Kashmirology-1 : Geography of the region

Namaste people,

I have been flooded with people asking me to post something on the Kashmir issue in the GKpedia section.And trust me I have started collecting information.The problem is that the issue is very complex and covers a very long span of 60 years with a lot of controversies.

So I'm going to cover this issue throughout the week with one post each day on Kashmir to help you appreciate the problems in Kashmir.As usual please give your feedbacks on the post in the comments section.

Hope this would help in your GD preparation and may be make you more aware of the problems faced by ordinary Kashmiris and the CRPF in Kashmir.The posts probably would also help you understand the problems in Kashmir in a different light.

To begin with let me help you understand the geography of the Kashmir region.[remember I had mentioned Geography always leads to history]

Kashmir  is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range.Contemporarily, Kashmir denotes a larger area that includes the Indian administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh), the Pakistani administered Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, and the Chinese-administered regions of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract.

The story behind the partition of Kashmir

After the Partition of India in 1947, the princely states were given the option of joining either India or Pakistan. However, Hari Singh, the maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, wanted Jammu and Kashmir to remain independent. In order to buy some time, he signed a stand-still agreement, which sidestepped the agreement that each princely state would join either India or Pakistan.Later there was a revolution by Muslims in the western part of the kingdom and the raiders from North-West Frontier Province and the Tribal Areas feared that Hari Singh might join the Indian Union.

In October 1947, supported by the Pakistani Army, they attacked Kashmir and tried to take over control of Kashmir. Initially Hari Singh tried to resist their progress but failed. Hari Singh then requested the Indian Union to help. India responded that it could not help unless Kashmir joined India. So on 26 October 1947, Kashmir accession papers were signed and Indian troops were airlifted to Srinagar. Fighting ensued between the Indian Army and Pakistani Army, with control stabilizing more or less around what is now the "Line of Control".

In 1949, a cease-fire line separating the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir was formally put into effect.

Post this cease fire agreement the princely state of Kashmir was divided between India and Pakistan.

The Pakistani government divided Kashmir into two parts

1.Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) - the narrow southern part..Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is a self-governing state under Pakistani control but is not constitutionally part of Pakistan.It has its own elected president, prime minister, legislature, high court, and official flag

2.Gilgit-Baltistan formerly called Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) - is the much larger area to the north of AJK, it was directly administered by Pakistan as a de facto dependent territory, i.e., a non-self-governing territory. However it was officially granted full autonomy on August 29, 2009
 
The Indian occupied Kashmir 
 
India controls the central and southern portion of Kashmir.This includes :
Jammu [main cities : Jammu,Poonch]
Ladakh in the east [main cities : Leh and Kargil]
The Kashmir valley : currently it has population of around four million, 97% of whom are Muslim. It lies completely within Indian administration in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Srinagar is its main city and also the summer capital of the state. Other main cities are Anantnag and Baramulla.

China and Kashmir
 
China has occupied Aksai Chin since the early 1950s and, in addition, an adjoining region almost 8% of the territory, the Trans-Karakoram Tract was ceded by Pakistan to China in 1963  
 

 Map of the entire Kashmir region