The India-Pakistan conflict: An overview

The India-Pakistan conflict: An overview INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND India Pakistan conflict is one of long lasting and unresolved conflict of modern times. It started with the birth of Pakistan as a different state in 1947 after the Britain empire come to an end in India. On religious grounds, one country (i. e. India) was divided into two. In 1947, when British India got its independence, it was primarily divided into two countries: India and Pakistan. All areas with the majority of Muslim population were supposed to be the part of Pakistan. The dividing line between these two countries was bizarre. As major part of North West India after partition, was called West Pakistan and there were some territories in eastern part of India with majority of Muslim population, those areas were called East Pakistan (Bangladesh). Since the partition, these two south Asian countries have been the arch rivals. The rivalry has gone through several wars, terrorist activities and nuclear tests by these countries. (Ref: T.V. Paul, page 3). Both of these countries spend a great chunk of their funds in defense budgets. The race of becoming the superpower of South Asia has adversely affected the economic growth of both these countries. The origin of the India-Pakistan conflict is deep-rooted in the issues such as religion and the politics of revenge. Problem of Kashmir is the most important issue for the tension between India and Pakistan. (Ref: usamhi.army.mil) The some of the other issues between these two nations are problem of sharing waters, religion. KEY ISSUES/REASONS: Kashmir The Kashmir is the biggest cause of conflict between India Pakistan. After partition India and Pakistan were two nations. However, there were some princely states, and they were left to make their own decision to join Pakistan or India or remain independent. The ruler of Kashmir (also known as Jammu and Kashmir) decided to remain independent. However, the attack by Pakistan tribal forces in late 1947 forced the ruler of Kashmir to sign the agreement to accede Kashmir to India. The nature of that accession has long been the subject of debate. After a short war, a ceasefire agreement was signed by both the nations under the support of United Nations. According to the agreement a ceasefire line (later called as Line of Control) was established defining that, the two-thirds of the Kashmir will stay under Indias control and rest will stay under the control of Pakistan. The territory under Pakistans control is called Azad i.e. Free Kashmir by Pakistanis and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) by India. Since then, the issue of Jammu and Kashmir has been the root of dispute between these two nations. Pakistan claims it to be its territory, since the majority of population is Muslims. For the Pakistan, the partition of the Indian-subcontinent will remain incomplete until the Kashmir is unified with their state. On the other hand, Indians believe that the Kashmir is a legal part of their territory. According to them, the partition was completed in 1947. (Ref: T.V. Paul, pages 8-9). Security India has also been accusing Pakistan for not taking serious actions against Pakistan-based militant groups and training camps. Government of India says these militant groups pose a big threat for its national security. Indian government demands that Pakistan needs to take serious actions against the Pakistan-based militant groups and training camps. Indians also suspect that the Pakistani security agents support these groups. India is much worried about its national security issue because of the militant attacks in various India cities. (Ref: zeenews.com). India accuses Pakistan security agencies for supporting the militant attack in recent years such as attack on Indian Parliament House in year 2001 and Mumbai attacks in 2008. Water Another issue which is causing the problems with these two countries is the use of water. Many rivers rise from India and flow down to the Pakistan. Pakistan claims that India is not playing fair in terms of user of waters according to a treaty under which India can use the waters of three eastern rivers and Pakistan can use water of three western rivers. Pakistan says India is diverting these waters by building dams. Pakistan is very much dependant on these waters for the farming and other needs of its population. India, on the other hand, denies all these accusations by Pakistan. (Ref: zeenews.com) Religious Ideologies   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both the countries have their religious ideologies. The foundation of Pakistan was laid down on the basis of religion. Muslim in British India felt that after the independence if a Hindu government takes the command of the nation, the Muslim community will be isolated from the political grounds. Therefore, they demanded their separate nation as Pakistan, a state of Muslim entity. Since partition, both the countries have become more reliant on their religious ideologies. Rise of Hinduism in India have made anti-Pakistan ideologies more strong. On the other hand, Pakistan has used their Islamic identity to defend their own political position, which has strengthened the rivalry. (Ref: T. V. Paul, page 22-24) KEY EVENTS The 1947-48 war The wounds of partition were not healed yet, when both the