India launched attacks in the early hours of May 7 on what it claimed to be “terrorist camps” in the Punjab province of Pakistan, including in the Azad Jammu-et-Cachemire region.
The strike followed the murder of 26 people, mainly tourists, in India, Jammu-Cachemire and Kashmir (Iiojk), illegally occupied Indians that Indians blamed in Pakistan.
The Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lieutenant-General, Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said that at least eight Pakistani were martyred and that 35 were injured in Indian missile strikes.
The Himalayan Himalayan Muslim region was the site of several wars, movements of freedom and diplomatic confrontations.
Here is an overview of the region, its history and why it continues to be a source of tension between the two countries:
Partition and accession
After the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, following the independence of British domination, cashmere was to be part of Pakistan, as with other regions of Muslim majority. His Hindu sovereign wanted him to remain independent, but reached India in October 1947 in exchange for help.
Geography and demography
The region found itself divided between India from the major Hindu, which governs the Iiojk, and the Ladakh; Pakistan, which administers Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the northern regions; And China, which holds Aksai Chin.
Iiojk has a population of around 7 million inhabitants, almost 70% of which are Muslim.
Article 370
A provision of the Indian Constitution, article 370, provided for partial autonomy for the Iiojk. He was drafted in 1947 by the Minister of the State at the time, Sheikh Abdullah, and accepted by the first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Although conceived as temporary, it was included in the Constitution of India in 1949 by the Constituent Assembly.
Wars and military impasse
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence, including two against Iiojk, in 1947 and 1965. A third in 1971 led to the creation of Bangladesh. In 1999, they clashed again in the Kargil region in what was described as an undeclared war. An unloaded ceasefire line, the control line, now divides the region.
The fight of freedom
Many Muslims of the Iiojk have long felt what they consider to be a heavy rule of India. In 1989, which made a movement in a movement of independence led by Muslim fighters of freedom. India has shed troops in the region and tens of thousands of people were killed.
India accuses Pakistan of having armed and formed activists, which Islamabad denies.
Revocation of special status
In August 2019, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the semi-autonomous status of cashmere in a decision which, according to her, would better integrate the region into the rest of the country. IIOJK has been reorganized into two territories of the Union administered by the Federal Government – Jammu and Cashmire and Ladakh. Pakistan has opposed it strongly, demoting diplomatic links with India.
Last years
Modi said that his 2019 decision had brought normality to IIOJK after decades of bloodshed. Violence has decreased in recent years, according to Indian officials, with less large -scale attacks and increase in tourist arrivals. However, targeted murders of civilians and security forces have been reported.
2024 elections
In 2024, Iiojk held its first local elections since the revocation of autonomy 2019. Several newly elected legislators urged a partial restoration of article 370. The main regional parties boycotted or criticized the vote, claiming that the winners would not obtain any real political power.
