of the government. At the time of partition Kash-
miris were divided about what to do with their
country. Some wanted to be joined to India, some
wanted to be joined to Pakistan, others wished
to remain independent. Maharaja Hari Singh (r.
1925–47), although inclined to remain indepen-
dent, agreed to have his state incorporated into
India and fled. This happened after thousands
of Kashmiri Muslims had been massacred and
Pakistan began allowing forces into the area to
protect them. India responded by sending in its
troops and registering a complaint at the United
Nations against Pakistan’s “aggression.” Pakistan
protested and assumed control of what it called
Azad Kashmir. Subsequent mediation efforts to
resolve the dispute between India and Paki-
stan concerning Kashmir’s autonomy have failed.
The Indian government under Jawaharlal Nehru’s
leadership negotiated with Shaykh Muhammad
Abd Allah (d. 1982) and his National Conference,
a Kashmiri secular nationalist organization, to
grant Kashmir special territorial status in India.
The Indian government removed him from office
in 1953 and imprisoned him for 11 years because
he would not surrender the right of Kashmiri self-
determination.
Since 1987 there has been an escalation in
violence as a result of the failure to arrive at
an acceptable political solution to the Kash-
miri question and economic stagnation. The
bloodshed has been exacerbated by the growing
strength of religious radicalism among Muslims
and Hindus. Hindu nationalist organizations
such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,
National Volunteers Organization) and its politi-
cal wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, Indian
People’s Party), consider Muslims to be a threat
to the nation and want Kashmir to be ruled by an
Indian Hindu government. They refuse to allow
any real autonomy to the Kashmiri Muslims. The
government of Pakistan supported the emergence
of an armed Kashmiri resistance, consisting of
the secularist Jammu and Kashmir Liberation
Front and the Islamist Hizb al-Mujahidin (Party
of Muslim Warriors). Another militant Islamist
group seeking to bring an end to Indian rule in
Kashmir is the Lashkar-i Tayyiba (Army of the
Righteous), which was founded in Afghanistan
in 1990, but is now based in Lahore. It has con-
ducted attacks in India and Pakistan, as well as
Kashmir. The violence has involved extensive
human rights violations committed by all com-
batants, including armed attacks on civilians,
torture, rape, “disappearances,” and extrajudicial
killings. War nearly broke out in 1999 between
India, led by a newly elected BJP government,
and Pakistan, led by a military dictator (Pervez
Musharraf), when militants and Pakistani troops
threatened to block the road connecting Srinagar
to Ladakh at Kargil. The threat of a nuclear war
between the two countries raised international
concern. At the urging of the United States
Pakistan withdrew its forces, thus diffusing the
situation.
See also bUddhism and islam; hindUism and
islam; hUman rights; Jihad movements; nepal.Further reading: Ainslie Embree, “Kashmir: Has
Religion a Role in Making Peace?” In Faith-Based
Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik, edited by Douglas
Johnston, 33–75 (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2003): Mohammad Ishaq Khan, “The Impact of Islam
on Kashmir in the Sultanate Period.” In India’s Islamic
Traditions, 711–1750, edited by Richard M. Eaton,
342–362 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003); Raju
G. C. Thomas, Perspectives on Kashmir (Boulder, Colo.:
Westview Press, 1992).Kazakhstan See central asia and the caucasus.
Khadija bint Khuwaylid ibn Asad
(ca. 555–619) prosperous merchant and first wife of
Muhammad, she was the first to accept Islam
A wealthy Meccan merchant of the qUraysh tribe,
Khadija owned a large caravan that traded goods
in syria. Around the year 595 she hired mUham-Khadija bint Khuwaylid ibn Asad 427 J