Topic A: Destabilization in Kashmir, Fighting Between Pakistan and India
Between 1858 and 1947, the area we now know as the countries of Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar (Burma) were known singularly as the British Indian Empire. However, after the World War II, it became increasingly difficult for Britain, who was in the process of putting itself back together as it was, to quell tensions of both the Indian people wishing for self-government and the British soldiers tired of the slow repatriation to Britain. In early 1946, Indian soldiers under British officers in the Royal Indian Navy began to mutiny in Bombay. For the next year, riots and mutinies spread throughout the country until on June 3 rd , 1947 when the last British Governor General of India announced that the British Indian Empire would become the Islamic nation of Pakistan and the secular nation of India. Finally, on August 15 th , 1947, India became an independent nation. With that newfound independence, violence between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs broke out and has continued until this day.
Most recently, the fighting between the religious groups has escalated to incredible levels. In Pakistan, President Perez Musharraf has held power since 1999, when he lead a military coup d'état. Last year, when Pakistan's elections were held in October, two of the three candidates, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, were deported from the country and consequently unable to participate in the election. As questions and controversy grew over the following month, Musharraf declared a state of emergency in which the constitution of Pakistan was suspended. When Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry declared a special session of the Supreme Court in reaction to the state of emergency, Musarraf had the Chief Justice and his judges arrested. Though Musharraf himself then declared that a reelection would take place on January 8 th , 2008, the election had been delayed further until February 18 th , 2008. To complicate matters, on December 27 th , 2007, the leading opposition candidate Benazir Bhutto of the Pakistan Peoples Party was assassinated after attending a rally for her party. Though this assassination attracted major international attention, President Musharraf stated that "no decision had been made on whether to delay the national elections."
Furthermore, when Britain left the Indian subcontinent divided as the Islamic nation of Pakistan and the secular India, Britain simply left what is known as Kashmir today as a disputed territory. Since then, there has been constant fighting over the Kashmir area. Both the Pakistanis and the Indians claim they have a natural right to the area due to historic events and/or religious significance. Since 1947, the two nations have engaged in wars three times, each time leaving both nations at a standstill. In 2006, the peace process seemed to be going well. However, since then, small conflicts have risen with threats to the peace process. Most recently, a 48-hour hostage standoff in a mosque in Srinagar ended in the deaths of only the three militants. But with Pakistan and India's access to nuclear technology, the fighting must be stopped entirely.
Topic B: Growing Tension Between Cyprus and Turkey
Once a colony under British rule between June 4 th , 1878 and August 16 th , 1960, Cyprus has had a number of nationality troubles. During the first and second World War the British government promised the Cypriots that they would be united with Greece after the war ended. However, it was not until 1960 that Cyprus gained their independence from Britain and then failed to become annexed by Greece. As an independent nation, Cyprus had a problem identifying itself; parts of its nation still wanted to be united with Greece while another part wanted to be united with Turkey. When the Turkish Cypriots engaged in a coup against President Makarios, Turkish forces quickly occupied the northern region of Cyprus. Since this time, a United Nations peacekeeping force has attempted to calm the tensions between the two groups. While the peace process has been in a stalemate for years now, recent violations of Greek Cypriot airspace by Turkish fighter planes has escalated the conflict.
The international community, save Turkey, refuses to recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to this day. Nonetheless, how the relationship between the Cyprus and Turkey is eventually solved will have an impact on surrounding nations and how other conflicts within the Mediterranean are solved. For example, because Cyprus is geographically close to Israel, refugees attempting to escape the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians often flee to Cyprus. However, if the situation becomes unstable there as well, refugees may have nowhere to flee. Furthermore, if NATO – member Turkey is forced to leave the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the nation will be less likely to cooperate in calming the tensions in Kosovo. The United Nations must mediate this conflict immediately because the conflict deals with one of the fundamental principles of the United Nations: self-determination; “the right to freely determine political status and freely pursue economic, social and cultural development." Though it is critically important for a region to have the right to self-determination, researching whether those living in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus truly want to be under Turkish rule will be important to the peace process.