Over the last fifty years the nations of India and Pakistan have clashed on both political and military fronts because of the current occupation of both nations within the states of Jammu and Kashmir. The conflict stems from both the economical welfare of the nations and from the religious differences of the people within the Indian sub-continent. The long-term religious conflicts between the Hindus and Muslim people of the region have forced the countries into countless skirmishes and three brutal wars. Since the formation of the Indian and Pakistani nations in 1947, thousands of Indians and Pakistanis have died fighting in these conflicts. The tension and conflict between the religious groups within the region was prevalent before either state was an independent nation, but most of the hostilities were directed at the British government that controlled the regions until the 1940's. The first political fighting within the region was lead by the Indian nationalist movement in the attempt to remove the British Imperialist rule from the Indian sub-continent. By examining the political struggle within the region from the late 19~ century through the beginning of the 20^th century, we will be able to better understand the tension within the sub-continent, especially the animosity between the Hindus and Muslims.

During the 19^th century the British Empire had parliamentary governments spanning the entire globe controlling their interests and their nationalist ideals. By the late 19^th century the Indian people had become tired of the British rule and revolutionaries banded together to create the Indian National Congress. The Congress was originally created for the idea of making reforms within the British parliamentary government by placing greater prevalence on such issues as a better educational system and greater representation of the Indian population within the parliamentary government. During this period, many Indian revolutionaries terrorized government institutions as well as confronted the British military. These revolutionary groups attempted to force the Indian ideas of self-government upon the British parliament. By the early 20^th century the British government was attempting to subdue the Indian uprisings by granting the Congress more political power. But the British had taken too long to share its political power and Indian extremists were demanding a complete independence from British rule. In 1916 several Indian nationalist groups united to support the British in World War I, but overall most of the nationalist groups had become frustrated with the unattained goal of self-rule that had been proclaimed years earlier, to be the eventual goal of the British rule within the region.

Many of the Indian nationalist groups were demanding immediate and complete self-government for India by the early 20th century, but the British were refusing to let go of their economic interests quickly. In 1919 the British parliament passed several laws restricting political activity of the Indian nationalist groups and committed acts in which they violated the civil rights of both the revolutionary groups and the general Indian public. These civil right violations incited many of the Indian people and helped press the demands of the Congress. With the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in the 1920's the Indian Congress became a very threatening power. Also during the 1920's the Muslims were strongly resenting the political hold that the Hindus had gained because of the Congress and staged a Muslim withdrawal from the Congress in protest of the religious dominance.

As India pressed for its independence the Miislims began to separate themselves from the Hindu political organi7ations. In 1907 the Muslim community created its own nationalist organization the Muslim Icague. By 1910 there were two dominant and completely separate revolutionary factions within Jndia that not only fought against the British rule but each other. As the British rule was becoming more threatened by revolutionaries and the Hindu dominated Congress became more powerful. the Muslim League pressed for the senaration of Muslim people from the British ruled India The Muslim League and the Congress constantly clashed on important issues and weakened the political strength that the Indian people were buildin~ within the British parliament. But even with the conflicts between the two religions one thing was clear all of the Indian people were demandina self-rule for the whole of the Indian sub-continen4. The tension between the British rule and both the Congress and the League were escalating into confrontation within both the political and social arenas. At the end of the World War, Britain was drained economically and unable to maintain its rule over its vast empire. So in 1946 Britain gave tip control of the Indian sub-continent and the Con~ess and League voted to partition the country into two senarate nations based on religion separation. The nations of India and Pakistan were formed in 1947 where the nation of India was religiously senarated for the H indu population and Pakistan was for the Muslim people.

The shift from British rule to separate independently ruled nations of India and Pakistan was to occur within six months after the nlebiscite and resulted in a violent collision of uprooted Muslims and Hindus Millions of neonle were forced from their respective homes because of religious boundaries between the nations Refugees from either border were not the only problem that the new governments were forced to deal with, they also had to somehow divide up military, financial, and natural resources. There also needed to be draw boundaries between the two countries.

As refugees moved from one nation to their new homes, confrontations broke out, and in rapidly growing numbers. Before long, there was full-fledged fighting along the boarder of the nations. Both newly formed governments struggled to preserve law and order while continuously bickered with each other over the splitting of resources. Pakistan demanded a greater share of the resources while India protested that Pakistan was demanding an unfair split of resources. The primary source for the boundary debate, was a region of the sub-continent that separated the northern border of India and the southeastern border of Pakistan, called Jammu and Kashmir.

