bleeding kashmir

One of the world’s longest-running
separatist insurgencies, one that has
killed tens of thousands of people in
Kashmir, completed two decades last
month.
The strife-torn region witnessed a
period of relative calm, but a recent
spate of rebel attacks is a grim
reminder of the tensions in Kashmir
at the heart of enmity between
nuclear-armed neighbours India and
Pakistan.
A series of skirmishes across
Kashmir’s border between the South
Asian rivals, which claim the
disputed region in full but rule in
parts, also underline decades of
mistrust between two countries
which have fought two wars over
the region.
With diplomatic limbo between
India and Pakistan and stalled peace
talks between New Delhi and
region ’s separatists, peace seems a
distant dream.
Yasin Malik, one of Kashmir’s most
influential separatist leaders,
recently told Reuters in an interview
that the region risks a return to
militancy and violent protests if
India fails to push a stalled peace
process.
After two decades of campaign, little
headway is visible for resolution of
Kashmir which New Delhi calls the
crown of India, while for Islamabad
it is Pakistan ’s jugular vein.
“For God’s sake, don’t give our next
generation a sense of defeat. If you
are giving them a sense of defeat,
you are pushing them for another
revolution, ” Malik told BBC.
It’s again an uneasy time in Kashmir,
stunningly beautiful but one of the
world ’s most militarized regions.
Increase in rebel incursions into
Kashmir from Pakistan, near daily
gun battles, anti-India protests and
rights violations allegedly by
security forces: is this a re-run of
1989?
Is Kashmir, a near-forgotten conflict,
spinning off into another 20 years of
violence?