The Clashes between India and Pakistan
By: Bilal Al-Muhajer*
(Translated)

The issue of Kashmir is almost the only disputed issue between India and Pakistan since the division of the British Raj occupation of the Indian Subcontinent in 1947, with the establishment of the State of Pakistan.

This issue is still disputed about even though the political stances of Pakistan and India are almost identical on the issue of Kashmir, namely, the division of Kashmir into two parts; the first for India "Jammu and Kashmir" (consisting of Jammu, Kashmir Valley and Ladakh) and the second, a section for Pakistan, "Azad Kashmir" and "Gilgit." This convergence of views occurred after the relative stability of the Indian political scene; after the BJP came to power in the 1996 elections; a party that tends in its policy to be subordinate to the United States.

Despite this congruence and the holding of many political meetings between the two countries to reach a solution to be applied practically on the ground, the hostility has not ceased since the British Parliament on July 17, 1947, passed the Indian Independence Act which ended the British rule. But as is the habit of the malicious British, they left behind hotbeds of conflict between neighboring countries that were militarily occupied by them, granting nominal independence. Following its withdrawal from the princely states it ruled over in India, Britain ordered their annexation to India or Pakistan in accordance with the wishes of their populations, taking into account the geographical divisions of each princely state. The two states of India and Pakistan were accordingly formed. However, three princely states remained within dispute over annexation or division Hyderabad, Junagadh and Jammu and Kashmir.

With regards to Kashmir, its Sikh ruler, Hari Singh, after failing to remain independent, decided to join India, ignoring the desire of the Muslim majority to join Pakistan and ignoring the previous British rules of partition. India accepted the Kashmir accession and refused to join the other two emirates to Pakistan, based on the opinion of their governors. The events took a turn quickly and armed fighting erupted between the Muslims in Kashmir and the Indian forces in 1947, resulting in the Indian occupation of two-thirds of the state. The United Nations then intervened in the conflict and the Security Council issued a resolution on 13/8/1948 that provided for a cease-fire and a referendum to determine the fate of the princely state.

Officials from India and Pakistan said two men were killed and six others, including four women, were injured in the disputed territory of Kashmir on 1 June when the two countries exchanged cross-border fire, fueling tensions between them. In the week before, the Pakistan Army accused the Indian side of attacking Pakistanis in border villages on the Pakistani side of Kashmir. The Indian forces said they attacked and destroyed Pakistani Army positions in Kashmir in an effort to prevent militants from infiltrating from the Pakistani side, but Islamabad denied that.

Mohammed Osman, a police official in the southern Poonch district within the Pakistani part of Kashmir, said that the bombing began in the morning, two civilians were killed and six were wounded. In separate violence, a police spokesman in the Indian part of Kashmir said two "militants" were killed in Subur district on 1 June.

In recent weeks, clashes have broken out between Indian soldiers and Pakistanis in several areas on the Line of Control between the two parts of Kashmir, killing soldiers and civilians on both sides. The local government in Indian Kashmir on Sunday 28 May 2017 enforced a curfew on the area to control the security situation in the wake of the martyrdom of Sabzar Ahmed Bahat, a commander of Hizb ul-Mujahideen, which calls for the annexation of Occupied Kashmir to Pakistan.

Thus, the more the security situation in occupied Kashmir stabilizes, the Line of Control front between the two countries will become calm. However, the more the Indian government undertakes killing or escalation in Occupied Kashmir, the more the front will become ignited between the two countries. It is known to all that India does not want to implement the above-mentioned UN Security Council resolution to grant self-determination. It knows that if it is applied, the people in Kashmir will decide to join Pakistan since they consider it as their state because of the slogans of Islam it raises. Just as with the mushrikeen, the Jews and Christians, with the Hindus, there is truth in the saying of Allah (swt)

(أَمْ لَهُمْ نَصِيبٌ مِنَ الْمُلْكِ فَإِذًا لَا يُؤْتُونَ النَّاسَ نَقِيرًا)

“Then [if that were so], they would not give the people [even as much as] the speck on a date seed.” [Surah an-Nisa'a 4:53]

On the other hand, the ISI, an institution that is subject to the command of the army, supports the resistance in Occupied Kashmir is Pakistan's intelligence service. It was established as an Islamic institution upon the inception of the Pakistani state, and the bulk of its work is based on the surveillance of the historical enemy, India. Thus, unlike intelligence agencies in various parts of the Muslim World, it was the political doctrine of the ISI not to persecute Islamic groups and resistance that are domestic. Moreover, because there was no political agreement between the two countries, the ISI maintained its political doctrine, specifically with regard to the issue of Kashmir, holding reservations on various issues between the two countries, including the pursuit of those sincere people of Pakistan from those working to replace the current civil state with a Khilafah state on the Method of Prophethood as well as those from the Mujahideen resistance fighters in Kashmir and in Afghanistan.

The regime in Pakistan is not interested in the public opinion in the country. It is capable of manipulating and misleading it in various ways, especially through the local media, which has become like soft putty in its hand, in the policy of lying and misleading. However, the problem of the regime lies in the army as an institution. It is divided between the subordinate and pro-government, i.e. pro-US, military leadership and the sincere in the army who are the majority. This majority is in need of exercising and advancing some political achievements regarding Kashmir until there is a change in the combat doctrine against India.

Moreover, because of the weakness of the current US administration, its preoccupation with more urgent international files, even though the preoccupation of previous administrations with the same files failed to solve any of them, and the worsening economic conditions in America, all these factors made stalled the issue of Kashmir despite the consensus of the political leaderships in both countries over “the solution of conspiracy.”

The issue of Kashmir is like the issue of Palestine. No matter how many plots the enemies have, they do not have a way. The Muslims are waiting for those who liberate them which is only the army of the Muslims led by the rightly guided Khaleefah about whom RasulAllah (saaw) informed us of:

«يغزو قوم من أمتي الهند، فيفتح الله عليهم، حتى يلقوا بملوك الهند مغلولين في السلاسل، يغفر الله لهم ذنوبهم، فينصرفون إلى الشام فيجدون عيسى بن مريم بالشام»

“An army of yours will open India and Allah will grant its conquest to them, until they bring their kings in chains, and Allah will forgive them their sins. Then when they return, they will find the son of Maryam in ash-Shaam (Syria).”

* Written for Ar-Rayah Newspaper – Issue 133