countries went to war in October 1947.Pakistani tribal troops attacked the Kashmir. The Kashmirs ruler asked India for help and he agreed for accession of the state to India. Thats how the first war between India and Pakistan started. This war ended in January 1949 with the involvement of United Nation and a ceasefire line was established between two countries. (Ref: news.bbc.uk) The 1965-war   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the spring of 1965 two countries went to war again. A clash between border patrol forces on the south western border of Pakistan with India resulted in a major war. Pakistani forced entered the Indian-administered. Indian forces hit back by crossing the international border. Again with UN supported both countries agreed to cease fire. In year 1966, India and Pakistan signed an agreement in Tashkent (in former U.S.S.R.) to resolve their issues in peaceful manner. (Ref: news.bbc.uk) The 1971 war   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1971, two countries went on war with each other once again. However, the battle field this time was the border of India and East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh). In year 1971, Pakistan faced a civil war between West Pakistan army and East Pakistan. The civil war resulted in many people escaped to India from East Pakistan. After that, Indian army invaded the East Pakistan to help those people. Consequently, Pakistan army surrendered to Indian army and war came to end with the birth of another country, called Bangladesh. (Ref: news.bbc.uk) Kashmir Rebellion In 1989, the beautiful valley of Kashmir came under siege by armed resistance to India rule. Some extremist groups started rebellion movement against Indian Government, calling it war of Kashmirs independence and some groups called the movement for union of Kashmir with Pakistan. Indian government accused Pakistan of supplying arms to these revolting groups. During this period, many Islamic groups came into emerged in the region for the fight against India. (Ref: news.bbc.uk) Nuclear Tests In 1998, India conducted nuclear tests near the border of Pakistan and later on Pakistan too conducted some nuclear tests. These tests were criticized by United States and many European countries. After these tests, it was now clear that both the countries will think twice before attacking each other. In fact, the relations between India and Pakistan started to improve after the nuclear tests. (Ref: news.bbc.uk) Kargil war Just when it seemed like the rift between India and Pakistan has started to heal, the conflict erupted again after Pakistan army break into Indian Kashmir in year 1999. India responded with air strikes against Pakistan forces. Both the nations suffered from great economics loss; many people were force to leave their homes on both sides of the Line of Control (LOC). Under the pressure of United Nations, the contemporary prime minister of Pakistan withdrew his forces from the region. (Ref: news.bbc.uk) Mumbai Attacks   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The financial capital of India, Mumbai has always been the target of terrorist activities. The city has experienced many terror attacks since March 1993, when Muslim underworld joined to Pakistani militant group carried out a series of bombings on Mumbais stock exchange, trains, hotels and gas stations. In 2006, terrorists shocked the Mumbai with series of seven bombings on Mumbai railways within 11 minutes. According to officials the attack was carried out by POK based militant group Lashkar-e-taiba. In November 2008, terrorist attacks once again shocked the Mumbai. Pakistan based terrorist groups coordinated the shooting and bombing attacks in 10 different areas of the city. Again, the operation was carried out by Lashkar-e-taiba. (Ref: timesofindia)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Apart from the above, various other regions of India are also been the targets of Islamic terrorism activities. There were some plane hijacks by these militant groups. They even attacked Indian Parliament house in New Delhi. KEY GROUPS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is very hard to point out the groups that are involved in this conflict. In fact, it is conflict between nations, governments, and religions. The security agencies of both the countries are also involved. Indians have always accused Pakistans top national security agency ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) for supporting militant activities in India and on the other hand, Pakistan says that the Indian intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) was involved in the conspiracy of separating Bangladesh from Pakistan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the decades of 1980s and 1990s the rivalry between India Pakistan was so intense that even their sports could not remain unaffected from the tension. For example, during this period the matches between Indian and Pakistani Cricket or Hockey teams used to be regarded as the battles between two countries. As far as, Kashmirs issue is concerned, there are some terrorist groups that have direct involvement in the conflict. A few of these Islamic extremist groups are as Harakat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). All these groups belong to POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) and were formed