interest on who does what to whom…..

India’s ongoing crackdown on once-autonomous Kashmir has fueled a lot of criticism from neighboring Pakistan, and unsurprisingly is also being criticized by Pakistan’s closest regional ally, China.

China’s foreign ministry says that it wants to see India play a constructive role in regional peace and stability, and not take unilateral actions. These comments came as India’s FM flew to China to meet his counterpart related to the upcoming UN Security Council matter.

Pakistan has promised to take the issue of India’s crackdown on Kashmir to the UN Security Council, and is counting on China’s support. The Indian government, however, is warning China to stay out of the matter, saying it should not allow any differences of opinion to become disputes.

That’s likely unavoidable, however, as Kashmir is a huge issue to the Pakistanis, and anything that brings India and Pakistan into conflict will also be a huge issue to China. The Chinese government may have less direct interest in whether India respects constitutional autonomy for Kashmir, but that area is right on their border, and they clearly don’t want to see it flare up, either internally in Kashmir, or into a direct India-Pakistan War.

(antiwar.com)

Moving on to India’s crackdown……

Restrictions over the past eight days have been severe enough that a lot of Kashmiris have been all but confined to their homes. Indian forces went to the extent that reporters said the communications blackout meant some Kashmiris didn’t even know what was going on.

Indian forces expected that the Eid al-Adha holiday would lead to large protests in Kashmir, and in trying to prevent such demonstrations, the military imposed even more severe restrictions, including closing the largest mosque in Srinagar.

Muslims, who are the heavy majority of Kashmir, are allowed to go to mosques for the Eid, but only smaller mosques. The expectation seems to be that the largest, most influential mosque would be used to organize big protests.

(antiwar.com)

This is an article that was written recently and ask a good question….not that I agree but a question that needs an answer…..

It has long been called the most dangerous place in the world. Still, few Americans know anything about the place; nor could they point out the troubled region of Kashmir on a map. Yet for 62 years India and Pakistan have contested for control of the province. In fact, a long-running insurgency there has even been punctuated by at least three inter-state wars between the nuclear armed powers. Now, after India recently revoked Kashmir’s “special status” – essentially annexing the disputed (and Muslim-majority) territory – there might just be another war. Tens of thousands have already been killed over the years; how many more will now die is anyone’s guess.

India: The Next Apartheid State?

The PM of Pakistan just back from the schmooze with Trump decided to do some chest thumping of his own…..

Pakistan is prepared to “fight to the end” over Kashmir if necessary, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Wednesday during a speech from the Pakistani-controlled part of the disputed region.

Khan, who was in Kashmir to mark Pakistan’s independence day, accused India of trying to marginalize and radicalize the region’s Muslims. He also called New Delhi’s move to strip Indian-controlled Kashmir of its autonomy a “strategic blunder” by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

All that editorializing aside…..let us look at a real problem….food shortages…..

Residents of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) were running short of essentials on Tuesday as an unprecedented security lockdown kept people indoors for a ninth day.

India has imposed a near-constant curfew and a communications blackout as it tries to stave off a violent reaction to the government’s decision on August 5 to strip Kashmir of its autonomy.

The reaction to India’s unprecedented move has so far been largely subdued. But anti-India protests and clashes have occurred daily, mostly as soldiers withdraw from the streets at dusk. Though the scale of the lockdown is unprecedented, civil resistance to Indian rule is not uncommon in IHK, and young men have hurled stones and abuse at police and soldiers.

Food running out as IHK under strict lockdown for 9th day

Maybe to help my reader understand….,the UN report on Kashmir would help…

Click to access KashmirUpdateReport_8July2019.pdf

Learn Stuff!

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Nuclear Push Shove

With all the problems this silly world has it gets more tense when two nuclear powers confront each other……I am talking about India and Pakistan (Do not forget China) in the Kashmir region of the Himalayas…..

India’s government revoked disputed Kashmir’s special status with a presidential order Monday as thousands of newly deployed troops arrived and internet and phone services were cut in the restive Himalayan region where most people oppose Indian rule. Home Minister Amit Shah announced the revocation amid an uproar in India’s Parliament and while Kashmir was under a security lockdown that kept thousands of people inside their homes. The order revokes Article 370 of India’s Constitution, which the AP reports gives the state of Jammu and Kashmir its own constitution and decision-making rights for all matters except for defense, communications, and foreign affairs. The article also forbids Indians outside the state from permanently settling, buying land, holding local government jobs, and securing educational scholarships.

Critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government see the move as an attempt to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers. The announcement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a Cabinet meeting and the government’s top-decision making body on security matters, the Cabinet Committee on Security, which he heads. Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and both claim the region in its entirety. Two of the three wars India and Pakistan have fought since their independence from British rule were over Kashmir. Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, told a Pakistani TV station that Pakistan will step up diplomatic efforts to prevent the order from taking effect. “India is playing a very dangerous game by changing the status of Kashmir through illegal acts,” he said.

