Kashmiris& Pakistanis Demonstrate outside the UN

By Amir Makhani

New York: Kashmiris& Pakistanis Demonstrate outside the UN, while Security Council continues it’s Consultation on Kashmir inside the UN building in new york.

India and Pakistan, which both now have nuclear weapons, claim all of Kashmir and have fought several wars over the divided region. With the end of British colonial rule in 1947, the Indian subcontinent was divided into predominantly Hindu India and mainly Muslim Pakistan. The countries fought their first war over control of Kashmir, which had been a Muslim-majority kingdom ruled by a Hindu maharaja. The war ended in 1948 with a U.N.-brokered cease-fire that left Kashmir divided, with the promise of a U.N.-sponsored referendum on its “final disposition” that has never been held. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training insurgents fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan. Pakistan denies the charge and says it offers only diplomatic and moral support to the rebels.
On Aug. 5, India’s government announced it was revoking Kashmir’s special constitutional status and downgrading its statehood to a territory, which limits its autonomy and decision-making power and eliminates its right to its own constitution.India has imposed a near-constant curfew and a communications blackout as it tries to stave off a violent reaction to the move. The unprecedented security lockdown kept people indoors.