ABSTRACT
The conflict in Kashmir dates back to the colonial history of the subcontinent and its subsequent partition in 1947 along religious lines. The plebiscite was never held as India claims that the conditions for the plebiscite were never met, while Pakistan considers it an important part of the solution to the Kashmir dispute, not withstanding Kashmir's legal and valid accession to India. The complex demography of Kashmir also compounds the conflict and the issue of the plebiscite. The disputed princely state of Maharajah Hari Singh that acceded to India included three major provinces: Jammu which has a Hindu majority, Kashmir Valley, which has a Muslim majority, and Ladakh which is a Buddhist dominated area. The Northern Areas comprising Gilgit and Baltistan are sparsely populated and administered by Pakistan along with the western and north-western areas of the former princely state that were lost to Pakistan during the tribal invasion of 1947.
