TED ANKARA COLLEGE FOUNDATION PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2019

TED ANKARA COLLEGE FOUNDATION PRIVATE HIGH
      SCHOOL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2019

COMMITTEE: GA4 Special Political and Decolonization
ISSUE: The Kashmir-Jammu conflict between India and Pakistan
STUDENT OFFICER: Özge Özmısır
POSITION: President Chair

                                           Hello to the delegates of the GA4 Committee,

                                          My name is Özge Özmısır and I will be the
                                          president chair of the Special Political and
                                          Decolonization Committee in the four days of
                                          TEDMUN’19. I am an 11th grader in ANKU
                                          College. I started attending MUN Conferences
                                          when I started high school and they made my
                                          high school years unforgettable for me. MUNs
                                          built my self-confidence, improved my English,
taught me how to make public speeches and overall improved my social life. I gained
many valuable friendships from different schools from all over Turkey that I will carry with
me for years. MUN conferences are what made me who I am and I can never be more
thankful for them.

Now coming to our current conference, TEDMUN 2019. Our committee is General
Assembly 4 Special Political and Decolonization Committee. We have agenda items that
are very inclusive and problematic for the world at the same time. It is our delegates duty
to help find efficient solutions to these issues.

To prepare for the conference I highly encourage all of our delegates to study all chair
reports of the committee very well as they include the research of the topics you will be
debating upon. Debating upon topics that you know by heart is much easier than trying to
talk about something you don’t know. After studying the chair reports you also need to
research your own country. As a delegate, you are representing not yourself but a whole
country and government. And the last step to be %100 ready for the conference is that you
need to study the procedure. Our committee will be running in THIMUN Procedure and
there are many resources and websites to get help from.

Looking forward to seeing you in TEDMUN,

All the love,
Özge Özmısır
INTRODUCTION

Since 1947, India and Pakistan have
been locked in conflict over Kashmir, a
majority-Muslim       region     in    the
northernmost part of India. The
mountainous,           86,000-square-mile
territory was once a princely state. Now,
it is claimed by both India and Pakistan.

       The roots of the conflict lie in the
countries’ shared colonial past. From the
17th to the 20th century, Britain ruled
most of the Indian subcontinent, first
indirectly through the British East India
Company, then from 1858 directly
through the British crown. Over time,
Britain’s power over its colony
weakened, and a growing nationalist
movement threatened the crown’s
slipping rule.

    The people had been fighting for freedom from British rule, in August 1947, India and
Pakistan became independent. Because of its location, Kashmir could choose to join either
India or Pakistan. Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Kashmir, was Hindu while most of his
subjects were Muslim. Unable to decide which nation Kashmir should join, Hari Singh
chose to remain neutral.

      Pakistan’s claim to Kashmir is based upon religion. India’s is based upon its ruler’s
accession to it in 1947. Neither country has tried to ascertain what the Kashmiris want.
Kashmiri aspirations stem from one little-understood consequence of the partition of British
India: In 1947, when India and Pakistan gained their freedom, Kashmiris lost theirs. They
lost the freedom to live, travel, study, and do business in any part of the subcontinent. And
they got nothing in return. Both Pakistan and India gave their parts of Kashmir autonomy
bordering on independence in theory, but denied them even a semblance of democratic
freedom in practice. Kashmiris, therefore, have felt doubly betrayed.

DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

Self-determination: The ability or power to make your own decisions for yourself,
especially used for the power of a nation to decide how it will be governed.

Hostility: The act of fighting in a war.

Partition: The division of a country into separate countries or areas of government, national
division.

Ceasefire: An agreement, usually between two armies, to stop fighting in order to allow
discussions about peace.

Maharaja: Maharaja is a Sanskrit word that means “great king.” It refers to a Hindu
monarch or prince in India who ranked above a raja (king). In modern definition rather than
the “great king” Maharaja is used as the “ruler”.

