KASHMIR: Independence denied

1947: Pakistan invaded Kashmir on the basis that 80% of its population is Muslim. In response, Kashmir's Hindu feudal ruler sought protection from India.

1948: India and Pakistan fought over Kashmir, resulting in each controlling roughly half of it; United Nations resolution passed that states that "the people of Kashmir will determine their future".

1949: UN accepted Pakistan amendment that restricted Kashmiris choice to either rule by Pakistan or India.

1965 and 1971: India and Pakistan went to war over Kashmir.

1972: Indo-Pakistan agreement on the Line of Control, a de facto border carving Kashmir in two, with one-third under Pakistan's control.

Since 1988: many of Kashmir's 300,000 Hindus have been driven out, mostly still lingering in refugee camps, while more than 400,000 Kashmiri Muslims have fled the terror in Kashmir to India.

1998: Indo-Pakistan 28-day war in Kargil over Kashmir.

August 2001: Indo-Pakistan Agra Summit called at India's initiative "to improve relationship" but came to nothing as India rejected Pakistan's insistence of including Kashmir as a core item.

From Green Left Weekly, January 16, 2002.

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From GLW issue 476