The Conflict between India and Pakistan from 1947

Résumé du document

Pervez Musharraf cannot be called "General President? anymore as he has quit the post as the leader of the Pakistani armies which he occupied since October 7th, 1998. By removing his double cap, he will officially become a "civil president". However his tenure does not lack in incidents and the list of tragedies is long. On 21st December, a bombing attempt affected a mosque in Islamabad, killing about 50 people. An Islamist group claimed responsibility for the blasts. This attempt reveals an unending conflict. On 27th December, Benazir Bhutto, the ex-prime minister was assassinated in a bomb attack. This murder destabilized the region and the impending elections. India became independent in August, 1947 and, creating a divide between India and Pakistan. There have been four wars between India and Pakistan since then.

Extraits

[...] The obsession of India with national unity and integrity. Partition affected the thinking of leadership on virtually all issues of religion that came up in the years thereafter. There were a lot of regional ethnic animosities which contributed to the rise of Hindu- Muslim tensions. The main goal for India was to maintain the national unity and territorial integrity at all costs, as it was so striking during wars in Punjab and Kashmir. “Behind many of the clashes between religious communities in India the central issue has been the very idea of a multicultural state whether India is be dominated by one tradition or incorporate a diversity of cultures. [...]

[...] Once the deadlock was reached, the conflict soon became a territorial dispute, complicated by others factors. For instance, India has put forward the idea that it is necessary to retain Kashmir within the union in order to secure her secularism. “What India would ask for a final settlement is probably the acceptance of Indian sovereignty over that part of Kashmir which she holds and a conversion of the actual cease-fire line into an international border. Despite this, the other party still seems to want a continued confrontation to the detriment of India, Pakistan and not least Kashmir”. [...]

[...] Chapter the perilous path Edward D. Mansfield and Jack Snyder 2005 Cambridge MIT Press. Introduction: the rise of religious nationalism in The new Cold War? Religious nationalism confronts the secular state. Mark Juergensmeyer 1993, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press Nationalism and Religion in Gerard and Krishan Kumar (eds) Handbook of nations and nationalism. Mark Juergensmeyer London 2005 Sage Publications Transitions to democracy and the rise of nationalist conflict from Voting to violence: democratization & nationalist conflict. J. [...]

[...] Misunderstanding between India and Pakistan takes root in a misunderstanding from the beginning. The roots of India and Pakistan are merged in a sub-continental similarity. The recent events show how Pakistan meets with difficulties for its internal and external stability. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto is considered as a tragic event, simply because she incarnated a kind of transformation. The instability of Pakistan can easily rub off on relations with India. The danger is how Pakistan can manage to prevent the worst with India. [...]

[...] Apogee of realistic theory. We may ask at this point whether the Kashmir issue was only a symbol of the inherent and general conflict between the parties or the basic problem dividing them. For India, leave the Kashmir would augment its vulnerability and draw away the risk of secession and fracture in its own country. Since the rebound of bilateral tensions in December, it was a test of strength which was hired. India demands democracy, secularism and its attachment to the multiculturalism because the country shelters a strong Muslim population. [...]