ABSTRACT
Nestled in the Himalayan mountain range in South Asia, the region of Kashmir remains a contested territory. Home to multiple ethno-lin-guistic and religious groups, the region has been the site of a struggle for autonomy that is rooted in a set of complex issues related to failed post-colonial efforts at nation building, inadequate and corrupt political processes, poor development strategies, and burgeoning ethnic claims. A princely state until 1947, nearly 45 percent of Kashmir’s area is currently administered by India and 35 percent by Pakistan; about 18 percent of the state’s largely uninhabited area is currently controlled by China. India-administered Kashmir, formally known as the “State of Jammu and Kashmir,” comprises three districts: the Valley of Kashmir, the southern plains of Jammu, and the mountainous region of Ladakh to the North. The Pakistan-administered Kashmir comprises “Azad (free) Jammu, Kashmir (AJK)”, and the Northern territories. 2
