An Alternate Kashmiri History

As fall begins in Kashmir, the unrest that has claimed more than 80 lives since June shows no signs of ending. All summer, young people have staged daily demonstrations against Indian rule in Srinagar and the rest of Indian-administered Kashmir.

A few demonstrators want Kashmir to join Pakistan, many want independence, and all want Indian troops—some of whom have committed serious human-rights abuses—removed from their streets.

More Indian troops, ever stricter curfews, and even calls for calm by separatist leaders have failed to quell the protests, in which young people throw stones and burn government property, and Indian forces often shoot back.



Maharaja Hari Singh visits British dignitaries in London.
©1944 Getty Images, Inc.

Why, in October 2010, does a dispute over Kashmir's status continue to claim lives? And could this and all the previous violence over Kashmir have been avoided if one man had simply made up his mind?

In the 1940s, when the British decided to partition India into present-day India and Pakistan, India's princely states (such as Kashmir) were given the option of joining either country. At first, Kashmiri leader Maharaja Hari Singh chose neither country, but when his state was overrun by Pakistani invaders, joining India was the price he paid for Indian troops coming to his defense. Pakistan has never accepted this bargain.

October is Alternate History Month. In this activity, students will draw on historical research and primary sources to write an alternative history for Kashmir.

Have students read the History sections (Origins, Developments, and Recent Events) of the Jammu and Kashmir report in in World Conflicts Today.

Tell them to look for major events related to Hari Singh's decision in the Timeline. Then have them carefully read Hari Singh's 1947 letter to Louis Mountbatten and Mountbatten's response in the Primary Sources section of that report.

Informed by what they have learned in the Kashmir report, students should then compose an alternative letter, in which, writing as Hari Singh, they either offer to join Pakistan in exchange for protection against India or declare their independence from both countries.

Students should then construct a timeline that outlines the major events that might have followed the receipt of this alternative letter. End with a discussion of how things might have been different today.

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