Kashmir should become independent from India

Reasons why Kashmir shouldnt be independent 1) Located in one of the most unstable regions in the world in terms of terrorism 2) Could only set themselves up for an invasion from any one of possibly 3 neighboring countries 3) Independence doesnt gurantee stability 4) Independence doesnt gurantee safety meaning human rights violations could continue or worsen 5) Predominantly Muslim nation could set up a Sharia Law society 6) Really bad time economic wise to become independent 7) Just because a region is of different religious affiliation in the rest of the country doesnt justify secession 8) How would the country even generate tax income in an area that has no resources? 9) Earthquakes? - 1 - The Kashmir region sits right next to the place that Al-Qaeda once called home, and there are numerous militias and warlords located near them who if Kashmir became independent, may try to move in and take advantage of the area to operate out of. If Kashmir were to become independent, they would be a prime target for terrorist cells and extremists top operate out of and plan attacks around the world, or against Pakistan and India. If this were to happen and it was bad enough the US may even intervene and try to pour billions into a third world nation to fight terrorism and might do a poor job of doing it (after all we tried the same thing with Pakistan and they still hate us) - 2 - Kashmir has been fought over for years now, many times in all out war. But if this tiny region were to suddenly become independent, they would immediately become exposed to be completely overrun through a military takeover by Pakistan, India, or even China who has been a part of the Kashmir conflict. Kashmir doesnt have any way to get its hand on a decent sized or advanced military to repel India, Pakistan or China, so if Kashmir decided to become independent right now and succeeded then it could all come crashing down in a year through military conquest, or military re-conquest.... - 3 - Kashmir is by far a very unstable region, and independence does not guarantee stability for a country. Iraq's new government is handling things poorly, Afghanistans new government is a joke, Egypt is still frustrated with a lack of results from their new government, even America during its independence went through hard times to become a stable region. independence would give Kashmir a brand new government but whether or not the governemnt would even be able to function and hold itself together is anyones guess. Independence does not equate to stability - 4 - Independence doesnt also end human rights violations committed against them. A new government can turn out to be just as cruel as an old government to its own people, look at Kashmir's neighbor Afghanistan, who when the Taliban took over had promised their own people peace and prosperity, and then a year later made it so that even kite flying was illegal. New governments dont always have an incentive to treat their own people like people, and that is very evident in the modern day conflict regions of the Middle East where the Kashmir region lie. Independence wont guarantee an end to humans rights violations if the new government is just as twisted as the old one, and since we dont even know if a new government could be stable its impossible to guarantee it wont be cynical... - 5 - Kashmir is a predominantly Muslim society, so it is possible that if it became independent, the people may install a government that operates strictly according to Sharia Law and al of its hard core conservatism, religious based ideologies. Such a government is possible in heavily Muslim areas like Kashmir and if the government did operate via Sharia law then all those other possible breakdowns of stability and escalation of human rights violations could easily become a reality. Even if it isnt run by a sharia law society, who would run it? a king? a democracy or a republic? a dictator? Many new countries start out as republics but it only takes one military coup and bam, dictator for decades. Kashmir becoming independent may open the doors for another monarchy or dictatorship to take form in an area surrounded on three sides by nuclear powers and on the fourth side by the country that was the home to Al-Qaeda... - 6 - The world is in the worst economic setback since the Great Depression.... It might not be a very good time to become a brand new nation seeing as investors are watching their money carefully and wont come to the aid of a brand new small, Muslim majority country located next to Afghanistan and Pakistan in one of the most volatile areas in the world. It is debatable if investors would come at all, but it can be agreed that the Kashmir region would have a much better chance of being financially invested in by investors during boom times when people have money to spend then during bust times when people are watching their money more than ever. Many nations that are born during recessions also tend to not do so well in the short term and long term future.... Libya became independent right as the 1970's recession hit and look at them now, they just got out from under Africa's longest dictatorship Nepal had a government change from a monarchy to a republic in 2008 when the financial mess took place and they currently live in third world conditions. Same thing happened to Serbia which was also the site of mass human rights atrocities before becoming independent. The worlds newest country, South Sudan, also became an independent country last year, and Sudan was the country responsible for the Darfur tragedies that are still going on right now. Independence doesnt guarantee economic prosperity which for a nation as poor in wealth and resources as Kashmir is a must. - 7 - Just because a region ahs a different religious affiliation than the rest of the country doesnt mean it cant live comfortably under that nations rule. India is currently the second largest country in the world in Arabic population and they are the country that has the largest number of Muslims living under free speech laws. Kashmir becoming independent and possibly replaced by a dictatorship or heavily conservative sharia law republic could cost people their freedom of speech, which is a human rights violation in itself - 8 - Kashmir is a rural area that makes nearly all of its income and trade from agriculture in a region as ricky as the Himalayas which lie right next door. There isnt much money available to sustain a government in Kashmir and have enough funds to improve education, infrastructure, defense, etc. and wont be able to fund such improvements with the limited sources of income they have without running up a monstrous debt which would quickly cripple the economic credibility of the nation, scaring away investors, and sentencing the area to poverty for years to come... - 9 - in 2005, an Earthquake the same caliber as the one that destroyed San Francisco in 1906 struck the Kashmir region which resulted in the death of almost 1500 people in Kashmir along with 75,000 deaths in the surrounding region http://en.wikipedia.org... This Earthquake struck in the Middle of Pakistan, but a stones throw further northeast and you would be smack in the middle of where Kashmir would be. Many of the deaths were caused by poor construction of buildings which is the status of almost every building in the Kashmir region. The amount of aid needed to fix the areas affected could cripple the new country, but if it remained as part of India or Pakistan aid could flow in much faster and help the area recover, if it could recover at all. The Haiti quake happened years ago and despite all the aid they got they still havent rebuilt their capital city, imagine the fate that Kashmir would have if the same happened to them...