During the India-Pakistan partition, from what I have read Nehru (who would be India’s Prime Minister once India becomes a republic). Really wanted Kashmir to be a part of India. I read this in The Indian Ideology by Perry Anderson. What the reason was this for, I am not sure. Nehru was ethnically a Kashmiri Pandit, so it could be that. Or maybe for more practical reasons like the fresh water flowing through the region. As I said, I am not sure.
The result was that the British delegation that was sent to draw the border between India Pakistan was heavily pressured by Nehru to give Kashmir to India. This delegation, by the way, was a bunch of white Brits who had never been in the subcontinent and concieved the border in mere months. So this should give you an idea about how well thought out this whole partition was.
Coming back to Kashmir, it is unique in the sense that it is a Muslim majority region (>70%) which, at the time of partition, was ruled by the Hindu king. Apparently the king signed an agreement to cede the region to India. But the authenticity of this document has been contested. So India considers Kashmir to be a part of her. Legally Kashmir was given a special status so that the region would retain some degree of political autonomy.
What happened since the partition, I am not sure of the details. I have found it difficult to find books about this despite emailing some scholars. There have been incidents of India annuling Kashmiri elections solely because we didn’t like the outcome. Because of militant separatism, India has stationed the army there since forever. Recently under Modi, Kashmir’s special status was revoked and there was an internet blackout for some time.
The atrocities committed by the Indian army are well documented, though rarely reported in India. You can look at this reddit thread for a handful of examples. In terms Indian military committing atrocities, Kashmir is unfortunately not a unique case. They done the same on India-Bangladesh and India-China border regions.
Weird thing is that if you hear the Indian nationalist version, the story sounds completely different. My response is not sourced so take it with a grain of salt. But I thought I would leave it here anyway.
