Pakistan vs. India

These two countries fought together, struggled together, and used to be one! But now, they are fierce enemies. How did two “best friend” countries end up hating each other?

It all began in 1947, when the land of Hindustan was still under British rule. Protests sprang up all over the colony, demanding independence as the nation of India. Finally, the Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, had enough. He created a plan which granted India independence, but split the country up. The mostly-Muslim areas became the country of Pakistan, and the mostly-Hindu/Sikh regions became the country of India.

Now that we have figured out how the two came to be, let’s figure out how the conflict came to be. You see, at the time of Indian and Pakistani independence, there were many vassal kingdoms in the land. In order to unite the lands inside each country, the vassal kings had to turn their lands over to one of the two. This also depended on religion. If a vassal kingdom had a population of mostly Hindus, it would go to India. If a vassal kingdom had a primarily Muslim population, it would go to Pakistan. This was a fairly easy system, and in 1948 only 3 vassal kingdoms were left: Hyderabad, Junagadh, and Kashmir. Hyderabad and Junagadh went over to India with ease, but Kashmir faced some difficulties. While it had a majority-Muslim population, it had a Hindu ruler. Eventually, it chose to become fully independent. The Pakistani government did not like this, and worked with the warfaring Pathan tribes to attack Kashmir and take over. In response, the Kashmiri government gave the lands to India. Now it was a war between Pakistan and India! India eventually won the war - and the other ones after it. These wars created a boundary called the ‘Line of Control,’ and territory has been ceded to Pakistan due to cease-fires called by the UN.

So, how did this conflict affect the world? Well, for starters, it has created two de-facto sides. China supports Pakistan, while Russia supports India. Another thing is that it has sparked much hostility between the two countries. It has created a lot of distrust between Hindus and Muslims inside India. And it has sparked a lot of political turmoil inside Pakistan. Will any of this be resolved? Only time will tell.

By Mihir Gupta