KASHMIR SITUATION

Chidanand Rajghatta on US Interest in Kashmir Problem

The Kashmir issue is gradually moving to the front burner in the American scheme of things and the United States is actively engaged in seeking a solution to the dispute.

Indications available here jell with the activity on the ground, where Ambassador Frank Wisner and Hank Brown, the Senator who oversees a committee on South Asia, are on a back-to-back visit to the troubled states.

The official, who spoke on the entire gamut of Indo- US relations on condition of remaining unnamed, said the upcoming Assembly elections in the state provided New Delhi the opportunity to identify the representatives of the Kashmiri people and engaging them in a dialogue. The official indicated a subtle but significant shift in the US position by the very act of acknowledging the legitimacy of the poll exercise in what is considered a 'disputed area' by the US.

Remarkably, the official also recognized that the situation in the troubled state had improved. "The human rights situation has improved although there have been no prosecutions but then there has been no more Sopores either," the official said, while adding that the people of Kashmir had grown sick and tired of the terrorists.

Pakistan, the official said, had failed to recognize all these factors. US Ambassador to India, Frank Wisner endorsed the poll in Kashmir (much to the dismay of his hosts) during a recent address in Quetta, Pakistan. This seems to mark a new phase in the Kashmir tangle a phase that marks increasing American involvement despite Indian reservations.

The official also repeated what now appears to be a new American tack that is increasingly rankling Pakistan: "History is not going to solve the Kashmir dispute," the official said. Elaborating, the official explained that harking back to the UN resolution on the plebiscite (as Pakistan does) or the Instrument of Accession or the Shimla Accord (as India does) will not help find a solution.The official's remarks suggested a new American enterprise in the Kashmir issue which New Delhi has so far sought to keep on a bilateral plane.

The official also acknowledged that this could only be the beginning of the US initiative which could unfurl fully during a second Clinton term.

(Source: Indian Express, 6 August, 1996)

G.S. Bhargava on Political Process in J&K

All Party Hurriyat Conference leaders and their protagonists in Delhi are naturally very cross with both the Government and the ex-militants. They question the fairness of the elections on the ground of the participation in it of the ex-militants and also the massive deployment of para-military forces on election duty. It has been alleged that voters had been forced into the polling stations. On the face of it, the charge is baseless. About 1.2 million people had voted in the three Valley constituencies. The quantum of force required to make so many people act in a particular way in this case, go to the polling booths and cast their votes - has not been available in the Valley, nor could it have gone unnoticed if deployed, Relatively, it is easier to intimidate the people not to vote. The terror let loose in the name of boycott of and resistance to elections by the Hurriyat Conference and its promoters, for instance, had kept normal life in Srinagar and other places paralyzed for days on end during April-May last.

Further, the voting did not have a uniform pattern. Areas with over 40% polling were cheek by jowl with places where nobody turned up at the polling booths. There were also about ten per cent wasted votes. Many persons who had participated in the elections claimed before the foreign media that they did so under pressure. It was apparently to escape reprisals by the terrorists.

(Source: The Janata, 18 August, 1996)

Aasha Khosa on Wisner Visit to Kashmir

The visit of American Ambassador Frank Wisner to Kashmir has helped the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) to give up its facade of unity and exposed the serious internal rifts within this 31-member secessionist conglomerate.

Shabbir Shah, (according to his) supporters had always felt uncomfortable with the APHC leaders who appeared to be always playing to the galleries. Shah had been privately accusing the Hurriyat leaders on inaction and held them responsible for the ongoing blood-letting in Kashmir.

Shah, on many occasions, had stayed away from joint appearances with other APHC leaders in public. At a recent meeting Jamia Masjid, Shah openly said the age of rhetoric was over and something concrete needed to be done to extricate the Kashmiris from the curse of gun.

Shah's friends claim he had a "cleaner image and a higher stature as a freedom fighter for independence" as compared to others like S.A.S. Geelani and Abdul Gani Lone, who have contested elections and enjoyed all perks in the Indian set-up. Hurriyat leaders are facing barrage of accusations from public about the alleged swindling of funds sent by the Islamic countries for distribution among victims of insurgency in Kashmir.

The palatial houses of a number of top-rung APHC leaders in Kashmir have become eyesore of all. Local newspapers, for which the APHC had been sacrosanct, have begun commenting editorially about the "insincerity and dishonesty of APHIC leaders".

Moulvi Omer Farooq had also, of late, been avoiding attending the APHC meetings. Sources said the Moulvi, whose father was assassinated by Hizbul Mujahideen, is under family pressure to give up the chairmanship of APHC.

As the APHC looses its sheen, chances of a new secessionist front, headed by moderate secessionist leaders, are increasing. Azam Inqulabi, the middle-aged founder of Kashmiri secessionist movement and several other leaders are forging a parallel front. Azam is highly critical of Pakistan and the existing APHC leadership.

(Source: The Indian Express, 3 August, 1996)