Independent Kashmir: An Incomplete Aspiration

Description :

The desire for an independent Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is an old aspiration. After being independent for 72 days in 1947, J&K's ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, and the state's leading politician, Sheikh Abdullah, wanted this international status to continue for J&K. While neither had the acumen, nor, in Abdullah's case, the physical freedom, to pursue independence, the aspiration remained alive. In 1988, disenchanted Kashmiri Muslims instigated an anti-India uprising seeking azadi (independence; freedom) for Kashmir. However, in a rare India-Pakistan agreement, they concur that neither J&K, nor any part of it, can be independent. Nevertheless, the aspiration continues. Independent Kashmir examines what Singh, Abdullah and Kashmiris have done to secure independence for J&K or for their region in this disputed entity. In doing so, it provides a focused, in-depth history of J&K from around the mid-1920s to the present.