to seek to claim the region of Kashmir to Pakistan. Some officials claim that these extremist groups also have connections with Al-Qaeda. These groups are responsible for most of the terrorist activities in India. FUTURE   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In recent years, there have been a lot of efforts being made by both the sides to improve their relationship. There have been several peace talks between in India and Pakistan. However, militant attacks continue to obstruct the progress to maintain the peace. In 2001, Pakistan military ruler President visited India for a landmark summit. The summit held in Agra, the city of Taj Mahal, between Pakistan president and Indian prime minister. People on the both sides of the border were very optimistic about the meeting and hoped for peaceful resolution of some of the issues between the two countries. However, the summit ended without any agreement over the Kashmir conflict (Ref: news.bbc.uk). In year 2005, both the countries agreed to start a bus service across the LoC (Line of Control). Militants have tried to attack those buses. It has been proved that whenever some hope arises for maintaining the peace, extremist groups have tried to come up with som ething which deteriorates the relationship. After Mumbai attacks in 2008, India has put the hold on peace talks. Although there has been efforts being made by the governments on both sides, but the conflict doesnt seem to end, as long as, the issue of Kashmir is there. The issue of Kashmir can only be resolved by involving the people of Kashmir. The chances of which are not very bright, as the separatist leaders are not ready for anything less than the accession of Kashmir to Pakistan from India. Indian government claims that they own the Kashmir legally and they cannot afford one more partition. The majority of the population of Jammu and Kashmir is of Muslim. Many of them want Kashmir to be the part of Pakistan, and many wants to stick with India. Although the relations between India and Pakistan have improved a lot, but the hopes of peace between the two countries are not very strong. REFERENCES/BIBILOGRAPHY The India-Pakistan conflict: an enduring rivalry by T.V. Paul http://www.zeenews.com/news606880.html# http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/south_asia/2002/india_pakistan/timeline/default.stm http://www.usamhi.army.mil/USAWC/Parameters/03spring/malik.pdf http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India_a_major_terror_target/articleshow/3761676.cms ttp://www.cfr.org/publication/9135/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1430367.stm http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/187/34567.html

Social Science Essay -- Research Methods, Objective Research

According to the dictionary of Merriam-Webster, Objective is defined as "expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without distortion by personal feelings, prejudices, or interpretations". And the Cambridge Dictionary has the similar definition: â€Å"based on real facts and not influenced by personal beliefs or feelings.† It is obvious that to be objective, personal opinions on the research question or hypothesis have to be eliminated in the research design, research process and report method. It is the aim of any kind of research to be objective, which means the result can show more effective information and can be generalized to more situations. Almost all the books about social science research method discuss the research should be objective, and more focus on how to be objective. They declare that the research method can determine the research results are objective or not (Fowler, 2009. etc.). In particular, the research methods such as randomly selected participants, Latin Square for inter-subject experiment levels arrangement, and double-blind experience, etc. are designed to make the research objective. It seems that the objectivity is an "automatic assumption if the tools are sufficiently scientific". (Cassel, 2002). However, the paper which discusses the probability of the research results are not objective can hardly be found. Considering the research of social science focuses more on the complex human behaviours (Jackson, 2007), conflict study as one subject of the social science, in my opinion, is impossible to be objective. Because human behaviours are complex, which are effected by changing of mood or emotion, situations around themselves and the information from outside, the inter-personal interac... ...ls as possible in the quantitative research paper, and discover the certain factors which related to the conflict, such as cultural background, religion, economics situation and so on. Then it will be easier for the following research to compare the research results, and obtain more information. Nowadays, the subjective evaluation is a popular research topic, such as the subjective evaluation on happiness, on workload and on stress. I suppose this kind of research approach may be suitable for the studies on conflict situation, because conflict situation is related to human’s emotion and behaviours, thus it should be more effective to ask the subjects to evaluate their own subjective levels, and do the statistics with the values based on subjective evaluation. The results can also be compared between groups, and obtain the â€Å"subjective† conclusion based on data.