OVERVIEW

Historical Background of the Issue:
   According to the mid-12th century text Rajatarangini the Kashmir Valley was formerly a
lake. Hindu mythology relates that the lake was drained by the sage Kashyapa, by cutting
a gap in the hills at Baramulla ,and invited Brahmans to settle there.
    Until the 1947 Partition of India, Kashmir was ruled by the Maharajas of the princely
state of Kashmir and Jammu. According to the 1941 census, the state's population was 77
percent Muslim, 20 percent Hindu and 3 percent others (Sikhs and Buddhists)Despite its
Muslim majority, the princely rule was an overwhelmingly Hindu state.The Muslim majority
suffered under Hindu rule with high taxes and discrimination.
   British rule in the Indian subcontinent ended in 1947 with the creation of new states: the
Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India, as the successor states to British India. The
British Paramountcy over the 562 Indian princely states ended. States were thereafter left
to choose whether to join India or Pakistan or to remain independent. Jammu and
Kashmir, the largest of the princely states, had a predominantly Muslim population ruled by
the Hindu Maharaja Hari Singh. He decided to stay independent because he expected that
the State's Muslims would be unhappy with accession to India, and the Hindus and Sikhs
would become vulnerable if he joined Pakistan.Pakistan made various efforts to persuade
the Maharaja of Kashmir to join Pakistan.
    As long as the territory’s existence was guaranteed by the United Kingdom, the
weaknesses in its structure and along its peripheries were not of great consequence, but
they became apparent after the British withdrawal from South Asia in 1947. Hari Singh, the
maharaja of Kashmir, initially believed that by delaying his decision he could maintain the
independence of Kashmir, but, caught up in a train of events that included a revolution
among his Muslim subjects along the western borders of the state and the intervention of
Pashtun tribesmen, he signed an Instrument of Accession to the Indian union in October
1947. This was the signal for intervention both by Pakistan, which considered the state to
be a natural extension of Pakistan, and by India, which intended to confirm the act of
accession.In July of that year, India and Pakistan defined a cease-fire line—the line of
control—that divided the administration of the territory. Regarded at the time as a
temporary expedient, the partition along that line still exists.

The violence in the eastern districts of Jammu that started in September, developed
into a widespread 'massacre' of Muslims around the October, organised by the Hindu
Dogra troops of the State and perpetrated by the local Hindus, including members of the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and the Hindus and Sikhs displaced from the
neighbouring areas of West Pakistan. The Maharaja himself was implicated in some
instances. A large number of Muslims were killed.

     Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan, the Maharaja's nominee for his next prime minister,
visited Nehru and Patel in Delhi on 19 September, requesting essential supplies which
had been blockaded by Pakistan since the beginning of September. He communicated the
Maharaja's willingness to accede to India. Nehru, however, demanded that the jailed
political leader, Sheikh Abdullah, be released from prison and involved in the state
government. Only then would he allow the state to accede. The Maharaja released Sheikh
Abdullah on 29 September.

Causes and Effects:

   Although there was a clear Muslim majority in Kashmir before the 1947 partition, and its
economic, cultural, and geographic contiguity with the Muslim-majority area of the Punjab
could be convincingly demonstrated, the political developments during and after the
partition resulted in a division of the region. Pakistan was left with territory that, although
basically Muslim in character, was thinly populated, relatively inaccessible, and
economically underdeveloped. The largest Muslim group, situated in the Vale of Kashmir
and estimated to number more than half the population of the entire region, lay in Indian-
administered territory, with its former outlets via the Jhelum valley route blocked.

    Britain bears great responsibility for causing the dispute in Kashmir due to its
administrative methods causing communal tension, and its creation the premise of the
conflict through allowing the fate of Kashmir to be decided on unrepresentative and unjust
grounds. However, the perpetuation and exacerbation of the conflict over Kashmir can
then be largely attributed to the uncompromising means and ends of India and Pakistan,
and fractionally to Kashmir itself.

Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir

The insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir or the Kashmiri Insurgency (also known as
Kashmir Intifada) is a conflict between various Kashmiri separatists and the Government of
India. There are some groups that support the complete independence of Kashmir, while
others seek Kashmir's accession to Pakistan.The conflict in Jammu and Kashmir has

strong Islamist elements among the insurgents, with many of the "ultras" identifying with
Jihadist movements and supported by such.

