{"id":3745,"date":"2026-05-12T20:50:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T20:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/?p=3745"},"modified":"2026-05-12T20:50:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T20:50:43","slug":"indias-occupation-of-kashmir-77-years-of-repression-and-resistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/indias-occupation-of-kashmir-77-years-of-repression-and-resistance\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s occupation of Kashmir: 77 Years of Repression and Resistance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kashmiri Muslims are the indigenous Muslim population of the Kashmir Valley, comprising more than 97% of the region\u2019s population. Predominantly Sunni Muslim, they descend from local communities who embraced Islam over centuries through the influence of Sufi scholars and Islamic spiritual traditions that remain deeply rooted in Kashmiri society. Today, they live under Indian occupation in one of the most militarised regions in the world, with their homeland controlled by a nuclear-armed India.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For centuries, Kashmir existed as a distinct Himalayan region renowned for its scholarship, culture and strategic position linking Central Asia, South Asia and the wider Muslim world. Prior to 1947, Kashmir functioned as a princely state under British colonial rule, governed by a Hindu monarch despite its overwhelmingly Muslim population. The modern crisis emerged during the partition of British India, when colonial withdrawal fractured the subcontinent and left the future of Muslim-majority Kashmir vulnerable to external political and military control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October 1947, following unrest and the advance of tribal fighters from Pakistan\u2019s northwest frontier, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession to India in exchange for military assistance. India subsequently deployed troops into the region, triggering the first war between India and Pakistan and laying the foundations for decades of occupation, conflict and instability. A United Nations-brokered ceasefire later divided Kashmir into territories administered by India and Pakistan, while China would later assume control of a separate eastern region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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