So far the Chinese are not part of this dust up (or are they?)

What is all the hard feelings about?

A short video to help you understand this conflict….

It seems that this conflict never really goes away for when things calm down someone heats it up just as fast.

Pakistan has asked Trump to intervene…..

Tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir have the potential to blow up into a regional crisis and it is the right time for U.S. President Donald Trump to mediate, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Sunday.

Khan’s comments come a day after Pakistan accused India of using illegal cluster bombs, killing two civilians and wounding 11, in the disputed Kashmir region. India denied it had used such weapons.

“President Trump offered to mediate on Kashmir. This is the time to do so as situation deteriorates there and along the LOC(line of control) with new aggressive actions being taken by Indian occupation forces,” Khan said on Twitter, referring to the heavily militarised de facto border that divides the two parts of Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

“This has the potential to blow up into a regional crisis,” Khan said.

India’s foreign affairs ministry and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Khan’s remarks.

(Japan Today)

Maybe Pakistan’s new found friendship with Trump gives them some sort of “get out of jail free” card…..I do not think our beloved leader has the props to broker a deal for a peaceful end.

India has made its move…..

Always a restive territory, the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir is expected to see a huge upsurge in disquiet following Monday’s move by India’s Hindu nationalist government to permanently revoke Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted Kashmir broad autonomy.

Under Article 370, Kashmir was allowed almost total self-governance, beyond military and foreign affairs. The revocation not only eliminates this, but will allow Hindu settlers to buy land, permanently settle in Kashmir, and hold local government positions.

This is seen by many as the major point, as India’s government has long struggled with independence ambitions in Muslim-dominated Kashmir, and may believe they can rapidly change the region’s demographics.

Constitutional experts are questioning the legality of this abrupt move, and a substantial legal challenge is expected to the government’s move, which comes amid an ongoing crackdown in the region.

(antiwar.com)

Seems the nuclear world is once again ready to step on the accelerator….which is never a good idea.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Will A Threat Become Reality?

Out new prez has not even taking the office officially and he is looking at a couple of major situations…..I wrote about one of them this morning…Gambia and now it looks like their is more saber rattling coming from Pakistan over the region of Kashmir……

Pakistan’s Defence Minister has warned it will ‘eliminate India’ with nuclear weapons if the country ‘dares to impose war’.

His comments came as Pakistan blamed ‘cross-border fire’ from India for the death of two of its soldiers in the disputed region of Kashmir.

Fears are growing that the two old enemies may go to war again.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif reportedly told Pakistani TV channel SAMAA on September 26: ‘We will destroy India if it dares to impose war on us. Pakistan army is fully prepared to answer any misadventure of India.

‘We have not made an atomic device to display in a showcase. If a such a situation arises we will use it and eliminate India.’

This could be some sort of macho chest thumping or it could be the precursor to a larger problem…..
There is N. Korea threatening to use nukes and now the Pakistanis…maybe we should take all this chest thumping seriously until found otherwise…..
Now would be the best time to get ahead of this situation….if it occurs the US will NO doubt be ass deep in it.

The Little War That Could–Part 2

While the world was debating the benefits of war……China is creeping!

Kashmir has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan for years, even decades, to the point that they have fought several short lived wars over the region…….and more recently there has been a stand off between the two countries over possession of the region…….it is always a crucial conflict that the world needs to intervene since both countries have nuke weapon capability…….

But recently a new twist has been added to the conflict…..that twist is…….wait for it……… China.

Hundreds of Indian and Chinese troops have dug into positions on a high Himalayan plateau, leading India’s army chief to cancel a foreign trip and monitor a standoff that underscores deep differences between the Asian giants as they seek closer ties.

Military officials in New Delhi and Kashmir said on Tuesday that Chinese troops set up a camp about 3 km (2 miles) into territory claimed by India in the Chumar region of the Ladakh plateau more than a week ago.

The alleged incursion by Chinese troops into territory claimed by India dominated a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, overshadowing his pledges to invest $20 billion over five years and a bid to warm personal ties with new Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Indian government on Monday (September 22) cancelled the clearances of Chinese mediapersons coming to New Delhi for an interaction with Indian counterparts, after reports came about China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers pitching tents within the Indian territory.

India has deployed about 1,500 troops in the Chumar area and there are about 800 Chinese soldiers, an Indian government official said. The two sides are not in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation and are well separated from each other.
Small incursions are common across the Line of Actual Control between the nations, the de facto border that runs some 4,000 km (2,500 miles) across the Himalayas, but it is rare for either country to set up camp deep within disputed territory.

 

A situation that needs to be watched…….there are three (3) nuclear armed countries vying for control of a region……all it would take is one rogue general to start World War Three….is that important enough for you skeptics?