‘South Asian Palestine’ and ‘Middle Eastern Kashmir’: Parallel Case Studies of Occupation Forces and Crackdown on Youth

As the world continues to watch, India and Israel continue their military control over Kashmir and Palestine respectively, resulting in two of the most protracted and deadliest conflicts with strong parallels. The United Nations (UN) Resolutions, 194 and 242 in the context of the Palestine-Israeli dispute; and UN Resolutions of August 13, 1948 and January 5, 1949 in the context of the Kashmir dispute, advocate the right of self determination for Palestinians and Kashmiris, respectively. However, they have not been implemented to date. This article compares the two significant disputes by employing the Youth Bulge Theory to demonstrate that although both disputed territories are situated in different regions, yet their youth share similar accounts of subjugation, which have culminated in similar atrocities and massive crackdown on them by occupying forces. It has led to increased violence, deaths and frustration, producing generations of young freedom fighters involved in a political struggle. A comparative analysis draws on similarities and dissimilarities between these two disputes.