.. Riding around the Valley and talking with local residents ... It turned out to be difficult not to focus on people's overwhelming concern: the endless zulm (repression) unleashed by the security forces.

The security forces were rarely out of sight, even in remote villages. As far as the local population is concerned, Kashmir is "occupied" by a foreign army. Everywhere I went, there were sobering tales of harassment at the hand of the Indian Army and paramilitary forces: curfews, searches, interrogations, killings of suspected militants, and accidental as well as intentional killings of innocent civilians, to name a few complaints ....

Most people trace the beginning of this nightmare to 1989, when violence first spread in the Valley ... As for the militants, they seem to enjoy varying degrees of popular support, partly due to their decent behaviour towards the people (often contrasted with the brutality of the security forces), partly because they are seen to be upholding the common cause - azadi. Azadi has come to be identified with an independent state, but the main concern of ordinary people is to be able to lead their life without harassment, and to be free from Delhi's yoke ... Of course, it is possible that most people would in fact be willing to accept a compromise, for the sake of ending zulm, if it involves the substantive freedoms they aspire to. Those who are unlikely to compromise are the hard-core "militants", whose power and influence has been greatly enhanced by the Indian Government's iron-fist approach to the situation.

Asked whether the ongoing conflict was in part a Hindu-Muslim conflict, people emphatically said "no". Some respondents even had difficulty understanding the question: it simply had not occurred to them to think in those terms ... .

Considering that this is a situation where, effectively, a predominantly Muslim population is brutally policed by a predominantly Hindu army (which takes its orders from a BJP-led Government), it is remarkable that the conflict has not taken a more communal turn ...

Kashmiris come across as deeply peace-loving people, and they are even said to take pride in their non-violent nature ...

The non-communal and peace-loving outlook of the Kashmiri people, however, is in danger of subsiding as Army repression pushes them into the hands of foreign- sponsored, fundamentalist groups ...

There is no simple solution to the Kashmir impasse. What seems clear is that the present stand of the Indian Government is a trifle contradictory. In international fora, mediation is rejected on the grounds that Pakistan and India have agreed to resolve the Kashmir dispute bilaterally. When Pakistan approaches India for talks, it is told that Kashmir is an internal matter (despite India's own claim to "Pakistan- occupied Kashmir"). Within India, however, Kashmir is treated like a colony, unworthy of democratic rights. It is. no wonder that the Indian Government's attempt to entice the State into the national fold has failed to strike a chord with the Kashmiri people. (Source: The Hindu, 29 March, 2000) (The writer is Honorary Professor at the Delhi School of Economics)

France: External Affairs Minister Hubert Vedrine's Views on Kashmir

... As far as relations between India and Pakistan are concerned, we feel that the Shimla agreement and the declaration adopted in Lahore - especially the spirit in which it was adopted .- opens an extremely encouraging path, despite what happened later, particularly Kargil. We hope that the process, which began in Lahore, continues. The responsibility for breaking the impasse lies, first and foremost, with India and Pakistan together.

This alone will minimise the consequences of the situation and help to take confidence-building measures and eventually to settle the fundamental issue. We are equally well disposed to all other forms of actions and initiatives, which can improve matters. Meanwhile, let me repeat, it is in nobody's interest that Pakistan be further destabilised.

The K Factor

The Editorial, The Hindustan Times, 28 Mar., 2000

From the time of Benazir Bhutto's celebrated "azadi, azadi, azadi" speech in favour of Kashmir's "freedom" that Pakistan's support for the subversives in the Valley is a riposte for the help which India provided to the Mukti Bahini in the Bangladesh war ... The Kargil intrusion was only the latest episode in the decade-long proxy war which Pakistan has been waging for this purpose. However, in the aftermath of the US intervention in July (1999) ... the impossibility of pursuing their game. plan much longer in Kashmir may have dawned on Islamabad,

Yet, a retreat under pressure from the US will undoubtedly put any government in Pakistan – whether military or civilian - under tremendous pressure. It is in this context that President Tarar may have spoken of Kashmir being crucial for Pakistan's survival ... Now that a serious setback is staring it in the face, Pakistan may have begun to have doubts about its own survival.