Document #1246316
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Information on an August 1996 attack on
Kangra, Mirpur district, Azad Kashmir, by the Indian army could not
be found among the sources consulted by the Research
Directorate.
The following information may be of
interest, however.
Himachal Pradesh state in northwestern
India has a city and a district called Kangra (The New
Encyclopaedia Britannica 1989, 718). Kangra city lies just
south-southwest of Dharmasala, and Kangra district "lies at the
southern edge of the Himalayan foothills" (ibid.). Agence France
Presse (AFP) describes Kangra as a "Himalayan resort town" (6 June
1997). Please see the attached Schletter map, which provides the
location of Kangra city in Himachal Pradesh, India. The city of
Kangra could not be located in Mirpur district, Azad Kashmir, among
the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
In Azad Kashmir, the districts of Mirpur,
Bagh, Poonch and Kotli are non-border areas (King Apr. 1993,
233).
Please find attached two maps locating
Mirpur district in Azad Kashmir.
Information on the people of Kangra and/or
Mirpur district could not be found among the sources consulted by
the Research Directorate. However, general information on Kashmiris
is found in Pakistan: A Travel Survival Kit, which
states:
Of AJ&K's 2 1/2 million people, the Kashmiris of Muzaffarabad and Bagh districts hardly differ from those in the Vale of Kashmir, to which they have historically been linked up the Jhelum River. The southern districts are culturally closer to the Punjab.
Despite obvious differences, there are parallels between AJ&K's Kashmiris and the North-West Frontier Provinces Pashtuns (Pathans)–particularly their strong tribal bonds, Islamic piety and an understandable preoccupation with what to them is foreign occupation of their homeland. As in NWFP, refugee camps abound; there may be as many as three million refugee Kashmiris in Pakistan (King Apr. 1993, 235).
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is
not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any
particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the
list of additional sources consulted in researching this
Information Request.
References
Agence France Presse (AFP). 6 June 1997.
"Urgent: Blast in Bus Kills Four in India's Punjab." (NEXIS)
King, John and David St. Vincent. April
1993. 4th ed. Pakistan: A Travel Survival Kit. Hawthorn,
Vic.: Lonely Planet Inc.
The New Encyclopaedia
Britannica. 1989. 15th ed. Vol. 6. Macropaedia. Chicago:
Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.
Attachments
King, John and David St. Vincent. April
1993. 4th ed. Pakistan: A Travel Survival Kit. Hawthorn,
Vic.: Lonely Planet Inc, p. 234.
The New Encyclopaedia
Britannica. 1989. 15th ed. Vol. 6. Macropaedia. Chicago:
Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., p. 718.
Schettler, Margret and Rolf. May 1989.
3rd ed. Kashmir, Ladakh and Zanskar: A Travel Survival
Kit. Hawthorn, Vic.: Lonely Planet, pp. 10-11.
Additional Sources Consulted
All-Asia Travel Guide.
1995.
Amnesty International Report
1997. 1997.
Asian Survey [Berkeley,
Calif.]. Monthly. July 1996-August 1997.
An Atlas of World Political
Flashpoints: A Sourcebook of Geopolitical Crisis. 1993.
Dawn Weekly Service (DWS). June
1996-November 1996. (WWW)
DIRB. "Pakistan" country file. January
1996-present.
_____. "Pakistan: Amnesty International"
country file. January 1996-present.
Europa World Year Book 1997.
1997.
The Far-East and Australasia
1996. 1995.
The Fighting Never Stopped: A
Complete Guide to World Conflict Since 1945. 1990.
The Herald [Karachi]. Monthly.
September 1996-October 1997.
Human Rights Watch World Report
1997. 1996.
Keesing's Record of World
Events [Cambridge]. Monthly. January 1996-June 1997.
Minority Rights Group International
(MRGI). Various reports.
The New Encyclopaedia
Britannica. Various dates.
Research Directorate. Indexed Media
Review [Ottawa]. Weekly. July 1996-present.
World Directory of Minorities.
1991.
World Minorities. 1978.
Electronic sources: Internet, IRB
Databases, LEXIS/NEXIS, World News Connection (WNC).