Pratik Raghu, Westminster College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Divided between India and Pakistan in multiple senses, Kashmir is home to the one of the world’s oldest yet least discussed civil conflicts. India and Pakistan continue to defend their claims to Kashmiri land, but most political thinkers agree that establishing an independent democratic state is the only way to ensure long term politico-economic stability in South Asia. However, what should this democracy look like?
Two roadmaps have been proposed by a recently deployed Indian parliamentary delegation and the Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), a secular nationalist group seeking Kashmiri independence from both India and Pakistan. The JKLF calls for a five-part reunification of Indian and Pakistani Kashmir; the parliamentary delegation, meanwhile, suggested that Kashmir should remain an Indian state, albeit with transformed political and economic institutions. Realist, liberal, normative international relations, constructivist, and South Asian international relations perspectives all shed valuable light on both roadmaps.
Utilizing these perspectives, I ultimately recommend that an impartial international organization should draw upon the best features of both roadmaps to chart a path forward for Kashmir. Key features should include gradual independence, popular democracy, and cultural exchange between Kashmiri civilians across existing borders, all of which are relevant to irredentist dilemmas in other parts of the world.