Evaluation of Other Issues:
Water dispute
In the early days of independence, the fact that India was able to shut off the Central Bari
Doab Canals at the time of the sowing season, causing significant damage to Pakistan's
crops. Nevertheless, military and political clashes over Kashmir in the early years of
independence appear to have been more about ideology and sovereignty rather than over
the sharing of water resources. However, the minister of Pakistan has stated the opposite.
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed by both countries in September 1960, giving
exclusive rights over the three western rivers of the Indus river system (Jhelum, Chenab
and Indus) to Pakistan, and over the three eastern rivers (Sutlej, Ravi and Beas) to India,
as long as this does not reduce or delay the supply to Pakistan.
Religion
Jammu and Kashmir is the only Muslim majority state in Hindu-majority India. Indian-
American journalist Asra Nomani states that while India itself is a secular state, Muslims
are politically, culturally and economically marginalised when compared to Hindus in India
as a whole
Human rights abuses
After insurgency started in Kashmir valley because of above reasons in the late 1980s,
Indian troops entered in Kashmir valley to control the insurgency. Some analysts have
suggested that the number of Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir is close to 600,000
although estimates vary and the Indian government refuses to release official figures.The
troops have been accused and held accountable for several humanitarian abuses and
have engaged in mass extrajudicial killings, torture, rape and sexual abuse.
Amnesty International accused security forces of exploiting the Armed Forces Special
Powers Act (AFSPA) that enables them to "hold prisoners without trial". The group argues
that the law, which allows security to detain individuals for as many as two years "without
presenting charges, violating prisoners’ human rights". The Army sources maintain that
"any move to revoke AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir would be detrimental to the security
of the Valley and would provide a boost to the terrorists.”

RELEVANT ACTORS AND BODIES:

       UNCIP (United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan): In January 1948, the
Security Council adopted resolution 39 (1948), establishing the United Nations
Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) to investigate and mediate the dispute. In
April 1948, the Council decided to enlarge the membership of UNCIP and to recommend
various measures including the use of observers to stop the fighting.

       UNMOGIP (United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan): In July
1949, India and Pakistan signed the Karachi Agreement establishing a ceasefire line to be
supervised by the military observers. These observers, under the command of the Military
Adviser, formed the nucleus of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and
Pakistan (UNMOGIP). On 30 March 1951, following the termination of UNCIP, the Security
Council, by its resolution 91 (1951) decided that UNMOGIP should continue to supervise
the ceasefire in Kashmir. UNMOGIP's functions were to observe and report, investigate
complaints of ceasefire violations and submit its finding to each party and to the Secretary-
General.

       India: India has officially stated that it believes that Kashmir to be an integral part of
India, though the then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, stated after the 2010
Kashmir Unrest that his government was willing to grant autonomy to the region within the
purview of Indian constitution if there was consensus among political parties on this issue.
In a diverse country like India, disaffection and discontent are not uncommon. Indian
democracy has the necessary resilience to accommodate genuine grievances within the
framework of India's sovereignty, unity, and integrity. The Government of India has
expressed its willingness to accommodate the legitimate political demands of the people of
the state of Kashmir.

        Pakistan: Pakistan maintains that Kashmir is the "jugular vein of Pakistan" and a

currently disputed territory whose final status must be determined by the people of
Kashmir. Pakistan insists that the Maharaja was not a popular leader, and was regarded
as a tyrant by most Kashmiris. Pakistan maintains that the Maharaja used brute force to
suppress the population.
           Pakistan claims that Indian forces were in Kashmir before the Instrument of
Accession was signed with India, and that therefore Indian troops were in Kashmir in
violation of the Standstill Agreement, which was designed to maintain the status quo in
Kashmir (although India was not signatory to the Agreement, which was signed between
Pakistan and the Hindu ruler of Jammu and Kashmir).According to the two-nation theory,
one of the principles that is cited for the partition that created India and Pakistan, Kashmir
should have been with Pakistan, because it has a Muslim majority.

       China: China has also been involved in the conflict in a third-party role. Both India
and Pakistan claim the entirety of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. India
controls approximately 43% of the land area of the region and 70% of its population,
Pakistan controls approximately 37% of the land, while China controls the remaining 20%.
China states that Aksai Chin is an integral part of China and does not recognise the
inclusion of Aksai Chin as part of the Kashmir region. China did not accept the boundaries
of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu, north of Aksai Chin and the Karakoram as
proposed by the British. China settled its border disputes with Pakistan under the 1963
Trans Karakoram Tract with the provision that the settlement was subject to the final
solution of the Kashmir dispute.

