The Kashmir Conflict refers to the ongoing occupation of Greater Kashmir and the resistance to Indian rule by Kashmiri political and military organisations. It is a common misconception that this conflict emerged after the partition of the colony British India in 1947, when both newly formed states claimed sovereignty over the region. In fact, the modern origin of the conflict is 1846, when the British Empire seized control of Kashmir and sold it to the Hindu Dogra rulers, a pro-British foreign dynasty, formalising the occupation of a land and a people who had no say in the matter. That makes this the world's longest running continuous conflict, one that has never been resolved and has never truly paused.
One of the central issues surrounding the Kashmir Conflict is the question of occupation and oppression by foreign entities. The Indian regime currently controls the largest portion of Greater Kashmir, while Pakistan administers a smaller share, and China an even smaller region. The nature of these two presences is distinct. It is Indian control, enforced through one of the largest military deployments on earth, that has generated the insurgency, the disappearances, the documented abuses, and the decades of resistance that define this conflict. The Kashmiri people have been caught between two competing foreign claims, facing the consequences of a territorial dispute they did not create and have never consented to.
Within Indian-controlled Kashmir, those consequences are extensive and documented. Extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and sexual violence have been recorded by international human rights organisations over decades. The Indian regime maintains a tight grip on media access within the territory, yet the evidence continues to surface regardless. To date, no meaningful international action has been taken to address it.
The population of Indian-controlled Kashmir has lived under conditions of militarily enforced control that shape every aspect of daily life. Curfews, internet shutdowns, and sweeping restrictions on freedom of expression and movement have been imposed repeatedly and at scale. These are not security measures proportionate to any genuine threat. They are instruments of occupation, and their impact on the Kashmiri population has been profound and lasting.
The result is a long-running indigenous insurgency carried out by Kashmiris resisting Indian control of their lands. That insurgency is not the cause of the crisis in Kashmir. It is the consequence of it.
Kashmiris remain the only true stakeholders in this conflict. The Indian regime refuses to recognise that, claiming the region in its entirety and, in 2019, revoking Article 370 to strip away what limited autonomy Indian-controlled Kashmir retained. Pakistan, whose own presence in the territory Kashmiris equally did not invite, has in recent years moved from a position of total territorial claim to one that nominally advocates for the Kashmiri right to self-determination. The international community has repeatedly failed to move beyond statements of concern. The Kashmiri people continue to bear the consequences.