Ethnic Literature and Postcolonialism In Barta’s “Gadis Tangsi”

The definition of ethnic literature â€Å"is literature like any other, except that it contains ethnic references.† (Reilly p.2). Another definition of ethnic literature is when there is a literature work that contain religious beliefs, racial issues, linguistics, or cultural heritage. In another word, ethnic literature is the literary work that includes particular culture, beliefs, or linguistics distinction. Postcolonial literary theory draws attention in the issue of cultural difference emerging in the society.One of the issues which may often appear during the class discussion is hybridity. It seems that people who have been faced by the fact that they are living in a ‘hybrid world’ tend to be confused by their real status. They realize for their interest, but they can not avoid the possibility becoming ‘in between’. Although , they are included into one part, the native part, but on the other hand they can not deny the deep feeling to be pleasant considering themselves different with the other. There is a kind of more value they have compared with their surround, and they think it is worthy to be kept. Of course, this feeling comes into their mind by some reasons.There must be an additional value added into their original culture. The additional value may be in the form of a new ideology, belief or view which are brought by the dominating. The dominated rarely conscious with the impact. They usually only feel that it is a natural process which become the impact of daily social interaction they are engaged in. Another issue which emerges in postcolonial discussion is about dominated-dominating one. We can not expect who actually take the role as ‘dominating’ or ‘dominated’.The practice may turn over, the dominated may become the dominating in the same time toward different object, vice versa. We are also introduced by ‘Otherness’ theory. It makes someone consider that she or he are diff erent from the other, and other people is not the same with her or him. Gadis Tangsi tells a story about a girl life, namely Teyi. She is a Javanese girl who grew up in the Javanese tradition. She lives with his parents and sibling in tangsi area. She was taught to become an obedient girl by her mother with many limitations as a girl. She helps her mother to sell fried bananas every day.Teyi finds herself limited by some rules which  are considered as the right rules for her mother. She even does not know how ‘love’ or how to be ‘loved’ by a man. She was taught to be a polite woman. She finally finds who she is when she is introduced to Putri Parasi by Ndara Tuan Kapten Sarjubehi who has helped her. That is the beginning of her new experience to recognize a new world, the world that she has never imagined before. Putri Parasi teaches her everything to be ‘a good lady’. Putri Parasi likes Teyi for her politeness. She more likes Teyi after bein g saved when her disease comes immediately. Putri Parasi expects to teach her how to behave well.She even teaches Teyi to speak Dutch. Teyi starts to be able to read and write. Putri Parasi really wants to prepare her to be taken to Surakarta Keraton and introduced her to a man who will be married with her. She plans to make Teyi deserve to have a husband from Keraton families. In the novel Gadis Tangsi written by Suparto Brata, we can see some unexpected phenomenon occur. It makes me realize that actually there are still many things covered even by what Javanese people considered as ‘budaya adiluhung’.The word ‘politeness’, ‘hospitality’ and ‘dignity’ which come into people mind when they heard about Javanese culture become blur after they read this novel. Javanese woman who is considered as an obedient woman and become a mercy for whom takes her as a wife may be surprised by what Suparto tells about Teyi and Dumilah. He brings th em in this novel as representative of Javanese woman character, in different point of view. However, the story about them, for me, is far from the stereotype of common Javanese women (may be just a few). The feeling of ‘in between’ seem to be experienced by Teyi. She starts to know about how the way the higher status people behave since she meets Putri Parasi.Teyi realizes that her life style is quite different from her, and she is glad when she knows that Putri Parasi does not mind introducing this new culture to her. From this intentional interaction, after she is taught how to behave like ‘putri bangsawan’, Teyi starts to consider she has a chance to be the same with them. Even she lives with her parents, she starts to consider that she is better than them. She has been raised from the lower part. She has more power than the people in the house. The very obvious impact of this teaching actually appears when Teyi has been left by Putri Parasi. After she p assed away, Teyi become independent from the influence of Putri Parasi.Although, there are still some traces of her teaching inside Teyi which reflect in the  way she behaves. She seems take the dominating position over her husband, Sapardal. Sapardal feeling about his lower position when they have been married becomes the cause of the divorce. Only two days of marriage, and Teyi considers that she has a right to sue divorce, while Sapardal can only keep silent without any comment. In this relationship, Sapardal as a man who actually considered as ‘the dominating’ take the role as ‘the dominated’. He does not feel on the same level with Teyi. He admits that he has no power compared to Teyi. He even has no courage to touch her in their first night of marriage.Here, we can see the role between man and woman has shifted. Brata seems to show us that the role of people in the society is like running on the moving wheel. The dominating and dominated are only a symbol of someone position, which also can be shifted based on where we