The debate over the partition of India was more than a mere disagreement over the need for a Muslim state. If the two-nation theory was true, and the demand for Pakistan legitimate, then India cannot claim to be a nation, at least not as constructed by the secularists. Take away the traits of tolerance and syncretism, and all that remains is an uneasy arrangement of separate nations held by a common state. Similarly, a shared history of cultural integration and harmony would undermine the justification for a Muslim state. And it is this mutual negation that lies at the heart of the relationship between India and Pakistan.
Every nation is held together by a common vision of itself.
This claim to cultural uniqueness and authenticity forms the basis of a people's demand for statehood. The two narratives of nationalism have now become the official ideologies of their respective states, linking them in an intractable relationship of antagonism. The legitimacy of Indian nationalism is inversely related to that of Pakistan, wherein the recognition of one means the denial of the other. The result has been three wars, and a constant state of hostilities along the borders, especially in Kashmir. At the time of Partition, Kashmir found itself in a unique position.