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| Unhappy valley: Why and What | | | Col J P Singh | 9/8/2016 11:31:21 PM |
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I have said it before
also that Kashmiris
are angry. This anger is seen in the streets in the Valley. It is being manifested by stone pelting, hurling of grenades, setting police stations on fire, killing security personnel, picking guns and damaging property. Today the valley is in a pitiable state. Why?
The current agitation in Kashmir has again brought the larger issue in focus. The larger K issue is multidimensional, two of which are more pronounced, (i) the territorial dispute between India and Pakistan and (ii) the Centre-State relationship. Talking of the territorial dispute, Pakistan is illegally holding 2/3rd of the geographical area of the erstwhile princely state and has unilaterally ceded 5,180 sq kms to China. Hence the dispute between the barring neighbours is territorial. While Pakistan claims control of entire J&K on the basis of partition/religion, India demands vacation of illegally occupied areas of J&K State.
Internal issue is between Kashmiris and New Delhi. Kashmir is 7% of the entire princely state which acceded to India and 16% of the present state of Jammu & Kashmir that is in India. 4/5 districts of the valley are in turmoil. They are Sunni Muslim dominated. Surprisingly Kashmir has always been given undue attention starting from day one. Apart from UNO and Pakistan; Pt Nehru, Sheikh Abdullah, Indira Gandhi, Narsimha Rao and Rajiv Gandhi gave them plethora of false hopes while the regions of Jammu and Ladakh were sidelined and suppressed. International discourse has always been pro Pakistan and Kashmir centric. There is always clamour about the aspirations of Kashmiris and Kashmiri youths, but not a murmur about those who were thrown out of the valley and those who live in Jammu and Ladakh. Hypocrisy, false hopes and mistrust, to my understanding, are the reasons of the lingering K issue.
No doubt, Jammu and Kashmir is a political problem between India and Pakistan but its origin is in religious overtones. The external and the internal issues overlap. This has been manifested by the persecution of minorities over the decades. Latest was the mass exodus of pundits in 1990 at the behest of Pakistan ISI. If we look at the past history of Kashmir, the Hindus have been persecuted over the centuries. The current unrest in Kashmir is nothing but religious. The violence for Azadi is Islamic Jihad abetted by Pakistan. Today Kashmiris consider the issue a battle between an Islamic Kashmir and Hindu India. Unless the root cause of the problem, the Jihad, to make J&K an Islamic state is understood and spelled out bluntly, there cannot be any effective solutions to the K issue. Appeasement, development, healing touch, Kashmiriyat, Jamhuriyat, Insaniyat, parliamentary delegations and dialogue and other such initiatives will be mere time pass. The real issue is the dream of independent Islamic State and not the unholy alliance, threat to Article 370 or unfulfilled promises widely perceived and debated.
It is obvious that Pakistan is all out to control Kashmir by force or otherwise. Militarily it has tired four times and failed. Currently it is trying out religion as the toll to realise its aim for which it has infiltrated various militant and religious outfits into the valley to convert it to an Islamic state. They pay cash for Pro Azadi and Anti India slogans which are best suited to raise religious emotions, gather mobs, resort to violence, challenge the authority of state and cripple local administration. A do or die battle with the security forces is most obvious game plan on the agenda of Pak cronies.
Whatever be the Pak strategy and tactics in achieving its objective, valley is the place which is facing the brunt. Since the problem is in the valley, both home grown and extraneous, I feel the solution must lies in Kashmir itself. Assuming that (i) Kashmiris today are alienated to such an extent that Delhi will never command loyalty of majority of the Muslim population that it had before 1989 (ii) that Delhi is now diagnosing the problem sincerely and seeking solution honestly. A new window of opportunity has opened up for every stake holder to present their views freely and frankly directly to the parliamentary delegation visiting Kashmir on 4th and 5th September or through media so that it helps both sides in negotiating the Kashmir issue with an open mind in good faith and explore whole plethora of every possible solution with a dispassionate calculus of prospective advantages and disadvantages of each of the option. Hence I am of the view that Delhi must grant greater voice (of Arnab Goswami's pitch) and full freedom to the grass-root Kashmiris to project their views to determine their own political destiny. Let this time be meeting those who are stone pelters, their parents, leaders and financers. Delegation should meet poor and unheard people to hear their views. This exercise may reveal one of the best, perfect and an optimal solution to the lingering problem and resolve internal issue of Kashmir permanently. Once the internal problem of Kashmir is resolved satisfactorily, the dispute between India and Pakistan would be easier to resolve. Seeing the duration of stay and interaction of the delegation, it would need regular follow up lest the initiative turns out to be a photo and publicity exercise.
A word for the separatists seeking Azadi. They must realize that neither India nor Pakistan can afford or likely to agree in the future to promote this option. It is because of the unthinkable risk of doing so, for both the countries. Demand of Azadi is emanating from Baluchistan, Sindh and POJK. Baluchistan and Sindh are agitating for their Azadi from Pakistan since its formation. In India, Ladakh and Jammu are seeking Azadi from Kashmir. Hence Kashmiris must concede to the fact that two major part of the erstwhile princely state, out of four, are vigorously advocating full integration with the Indian Union. They should also realize that Ladakh is seeking Union Territory against Kashmir hegemony. Pakistan must understand that two main stream political parties of the valley are seeking autonomy and self rule within the Indian Constitution and not Azadi. Pakistan should also know that illegally occupied areas of J&K are also seeking Azadi from Pakistan. Abetting Azadi movement in the valley will seriously bounce back in Pakistan. They should also realize that since independence India has invested lakhs of crores in Kashmir. Hence India will never part with any part of the state. Hence the necessary quid pro quo would be that Kashmiris end their independence struggle for ever and Pakistan stops infiltrating terrorism in the state.
If we look at the history of Europe, we would see that France and Germany fought three major wars between 1870 and 1945 in which they suffered 23 million military. Millions civilian casualties and unimaginable property losses; who would think that within one generation Germany and France would be friends and emerge as beacon of united Europe. Despite above horrendous facts, the prospect of a future war between the two is unthinkable. How does one explain this change. Simply stated it were the men of vision on both sides who realized that there was lot to be gained from cooperation and friendship than from competition and military strife. This would apply to India and Pakistan no less than Germany and France. Most unfortunately there is no indication yet of such turning point in the region. Let us presume that Asian leaders (Modi & Co) are visionary enough to bring about peace and stability in the region. India has satisfactorily dealt with violent insurgencies and insurrectionary movements in its Southern and Northeastern states after independence. Even the long drawn and most violent insurrection in Punjab was sorted out. The people of Punjab regret getting swayed by the 'suicidal dream' of Azadi (Khalistan). Seeing that peace and prosperity are still a long way off from the strife torn areas of the valley, nothing sort of a political miracle can change the ground situation. Such miracle could be emergence of bold and sane leadership among Kashmiri Muslims who can denounce the violence and agrees to talk to Delhi and Delhi accommodates that leadership to win over the alienated masses of the valley. If Modi is serious about resolving the issue, the engagement with the angry Kashmiris needs to be sincere and all encompassing. |
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