Kashmir is an unresolved issue of the partition of Indian subcontinent in 1947 when India and Pakistan got their independence from the British Empire. The people of Kashmir wanted to join Pakistan since it a Muslim majority area. But the local Hindu raja didn’t make any decision about it for 3 months. Some say that he wanted to stay independent.
The people of Kashmir then revolted against him. To suppress this rebellion, Indian army entered Kashmir and occupied it. So the Pakistani army also entered Kashmir and the war started. Pakistan had taken about 50% of Kashmir when India ran to the UN and asked it to resolve this issue. The war stopped, the ceasefire line became Line of Control (LOC) between India and Pakistan with each government controlling their part of Kashmir. The UN declared that the people of Kashmir would decide themselves whether they want to join Pakistan or India through a plebiscite. This plebiscite never took place. Kashmir has about 80% Muslim population so its not hard to imagine what their decision would be.
Kashmir was given the status of an autonomous region in the constitution of India and people from India were not allowed to buy properties there. The current Indian government changed the constitution in August and removed the special status of Kashmir. So of course the Kashmiris are angry about it and they are protesting. That is why Indian government shut down all the communication services in Kashmir so that the people there cannot express their opinions and feelings with the world. Kashmir has a population of about 8 million and India has stationed around 900,000 troops there to keep the Kashmiris under control. Since 1990, more than 100,000 people have been killed there by the Indian army.
My extended family is from Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, which is occupied by India. My grandfather had migrated to Pakistan in 1951 but all of his family still lives in Srinagar.