— The Times of India speculates that Abdul Lone was killed by militant Pakistani separatists because he was a force for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir question:
Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Lone’s killing has been timed with the Prime Minister’s visit to the state. Lone was seen as one of the Hurriyat leaders closest to the Indian authorities, and was believed to be agreeable to elections in the state. He had been an MLA in the 1970s. The leader was also seen to be close to the US. His dastardly killing today could be a terrorists’ message to the Indian government, and a warning to other moderate leaders in the Hurriyat Conference.
Control of Kashmir has been the major bone of contention between India and Pakistan since partition. Historically, there has been a slight majority of Sufi Muslims in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, so following the logic of partition, the region should have gone to Pakistan, but the King preferred to go with India. Pakistan has never been satisfied with the status quo, and has attempted to sway the balance of loyalties by running the Kashmiri Pundits out of the state. They essentially succeeded in the Kashmir Valley in 1990 through a campaign of terror, and have since focussed on the southern areas of the state.
Jammu and Kashmir is important to India because its a mountainous buffer between their country, China, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Bloggers should be interested in any conflict in which Pandits are murdered and victimized en masse, of course. See Kashmir News Network for more information.