KASHMIR SITUATION
A 'Firangi's View of Elections in J&K
Why did the Kashmiris vote? The first illusion would be to think that they genuinely want a return of democracy those who are well acquainted with the Valley know for a fact that from the humble shikara boatman, to the retired High Court judge, Kashmiris share one thing in common: a loathing of India and everything that is Hindu. The Kashmir went to the polling booth quite simply because at least for the moment he wanted a return of stability: since 1989, most of the shops have been closed, thanks to the countless bandhs called by the militants; there are no tourists left. For the time being, he is fed-up with seven years of violence.
The second illusion is to think that this thirst for some kind of economic and social normalcy, changes in any way his political attitude towards India. Kashmir is not Punjab, where 49% of the population is Hindu and where Sikhs after all, do share a lot with Hindus. In Kashmir, Islam is the rallying flag and it is violently anti-Hindu and pro-Pakistan, whatever the JKLF, an outnumbered, ineffective and spent force, says. There is only one election Kashmiris are craving for and that is a plebiscite on whether they want to stay with India or secede. The answer in the Valley, would be a massive "no" to India (95%).
The third dangerous illusion is to repeat like a Christian agonizing over his sins that India alienated Kashmir through 50 years of wrong policies. But actually, from 1947 onwards, Kashmir became one of the most pampered territories in the Union, the only State where Indians were not allowed to buy land. And even today, the Government is pumping massive amounts of money into the Valley, sometimes to the point of absurdity, like rebuilding the town of Chrar-e-Sharif. or paying every year, crores of rupees towards the salaries of the State civil servants, who most of the time are on strike are often with the militants. The Centre is also continuing to subsidize industries in Kashmir, so that they can export their carpets and papier mache artifacts. As a result, and whose sympathies even after seven years of total economic collapse, Kashmir still looks fairly prosperous.
If India decides to keep Kashmir, it has to do so according to the rules set by the militants: violence, death and treachery are the order of the day. Nevertheless, it should be clear that the Kashmiris are not going to surrender their aspiration towards independence. It should be equally evident that Pakistan will also never surrender its claim to the Indian part of Kashmir, for in the mad logic of partition, the Valley of Kashmir, with a majority Muslim population, should have gone to them. Furthermore, Kashmir is probably one of the few factors that keeps Pakistan together it's a convenient tool for politicians of all hues to rally the masses around them and whip up their frenzy for a last jihad, an ultimate raid on the Hindu infidels, who after all were under the rule of Islam for so many centuries.
India, too, will never surrender Kashmir. And why should she? The Valley has been hers for 5000 years. Kashmiris were almost entirely Hindus or Buddhists, before they were converted by the invading Muslims six centuries. ago. Today these Muslims in Kashmir... have also often taken up the strident cry of Islam. At the beginning of the century, there still were 25% Hindus in the Valley and that today the last 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits are living in camps near Jammu and Delhi, refugees in their own land?
All right then, we have a total dead-end: neither will the Kashmiris surrender their cry for independence, nor will Pakistan give-up its claim over the Valley, nor will India ever let go of Kashmir. So, what then? But isn't the Kashmiri problem a direct result of Partition.
Pakistan has now evolved its own identity and it stands on its own as a nation, with its particular ethos. Yet the only lasting solution to peace in the sub-continent, the only way to avoid a nuclear conflict in South Asia, which could even drag the world in its horror, is the reunion of India and Pakistan. The evolution of our earth tends towards unity, oneness, towards the breaking up of borders, the abolishing of passports, bureaucracies, no man's lands; not towards the building up of new borders, new customs barriers, new smaller nations. India cannot let herself be broken up in bits and parts just to satisfy the West's moralistic concerns. What we see today in the reunification of the two Germanies, of the two Vietnams, of the two Koreas eventually, is a manifestation of this evolutionary movement towards unity.
The question is: how to reunify the two enemies? It certainly cannot be done in a day. First there has to be an understanding among both the people, an acceptance of that possibility, which up to now has not even been thought off seriously. Once the idea has started to work among people, the process may begin at the heart of the matter, where things are most difficult between India and Pakistan, in Kashmir.
For Kashmir represents the perfect impossibility, the absolute dead-end, and symbolizes the irrevocable enmity between Pakistan and India. Let the two enemies sit down and hammer out, not an idiotic splitting of Kashmir, as already done of India, which will solve nothing and only postpone a later confrontation, but a just reunion. Let both India and Pakistan administer a united Kashmir, which would retain its identity and culture as a member of a greater India confederation. A joint government of Kashmir. would be a prelude to an eventual reunification of India and Pakistan in a loose confederation.
(Source: The Hindustan Times, 22 September, 1996)
Aabha Dixit on Kashmir Problem
Having pushed through two successful elections in Jammu and Kashmir and with the installation of the Farooq Abdullah government in Srinagar, there now is need for New Delhi to take some fresh individual initiatives to domestically resolve the J&K issue to a point where Pakistan has no option but to agree to negotiate a final and lasting solution to the issue, keeping changed ground realities in mind. Towards this goal, New Delhi cannot afford to rest on its laurels. It needs to build up consensus within the country on the quantum of autonomy that J&K should get. Autonomy for J&K will also have implications for the evolution of a truly federal polity in India. The United Front government should publicly outline its proposed course of action, which in turn could form the foundation for a national consensus on the autonomy package. Most political parties are committed to the concept of autonomy, but what needs consensus about is the shape and quantum of this autonomy.
Secondly, the administration tightly marshalled by the Governor, General Krishna Rao, now needs to hand over gradually power and administrative responsibilities to the elected government, keeping however, a watchful eye on the security situation. The credibility of the mandate should be utilized by Farooq Abdullah.
The third element of the J&K strategy that New Delhi needs to implement with great speed is an economic revival programme. The enthusiasm for both elections was caused in great measure by the fact that not only had militancy debauched itself into extortion, kidnapping, rape and other anti-social activities, but also, by the fact that fatigue and economic depression had set in among most of the population. With tourism losing its appeal, the J&K economy was entirely propped up through subsidies and grants. Taking advantage of the positive atmosphere in the State. New Delhi needs to urgently work out plans for the economic development of the region. We need to ensure that the gains are not squandered in scoring propaganda points vis-a-vis Islamabad, but rather in consolidation of the Republic, with J&K safety and securely within.
(Source: The Hindustan Times, 21 October, 1996)