are standing. Sapardal may fail in maintaining his position as superior in front of Teyi. The cultural change also appears in this novel. Sexual intercourse is not considered as a sacral any longer for almost all the women in this novel. During my reading, I wonder if I read Indonesian culture literary work, especially belong to Javanese one.However, Brata wrote the novel using the Indonesian condition in the past, in the colonial occupation. In this situation, it is not easy to determine which one who still hold the original value since the influence of other ideology come into the life in that simple way. The force of a new ideology input is not directly felt in this novel. The indigenous people enjoy the acculturation between the dominated and the dominating. It also happens in the shifting of the way they see sexual intercourse actually is. What we call as a taboo becomes commonly conducted by the people. Te yi is defined as a free woman, even she has been married and becomes a wife of Sapardal, and she breaks the rule by having intercourse with Ndara Tuan Kapten Sarjubehi.It seems that she wants to take a revenge to Dumilah who is considered had cheated her by having romantic affair with her master. Sapardal can not do anything. He has failed to become a good husband. This thinking is from his own side. When we look at this phenomenon, again, Teyi proves that she has had a power over a man from her own society. She starts to have a right to consider a man like Sapardal is not at the same level with her. However, in my opinion it will not happen if Sapardal never has the way of thinking. Actually, he has thought that she is great and different from the other woman in his  environment before they are married. That makes he has no courage to touch her at their first night.It also makes Teyi feels not being regarding or respecting as a wife. She thinks that Sapardal has no desire toward her, and she thinks that it is better to ask divorce. What a short way of thinking! I found that Teyi has put a wrong way of thinking about what Putri Parasi had taught to her. It seems that she does not consider marriage as a sacral relationship any longer. ‘Love’ relationship has been considered as a ‘real’ relationship when we have passion to have sex with our couple. Is that so simple? That is the way Teyi think about love basically. It is shown also when she does not mind to have sex with her ex-master, Ndara Tuan Kapten Sarjubehi, and then she starts to love someone else, Ndara Mas Kus.There is no any guilty feeling. Finally, we can conclude that there are three aspect of postcolonial reading for Gadis Tangsi has been discussed above. First, hybridity appears when Teyi finds herself has involved and being a part of Putri Parasi’s society, Keraton environment since she has been able to behave and speak like her, so she considers that she is a pa rt of Putri community. While she has that feeling, she still can not avoid other people consideration about her who is only becoming a servant and will not become like them. Second, dominating feeling toward Sapardal comes into her mind. There is dominating-dominated in shifting model between them. It seems a denial for a man who usually considered as the dominating one, while Teyi proves that it can be shifted. Last, ‘Otherness’ theory also emerges in this novel.After having taught to have attitude and behave like Putri Parasi model, Teyi finally considers herself different with other woman in her society. It appears in the way she treats Dumilah who is her old friend. She thinks that Dumilah has no right to become ‘a munci’ of Ndara Tuan Kapten Sarjubehi because she is not at the same level with her or Ndara.

Essay on Poems by Willliam Blake - 2364 Words

Poems by William Blake In this essay I will be examining the way 5 poems by William Blake convey his attitudes towards the society he lived in. William Blake was born on the 28th of November 1757, and then died on the 12th of August 1827. He spent most of his life living in London, except from 1800 to 1803 where he lived in a cottage in Felpham, a seaside village in Sussex. When Blake was almost 25 he married Catherine Bouchier. They had no children but were married for almost 45 years. In 1784, a year after he published his first collection of poems, Blake set up an engraving business, prior to this he was an apprentice engraver making plates where pictures for books were printed. Blake?s most famous collections of poems†¦show more content†¦The ?mind-forg?d manacles? puts across the idea that man is born free, but the manacles are forged by the mind. This hints that there are still ways to break free from the manacles, to go back to the way everything used to be, the way it was dictated by the greatest authority of all. The first line of the poem expresses this beautifully by saying ?I wander thro? each charter?d street?, this shows the lack of freedom. Some of the more powerful people were granted control of some of London?s streets and even parts of the river. In today?s terms having chartered streets that you have to pay to walk down is a very odd concept. Blake writes, ?Near where the charter?d Thames does flow?, the river itself is an essence of freedom, it cannot be controlled by the passing law or by any authority, attempting to charter such a symbol of free will and unity is surely a mistake. Blake then remarks on the ?weakness? and ?woe? in every person, whether adults or infants (Stanza 2). In ?London? Blake gives three influential examples of ?weakness? and ?woe?, these start with the ?chimney-sweep?. This is trying to show that the church is becoming polluted; once a pure and holy place is now literally ?black?ning? with smoke from the chimneys. This metaphorically says that the church (which should be helping the poor) is blackened with shame for its failure to give that help. The next image is the