... As things stand today, the people in Pakistan and China controlled areas are not free to express their will. Out of the three regions under India s control, the  Kashmiri-speaking area is the bone of contention. Themajority of the people of Ladakh and Jammu regions have demonstrated their disenchantment with the State s decades old Kashmir-centric. polity, and prefer a separate identity of their own. Kargil's Shia community has no love lost for the Valley's Kashmiri-speaking Sunni Muslim majority. It is the latter, or its so-called leadership that keeps equivocating about its relationship with India. The National Conference claims to speak for the entire Kashmiri community because of its majority in the last Assembly elections, which had a very low voter turnout. It favours greater autonomy under India. A similar claim by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, a fissured coalition with its fault-lines papered over by anti-India sentiments, is equally suspect.

Ladakh and Jammu regions should get their separate identities as constituent states of the Indian Union. These two regions would then be able to take their rightful place in the Indian mosaic and, with control over their own resources, be free to decide about the direction of their development. The Kashmir region is rife with Pakistan sponsored terrorism. The common man there finds himself in the vortex of violence, from militants as well as security forces. His prime concern is the safety and security of his life and property. He is equally concerned about development ... A compact Kashmir state would be better able to address both these concerns of its people.

In course of time, the Mirpur-Muzzafarabad area under Pakistan and the Kashmir State under India could come together under an India- Pakistan condominium on the lines of the erstwhile British-French Condominium of New Hebrides in. the South Pacific (now the independent nation of Vanuatu). Thereafter, it could become a nation on the lines of Nepal with its independence underwritten by its neighbours. Today, this radical solution may seem far-fetched but it has the potential to bring peace to Kashmir. (Source: The Pioncer, 7 July, 2000)