22/11/11 The former
Princely State of
Jammu and Kashmir, is seen by many as
South Asia's
Palestinian counterpart. Bordered by
Pakistan, India,
China and
Afghanistan, each country has laid claim to the territory that lies in the foothills of the Himalayas. It has been caught between continuous contestation of borders and autonomy since the partition of
British India.
With
India unwilling to acknowledge the demands of the people for freedom, and therefore avoiding debate on resolution,
Kashmir's future looks like it will remain in limbo for years to come. But with the recent
Jan Lokpal protests and the
Arab Spring, will India take note and give the people of Kashmir the right to self autonomy? Or will it continue to arm itself with
Israeli weapons and training in the name of counter-terrorism? The Jan Lokpal protests were carried out in support of social activist
Anna Hazare and his continuing pressure on the
Indian government to push forward an anti corruption bill that would see the establishment and enforcement of legislation against endemic corruption.
Recently discovered unmarked graves of over
2000 bodies, of insurgents and local
Kashmiris, have brought to the surface the horrific extent of the conflict that has left thousands of women widowed and subsequently abandoned by the
Indian state with no knowledge of the fate of their husbands. An often forgotten and unreported conflict, in the name of diplomacy, Kashmir is slowly voicing itself onto the international agenda. But will
Western powers support Kasmiri freedom, or will
Indian diplomatic relations be put first?
Join us at the
Frontline Club with an expert panel to discuss where Kashmir stands in its fight for freedom and the options that lay before it.
Chaired by
Victoria Schofield, journalist and author of Kashmir in
Conflict. She is an independent analyst and commentator on the
Kashmir conflict for news agencies such as
BBC World,
Al Jazeera,
CBS and
CBC. She was also an independent rapporteur for the 4th
Global Discourse on Kashmir that was sponsored by the
International Council for
Human Rights.
With:
Mirza Waheed, journalist and novelist.
Born and brought up in Kashmir he joined the
BBC's Urdu Service in
London in
2001. His first novel,
The Collaborator, is set in his hometown during the early
1990s, and depicts the conflict between
India and Pakistan and its effects on a border village in Kashmir.
Subhash
Chopra, former
The Times journalist and author of
Partition,
Jihad and
Peace: South Asia after bin Laden.
Ashis Ray,
Times of India journalist and former
CNN South Asia
Bureau chief and consultant editor.
Imran Khan, correspondent for
Al Jazeera English. He has reported extensively from
Pakistan, Afghanistan and from across the
Middle East.
Lawrence Sáez,
Senior Lecturer in Comparative and
International Politics at the
School of
Oriental and
African Studies (
SOAS) with expertise in
Pakistan and India.
Chair of the
Centre for South Asian Studies.
- published: 27 Jul 2012
- views: 23140