The mistrust of Kashmir

One of the compounding problems that current incumbent PM of India,Narendra Modi, must face is his policy regarding Kashmir. Forever, a contentious issue, India has always maintained a stand of it being an internal dispute while Pakistan has always called it an international dispute. Between these lines, is the true problem, the faith of the Kashmiri people has been played with.

History:
A perspective of Kashmir's history is very important.Having a Hindu and Buddhist past, the true freedom of the Kashmir was killed by the invasion of Mughals in 1540. Akbar is still a hated figure in Kashmir as he established 167 years of Mughal rule. It was then followed by the Durrani's and the Sikh rule.It was not until that the Dogra ruler Gulab Singh, through treachery, in 1846 from the British rule bought Kashmir,that the conundrum of Kashmir started. A Hindu ruler over a Muslim majority was established. Not to say, it was an oppressive rule.  With the freedom from British, then then ruler of the state, Hari Singh, was of the view of staying independent from both the dominions of India and Pakistan. However, the tribal attacks engineered by Pakistan in 1947, forced his hand to seek the help of India. India,promptly, pointed out that Kashmir was a foreign land and Hari Singh,then signed the Instrument of Accession with India. The state was in turmoil and as with the accession rules at that time, a plebiscite of people was not carried. Article 370 was borne out of this and an interim Government was formed to form the constution for the State with the plebiscite pending. Pandit Nehru's and Sardar Patel's affirmed pledges on plebiscite are attached. Violence erupted in the valley in late 1980's and it was a tale of brutal military assault, making Kashmir a military garrison which continues till the day. The flight of the Kashmiri Pandits during this period, exacerbated what was already a delicate situation.

Current Situation and Problems:
Kashmir has been a military camp for the past 35 years. Successive state govts were not strong enough(most of the elections were rigged!) and have diluted Article 370. The people of Kashmir mistrust their politicians. There are severe human right violations and as such the people of Kashmir severely mistrust the Government of India. In addition, mistrust between the communities is rampant. The atmosphere is vitiated further with instances such as continuous demands of abrogation of Article 370 and border skirmishes.

Solution:
Kashmir is a political problem and cannot be solved by military occupation. Also, its not as much as a geography issue as much as it is about of the faith of the Kashmiri people. Any solution has to involve the faith of the people and they should be the bedrock of this solution. So, any solution should involve the political people who the Kashmiri people deem as their true representatives. One of the best things the earlier PM did was to facilitate a peace accord with President Musharraf in 2006. President Musharraf had put up a four point plan which was realistic. The plan was:
[1] Kashmir should have the same borders but people be allowed to move freely across the region;[2] The region should have self-governance or autonomy but not independence; [3] Troops should be withdrawn from the region in a phased manner; and [4] a joint mechanism comprising representatives from India, Pakistan and Kashmir be set up to supervise the implementation of such a roadmap for Kashmir.

If this is agreed by the representatives of the Kashmiri people, this could go a long way in resolving a historic issue.

Disclaimer: All errors regarding facts are attributed to the original post.

(a) Vallabhbhai Patel's assertion

(b) Pandit Nehru's pledge