       Kashmir: Scholar Andrew Whitehead states that Kashmiris view Kashmir as having
been ruled by their own in 1586. Since then, they believe, it has been ruled in succession
by the Mughals, Afghans, Sikhs, Dogras and, lately, the Indian government. Yet Kashmiris
bear an 'acute sense of grievance' that they were not in control of their own fate for
centuries. According to historian Mridu Rai, the majority of Kashmiri Muslims believe they
are scarcely better off under Indian rule than the 101 years of Dogra rule. According to
lawyer and human rights activist K. Balagopal, Kashmiris have a distinct sense of identity
and this identity is certainly not irreligious, as Islam is very much a part of the identity that
Kashmiris feel strongly for. Balagopal says that if India and Pakistan cannot guarantee the
existence and peaceful development of independent Kashmir then Kashmiris may well
choose Pakistan because of religious affinity and social and economic links. But if both
can guarantee the existence and peaceful development then most Kashmiris would prefer
independent Kashmir.

     Maharaja Hari Singh: The last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and
Kashmir in India.
     .
      Soviet Union: The Soviet Union provided diplomatic and military assistance to India
during the 1971 war. In response to the US and UK's deployment of the aircraft carriers
USS HMS Eagle, Moscow sent nuclear submarines and warships with anti-ship missiles
in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, respectively.

United States: In 2002, former US President, Bill Clinton described Kashmir as "the
most dangerous place in the world." He averted a nuclear war between India and Pakistan
over the issue of Kashmir according to former US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe
Talbott. The US had not given any military aid to Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War of
1965.The United States did not support Pakistan during the Kargil War, and successfully
pressured the Pakistani administration to end hostilities.

     Al-Qaeda: A militant Sunni Islamist multi-national organization founded in 1988 by
Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Azzam,and several other Arab volunteers during the Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan. It is unclear if Al Qaeda has a presence in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian army also claims that there is no evidence of Al Qaeda presence in Jammu and
Kashmir. Al Qaeda has established bases in Pakistan administered Kashmir and some,
including Robert Gates have suggested that they have helped to plan attacks in India.

TREATIES AND INITIATIVES:

United Nations Security Council Resolution 91 (S/RES/91(1951))

Adopted on March 30, 1951, noting a report by Sir Owen Dixon, the United Nations
Representative for India and Pakistan, stating that the main point of difference of preparing
the state of Jammu and Kashmir for the holding of a plebiscite were as follows; the
procedure for and extent of demilitarization, the degree of control over the exercise of the
functions of government necessary to ensure a free and fair plebiscite. The resolution was
adopted eight votes to none, with three abstentions from India, the Soviet Union and
Yugoslavia.

Karachi Agreement

The Karachi Agreement of 1949 was signed by the military representatives of India and
Pakistan, supervised by the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan,
establishing a cease-fire line in Kashmir following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. It
established a cease-fire line which has been monitored by United Nations observers from
the United Nations since then.

Tashkent Declaration

    The Prime Minister of India and the President of Pakistan having met at 1 Tashkent
and having discussed the existing relations between India and Pakistan, i hereby declare

their firm resolve to restore normal and peaceful relations between their c,ountries and to
promote understanding and friendly relations between their peoples. They consider the
attainment of these objectives of vital importance for the welfare of the 600 million people
of India and Pakistan.

SPECIFIC ANALYSIS ON RELEVANT CONFLICTS AND PROBLEMS:

   Under peaceful circumstances, India and Pakistan have a huge potential for economic
prosperity. The continued conflict over Kashmir denies full realization of this potential. It
has created restricted borders and thus loss of trade and missed opportunity for
development both within the Indian subcontinent and between the Indian subcontinent and
Central Asia.
   There are many other costs: some measurable in currency—like the money spent on
defense, destruction of property, loss of foreign investment—and other costs not
measurable in hard currency, the brunt of which is borne by the people of Kashmir: the
degradation of the environment, loss of life, and the misery and poverty of refugees. The
people of Kashmir, all of them, are denied their human dignity and basic human rights.

