What is the Kashmir Conflict?
For over 60 years the dispute over Kashmir has raged on between India, Pakistan, China and the people of Kashmir itself, leading to four wars and a violent armed insurgency in Kashmir Valley. In 1949, the UN established the Line of Control, the military control line dividing the Pakistani and Indian administered parts of the state. There are still no legally recognized international borders in this region. Since then, human rights groups have reported over 70,000 civilian causalities and over 8,000 disappearances. In 2009, Kashmiris remain ravaged by violence. Over 200,000 Kashmiri Hindus fled their Kashmir Valley homes and were forced into refugee camps that still exist today. According to international news sources such as Human Rights Watch and UNHCR, encounters with both Indian and Pakistani armed forces continue to claim the lives of civilians and suspected militants. Army cordons and curfews reign on. Kashmiri youth suffer the consequences in this struggle for identity. The Weste
