Whether Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, should be separated from India Essay

Whether Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, should be separated from India or should the entire Jammu & Kashmir State of India be separated from India, including no - Essay Example In addition, this paper presents some of the potential solutions that have been offered for the resolution of this issue and attempts to propose a possible solution to put an end to this issue once and for all. Kashmir is located in the Northwest of the sub continent. Historically, the valley consisted of the area lying between great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal range. However, current Kashmir is referred to the area administered by India – Kashmir valley, Jammu and Ladakh; the area administered by Pakistan – Azad Kashmir; and Aksai Chin, which is in China (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Kashmir has always been a Muslim majority area. As per the 1901 census that was carried out by British Indian Empire, almost 75% of the population consisted of Muslims, 24% were Hindus, and the others were Buddhists. The major population of Hindus was in Jammu which had almost 50% Hindus population, whereas in Kashmir valley, Muslims were in dominant majority with approximately 94% of the total population and Hindus were only 5% (Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1908). As per the census of 1941, Muslim population of Kashmir was 93.6% and Hindus were only 4% (Mridu, 2004). In 2003, the percentage population of Muslims in the Kashmir valley was 95% with Hindus only 4%. In Jammu, the percentage population of Hindus was 66% and Muslims 30% (BBC, 2003). These figures clearly show that Kashmir valley has been a Muslim dominant area in terms of population whereas the major portion of population in Jammu consists of Hindus with Muslims as second majority. As per the formula for dividing the sub continent, agreed between both Hindu and Muslim leaders, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was to be either associated with Pakistan due to its Muslim majority in population, or had to be associated with India if the people of Kashmir want that. There was no resolution or advice to make it a separate state, free from both Indian and Pakistani boundary. The people of