Arab states slow to respond to Kashmir controversy
Despite Kashmir’s predominately Muslim population, there are many possible reasons why some Arab countries have been reluctant to condemn India’s actions.
Tensions continue to build in locked-down Jammu and Kashmir, but Indian officials announced Aug. 27 that some restrictions have been lifted in some areas, and schools and businesses in those areas would reopen Aug. 28. Officials also said telephone landlines would be restored Aug. 27.
Meanwhile, the Arab world’s response to India’s crackdown over the mainly Muslim area — the Indian-administered part of the larger Kashmir region — remains muted.
When India and Pakistan won their independence from Britain in 1947 and the subcontinent was divided, the legal status of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir remained undecided. It became part of the UN-recognized disputed territory of Kashmir, with India controlling 55% (all of Jammu and Kashmir), Pakistan 30% and China nearly 15% of the region.
On Aug. 5, the ruling party in New Delhi suddenly rescinded Jammu and Kashmir’s special autonomous status, demoting it from a state and dividing it into two federally administered regions, or “union territories.” The area was placed under strict military curfew, and all communication links with the outside world were severed.