During the early British imperial expansion efforts, the British government sold the Kashmir territory to the Hindu Prince Ghulab Singh and this family controlled the region for nearly a hundred years. As the British began to remove its influence from the region the maharajah was offered the chance to join either the Indian nation or the Pakistani nation. There were many other regions controlled by local principals that were also given the option to join one of these two nations, and in general the Hindu states joined with India and the Islamic states joined with Pakistan. At this time Kashmir was being ruled by a Hindu maharajah but the general population was Muslim, and this gave pause to the decision to join either India or Pakistan. At the hesitation to join either side a popular uprising moved through the capital and forced the maharajah to flee for his life. The maharajah quickly made his way to India where he signed an agreement to turn the state over the India in return for personal protection. India quickly moved troops into Kashmir to quiet the revolutionaries, while Pakistan responded with troops of their own to help keep their religious brethren from falling under the control of the Hindu controlled Indian government. For the next three years the Indian and Pakistani troops fought over the territory where thousands of military and civilians were tortured and killed by both sides. In 1949 a cease-fire was called and Kashmir was divided up into two unequal parts, an eastern portion which is controlled by India and a much smaller territory to the west which is controlled by Pakistan.

Over the last fifty years there have been three wars that have broken out in this region as well as countless skirmishes. The Kashmiri people were never given the right of self-determination, which was promised them when the British left the sub-continent. But since then, the United Nations has stepped into the fray and tried to take command of the situation by passing resolutions on the key issues and demanding that both sides cooperate with the International Commissions of Jurist and allow a permanent cease-fire and plebiscite. The US, along with many other nations, have tried to directly influence the actions of both countries by placing bans on exporting and importing as well as placing other economic restriction on the regions. The United Nations has been directly involved with attempting to end the conflict since the late 1940's when the situation first reached a critical stage. In 1948 the UN passed its first resolution in an attempt to quench the anger of both sides. This was resolution number 38 which states,

This was the first resolution passed by the UN in an attempt to lessen the tension in the area and kept either side from starting a large-scale conflict. The UN was still a young organization and having just entered the situation between the two nations was using this first resolution in an attempt to buy time and help restore some order and peace to the area. Within four months from the declaration of the first resolution the UN had designed a full plan for restoration of peace and order in the sub-continent. Resolution 47 was created to bring peace to the area as well as give the Kashmir people the right and means in which they would be able to vote on their incorporation into India or Pakistan.

This was a very broad but powerful set of issues from the UN and was designed to end the confrontation and allow the Kashmiri people the means to carry' out an unbiased vote for their independence from India. Both sides were being required to completely back down all troops and remove them from the occupied area, while only leaving enough troops to help maintain law and order, until the plebiscite was completed and the government could be instated.

Since 1947 three wars have broken out between the nations, killing millions of Indians and Pakistanis. Both sides abandoned the resolutions as they viewed the other side as uncooperative. Since the original resolution was passed very little has changed in this region of conflict that is until a few months ago. Over the last several months both India and Pakistan have met on numerous occasions in attempts to resolve this aging conflict. Nuclear armament of both nations within the last several years has pushed the severity of a possible conflict to a global concern. Pressed by the United States and the UN to join the rest of the world in signing the Non-Proliferation treaty, India and Pakistan must also come to grips with the 50-year-old conflict still plaguing the region. The UN passed a declaration last spring stating that they are still concerned with the tension within the area and that if both nations take steps in accordance with the resolutions, they will step in and administer the plebiscite and give what ever political, military, and economic assistance they are able to.

On October l2~ the United Nations begin its general debate on a wide range of disarmament, among them nuclear non-proliferation. The Committee begins its debate at a time when the attention of the world is focused on disarmament issues with particular intensity due to the underground nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan in May. As Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, those tests tipped "the balance on which the nuclear-non-proliferation regime rested" and dealt a serious setback to decades of international effort aimed at disarmament and non-proliferation. Immediately following each country's tests, the Security Council unanimously deplored them, strongly urged those countries to refrain from any further testing and appealed to India and Pakistan to become parties to the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) without delay and without conditions. The CTBT will be made up of 44 States once India and Pakistan finish preparations to sign the agreement and join the rest of the world in a state ofNonProliferation.

Over the last several months several meetings have been held between India and Pakistan in an attempt to reduce the tension within Kashmir and their adjoining borders. Talks have continued at a slow pace but progress is being made and both sides have agreed to demilitarize the Kashmir region and are willing to follow the UN's declaration to sign the nonproliferation treaty. They are also willing to fall into accordance with the resolutions dealing with Kashmir and Jammu once the other side has taken appropriate measures to insure peace. Years of conflict between India and Pakistan have created an atmosphere of animosity between the nations and this nationalism has lead to fighting and violation of human rights. Because of the political pressures from the UN and economical pressures from western nations, India and Pakistan have steadily pursued peace talks and are approaching a stage in which they will finally come to political agreement on many issues that have plagued the region for decades. The next several months will be a delicate time for the region as they continue talks of peace and security for the Indian sub-continent; hopefully they will soo~ end the fighting and bickering and become peaceful world powers.

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