   On 5 December 2006, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf told an Indian TV channel
that Pakistan would give up its claim on Kashmir if India accepted some of his peace
proposals, including a phased withdrawal of troops, self-governance for locals, no changes
in the borders of Kashmir, and a joint supervision mechanism involving India, Pakistan,
and Kashmir. Musharraf stated that he was ready to give up the United Nations'
resolutions regarding Kashmir.

TIMELINE OF MAJOR EVENTS

Date          Event

1947          The partition of India: The British Indian Empire is dissolved and the Muslim-majority
              areas in the East and West are partitioned to form the separate state of Pakistan. The
              Maharaja delays his decision to accede into either India or Pakistan.

1948          India takes the Kashmir problem to the UN Security Council.

October
1947           Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
               The war, also called the First Kashmir War, started when Pakistan feared that the
               Maharaja of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu would accede to India. Following
               partition, princely states were left to choose whether to join India or Pakistan or to
               remain independent. A formal ceasefire was declared at 23:59 on the night of 1 January
               1949. India gained control of about two-thirds of the state (Kashmir valley, Jammu and
               Ladakh) whereas Pakistan gained roughly a third of Kashmir (Azad Kashmir, and
               Gilgit–Baltistan).

1965
               Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

               This war started following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was designed to
               infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to precipitate an insurgency against rule by
               India. India retaliated by launching a full-scale military attack on West Pakistan. The
               seventeen-day war caused thousands of casualties on both sides and witnessed the
               largest engagement of armored vehicles and the largest tank battle since World War II.
               The hostilities ended after a ceasefire was declared following diplomatic intervention by
               the Soviet Union and USA.
1971
               Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
               This war was unique in the way that it did not involve the issue of Kashmir, but was
               rather precipitated by the crisis created by the political battle brewing in erstwhile East
               Pakistan (now Bangladesh) between Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Leader of East Pakistan,
               and Yahya Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, leaders of West Pakistan. This would
               culminate in the declaration of Independence of Bangladesh from the state system of
               Pakistan. This war saw the highest number of casualties in any of the India-Pakistan
               conflicts, as well as the largest number of prisoners of war since the Second World War
               after the surrender of more than 90,000 Pakistani military and civilians.

1987-1990      Kashmir Insurgency
                 After the 1987 elections the Muslim United Front (MUF) declares the elections as
               rigged, and the insurgency in the valley increases. Further protests and anti-India
               demonstrations in the Kashmir Valley followed by police retaliation, arrests and curfew
               orders by the Indian police and army.
               India and Pakistan perform nuclear tests in a show of strength.
1998
               Amnesty International and other human rights organisations report of gross human
2007           rights violations from India that include systematic arrests and detentions, enforced
               curfews, and testimonies of rape and torture. India denies many of these claims and
               states it is suppressing terrorism.
April 8, 2012 Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari meets with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
              during a private trip. It is the first trip to India by a Pakistani leader in seven years.
November       Seven Pakistani soldiers are killed in an exchange of fire between Pakistani and Indian
14, 2016       forces at the Line of Control.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

   1. What are the main reasons behind bot Pakistan and India wanting to have
      Kashmir?
   2. What could have been the solution to solve this problem in the past, what are the
      solutions to solve the ongoing problem now?
   3. What makes Kashmir a strategic place?
   4. What could be the alternative peacemaking ideas?
   5. Should other countries intervene with problem to end it once and for all?

USEFUL LINKS AND SOURCES

   1. https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/unipombackgr.html#three
   2. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1399992/A-brief-history-of-the-Kashmir-
      conflict.html

REFERENCES

United     Nations  India-Pakistan    Observation  Mission     /    UN     Peacekeeping
https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/unipombackgr.html#three

A brief history of the Kashmir conflict / The Telegraph
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1399992/A-brief-history-of-the-Kashmir-conflict.html

Kashmir conflict / Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_conflict

Tashkent Declaration / Minister of External Affairs / India https://mea.gov.in/bilateral-
documents.htm?dtl/5993/Tashkent+Declaration

Resolution 91 (1951)/ United Nations
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/kashun91.htm

To what extent can britain be held responsible for the conflict in Kashmir/ Academia /
Edward Quah
https://www.academia.edu/21996798/
To_what_extent_can_britain_be_held_responsible_for_the_conflict_in_kashmir