User talk:Pakistan

Kashmir is a mountainous region located in the northwest corner of the Indian subcontinent. It is about the size of Kansas. The people of Kashmir were predominantly Muslim, but their ruler was Hindu.


 * Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" referred only to the valley lying between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal range;since then, it has been used for a larger area that today includes the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir consisting of the Kashmir valley,Jammu and Ladakh; the Pakistani-administered provinces of the Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir, and the Chinese-administered region Aksai Chin,Kashmir became an important centre of Hinduism and later of Buddhism.

The Muslim and Hindu peoples of Kashmir have lived in relative harmony and friendliness since the 13th century when Islam first became the majority religion in Kashmir. The Sufi-Islamic way of life that ordinary Muslims followed in Kashmir complemented the rishi tradition of Hindus, leading to a opposing culture where Hindus and Muslims revered the same local saints and prayed at the same shrines.

When WWII ended the British did not want to govern distant colonies. When Britain was ready to give power they came across a problem of who should get the power, Hindus or Muslims. Rioting began between the two religious groups. In August, 1946 four days of clashes in Calcutta caused 5,000 deaths and left 15,000 people hurt. To ensure the safety of the region a partition was released that separated the Muslims and Hindus. The northwest and eastern regions where most Muslims lived became Pakistan. The rest of the land where the Hindus lived remained India. On July 16, 1947, India and Pakistan gained independence and 500 independent native princes had to decide which nation they would join. As people were relocating, violence against the different groups began. Muslim killed the Sikhs (a religious group) who were moving to India. Hindus and Sikhs killed Muslims headed to Pakistan. About 1 million people were killed during this crises. Shortly after India and Pakistan gained independence they began to fight for Kashmir. The fighting continued until the United Nations arranged a cease-fire in 1949. As a result 1/3 of Kashmir was under Pakistan's control and the rest under India's control.