India-Pakistan Situation

[il Commy]

What do you think about what's going on between India and Pakistan?

[Pete]

It is frightening.

[apathy maybe]

I know how to fix it! Get the US to invade 'cause they both have WMD that will make them settle their differences and smash the US. Oh wait. They do have WMD.
Forget I ever said anything.

The area they are fighting over has no natural resources (except its beauty) so why the fuck can't they just agree to pull out and let the area have its own frigging govt. The area probably belongs to Pakistan if we go with the self-determination thing anyway. Its just that India is being tough (We are the worlds largest democracy!).

[FabFabian]

They both need a smack. They both need to leave Kashmir the hell alone. They should concern themselves with their own people instead of getting into a nuclear pissing match.

[Pete]

Kashmir has deep religious meanings for both the Hindus and the Muslims.

[il Commy]

Originally posted by [email protected] 20 2003, 01:30 AM
Kashmir has deep religious meanings for both the Hindus and the Muslims.
Gee, that's a reason for a nuclear holocaust!

[Pete]

In my mind, its fucking ridiculous.

In a religious fundamentalists mind it is. This conflict is another place where we can highlight the stupidity of religion and how it can bring people to blows instead of peace. Hindu vs Muslim. They have a long history of not getting along. I mean, what would a Christian do if they go to a land and have their god assimilated into a patheon that is both many and one? Well there are Jesus shrines (and the priests who built those churches probaly where wierded out by the way the Indians took Christianity).

Anyways, I have said a few contradictory things about religion in the last few days, none of which are sanctioning it.

Is a Jewish state worth the blood?
Is a Christian empire worth the blood?
Is a temple in the middle of a majestic field worth the blood?

Or how about this question: Are Nations Worth Blood?

[El Commandante]

The India and Pakistan situation is one of the most volatile and dangerous boiling points in the world because of the sheer fanatism of the people involved and their potential to create a nuclear holocaust. The conflict in this region has been continuous for fifty years now so I personally don't see there being any solution to it in the short term because both government's have invested far too much effort and money in the area for them to simply give up. This means that the path to war seems more and more likely because of the previous history of the area.

What seems worrying at the moment is that in Afghanistan the Americans are saying that unless the Pakistians deal with the terrorists which are filtering across the borders they will be forced to launch raids into the tribal regions to deal with the threat themselves. What is more worrying that Shareef is considering allowing the Americans some access to fly overhead in helicopters and to possibly launch raids. You can imagine how this will go down witht the more extreme members of Pakistiani society. If another coup were to take place by fundamentalists then there would be a series possibility of all out war.

And the roots of this conflict - the British and the boundary commission which was using outdated maps and had no time to propose a proper plan and roughly chopped up India to create two countries. Isn't imperialism wonderful?

[Bradyman]

From what I gather, the area seems to be deeply revered in many religions.

Frankly, I wish people would just open their eyes and start questioning their beliefs. This way, all these unnecessary religious wars would never take place.

Plus, if they read deeply in their religions, its more about faith and love than land.

[*~Silver-Back~*]

Hey guys as a Pakistani who has not lived in Pakistan nor was born there but I have visited Kashmir both sides of it as a student on an exchange trip for University i learned something while i was there. Like many of you I thought it was one of the most stupidest reasons to go to war especially when the two have already fought two previous ones over it. When i arrived there i went to the indian and pakistani side to compile a report on the situation for my Univeristy newspaper. I found that there are several reasons why the two would fight for it:

Pakistani Reasons:

1) Water resource since Pakistan has to depend on the river that seems down from India through those mountainous areas that India holds.
2) Military strategic point that allows the military to look down on the Indian Valley below.
3) Majority about 75-80% are Muslim people being displaced by an influx of Indian citizens brought by the government. Thus causing Refugees to pour into Pakistan--->causes more problem economically to support those refugees--> thus stop the reason for fleeing the area.
4) Tourist heaven --> Kashmir known for its beauty would bring swathes of tourists --> mainly Westerners with money.
5) The Alliance with China would allow the two to pincer India into it's own borders should the two decide to attack India.
6) Protect the main capital city of Islamabad which is the Political and Ambassadorial city of the country.
7) Rich farming resources due to abundant water and soil.
8) Religous significance of Sufi's and Saints being buried there.

Indian Reason:

1) Control the main water source that allows Pakistan to survive --> thus got a grip on it's arch enemies water supplies for farming and basic drinking.
2) Military strategic point of looking down upon the Pakistani Valley.
3) Buddhist and Hindu citizens live there so to "protect them" deploy more of their own people and soldiers to protect them (ie Jewish settlers in Palestinian towns with Soldiers protecting them)
4) To keep China and Pakistan in view incase war should erupt with the two.
5) Tourist Heaven....
6) With the growing number of Indians in the country a new piece of land would be quite useful to send some to decrease the urban population in the main cities in the country.
7) Water resource can be used for drinking and for Hydroelectricity.
8) Religious significance for Hindus
9) Should India attack Pakistan this would be a great stepping stone to do it from to attack the main city of Islamabad which is the Political base of the country.

Well after gathering these different views it is quite understandable why two nation would fight for it...basically it is a place that would either help their own nation survive or cause it to collapse. The religous end of the tension there is just a shady backdrop for the politicians and people there to blame each other for so that the real political and national reasons won't be so brought up for the normal citizens to see. Ask any citizen of those two countries and they say they would wanna keep it for some religous, political, or just a way to ge back at their arch enemy on the other side of the border. So basically a tit-for-tat mentality between the two. After covering this issue in the newspaper (this was during the 2001-2002 scare of nuclear holocaust between the two) the University helped host a public debate between representatives between teh two countries this included representatives of Kashimir (both sides) and one from each country...the audience was nicely mixed to allow a thoughtful debate...unlike what the politicians and religous fanatics say about the situation....people got a sense that giving Kashmir it's own gov't would not work due to each side wanting to contorl it's behaviour and policies so thuse dividing the country is the only way to prevent the two from all out war. The "terrorist"comign in from Pakistan are actually ppl who had been displaced by Indian citizens and land confiscation as well as from fleeing ethnic cleansing much like the one being done in China in places like Xinjiang, Tibet, and Nepal. The Pakistani gov't spports the "terrorists" due to the reaons that holding up the Indian army in a place that high is a great way to divide it. The Indian gov't blames them for causing problems since "freedom fighting" is actually working in that more and more ppl in India are wondering why exactly they are there. So i hope this helps you guys..ne questions plz post em.