Jammu and Kashmir
Partition's most contested legacy where three wars and a Line of Control divide a Himalayan paradise
On August 5, 2019, India's Parliament erased seven decades of constitutional autonomy in a single afternoon, transforming what had been its only Muslim-majority state into a bifurcated union territory under direct central rule. The move ended an experiment in federalism that began when Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession in October 1947 while Pakistani-backed tribesmen invaded his kingdom.
The region's strategic value was written into its geography long before modern borders existed. The Kashmir Valley sits at the convergence of Central Asian, South Asian, and Chinese spheres of influence. The Mughal emperors built elaborate gardens here; the Dogra dynasty purchased it from the British for 7.5 million rupees in 1846. After partition, three wars and a brutal insurgency that killed over 47,000 people between 1989 and 2019 carved the territory into Indian-administered Kashmir, Pakistani-controlled Azad Kashmir, and Chinese-held Aksai Chin.
The transformation since 2019 has been swift. The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway line—including the world's highest railway bridge over the Chenab River at 359 meters—finally connected the Kashmir Valley to India's rail network in 2024. Tourist arrivals exploded to a claimed 23.6 million in 2024, though the vast majority visited Jammu's Vaishno Devi shrine rather than the Kashmir Valley.
Yet the territory contains two realities. The Kashmir Valley, where 7 million people live under heavy military presence, saw its first elections in a decade in October 2024—a 58.46% turnout, the highest in 35 years, returning the National Conference's Omar Abdullah as chief minister. Meanwhile, terrorism persists: the April 2025 Pahalgam attack killed 26 tourists. Saffron farmers in Pampore still produce 90% of India's saffron; apple orchards still blanket the slopes.
By 2026, Jammu and Kashmir faces the fundamental tension of its new status: whether infrastructure investment and economic integration can succeed where military dominance alone has not, or whether the promise of restored statehood remains the only path to genuine normalization.