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Jammu
and Kashmir |
Jammu and Kashmir is the northern-most state of the Republic of India, with Srinagar as its summer capital and Jammu as its winter capital. Jammu and Kashmir consists of three divisions: Jammu, the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh. Jammu and Kashmir is a historic state in the Indian subcontinent and is often called as the paradise on Earth because of its mountain-landscape. However, the ongoing blood-shed has made it more of a flashpoint than a paradise. Jammu and Kashmir is a part of the Kashmir-disputed territory.
The Kashmir-disputed territory consists of 5 main areas: the Jammu and Kashmir, the Azad Kashmir, the Aksai Chin, the Northern Areas and the Siachen Glacier. The Government of India claims the entire area to be a part of India (as its northernmost state) including the area administered by Pakistan which it calls Pakistan Occupied Kashmir or PoK and the Aksai Chin, presently under Chinese occupation. Pakistan, however, does not recognize the region as being a part of India and calls the region under Indian control, i.e. Jammu & Kashmir, as Indian Occupied Kashmir while the region under its control is called Azad Kashmir meaning Free Kashmir, except for the separately-administered Northern Areas.
The Indian government prohibits any publication describing the area as a disputed territory as opposed to an integral part of India, which, for example, has led to a ban on the import of Encyclopædia Britannica CD-ROMs into India in 1998.
Government
India has granted Jammu and Kashmir a special autonomy status; however Kashmiri
political parties demand for a greater autonomy and sovereignty. Jammu and Kashmir
has two main political parties : People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the National
Conference. Presently, PDP is the ruling party with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as
the Chief Minister of the state. PDP and its ally the Congress Party hold the
maximum number of seats in the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly.
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