GEOGRAPHY - BORDERS

The role of borders is to separate countries. These barriers are closed in some areas or open in other areas. For example between India and Pakistan, the border can’t be crossed. It’s become a harsh fence because the 2 countries are fighting since 1947.

We have 2 documents. * The first one is an excerpt of an article published on the 4th of July in 2004, in the New York Times, a famous American daily newspaper. The author is Amy Waldman. The title of this article is “Good fences make good neighbours”. * The second document is a map showing the Jammu and Kashmir area. We can see 3 main parts, the 3 nation-held Kashmir.

The key question is: Why is Jammu and Kashmir divided in 3 areas?

In the part 1, I will expose the chronology showing the different stages of the conflict between India and Pakistan to control Kashmir.
In the second part, I will ask why is India building up a fence between Indian-held Kashmir and Pakistan.

1. The conflict between India and Pakistan.

The document 2 is a map focused on Jammu and Kashmir area. This map shows us 3 different areas. In green, the Northwest area is called the Pakistan-held Kashmir. In yellow, the most important area is the South area. It’s Indian-held Kashmir. The red zone, on the Northeast, is the Chinese-held Kashmir.

To understand why Kashmir is nowadays divided in 3 parts and why there is a Line of Control between the areas, I will explain you the political events. They are exposed in the text written by Amy Waldman and published in The New York Times.

Jammu and Kashmir area was a British territory as other parts of India. In 1947 (nineteen forty-seven), was organized the partition of the British Indian Empire into the Indian Empire and the Pakistan. The Indian Empire was almost Hindu and the Pakistan was intended to be a homeland for the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent. Kashmir was then ruled over by a Maharaja called Hari Singh. The Maharaja was Hindu