By Aamna Mahboob 2-5-007
Jammu and Kashmir a Himalayan state with an overwhelming Muslim majority was one of the 565 princely states in August 1947 when the Indian Subcontinent was divided into two independent - states - Pakistan and India. It was ruled by a Hindu Maharaja and situated between the two new counties.
According to Victoria Schofield, author of ‘Kashmir in Conflict’, the Maharaja signed a “standstill” agreement with Pakistan in order that services such as trade, travel and communication would be uninterrupted. India did not sign a similar agreement but pressed the Maharaja to announce accession to India. Yielding to the pressure in October 1947 the Maharaja Hari Singh singed the controversial Instrument of Accession giving India the jurisdiction of extant to external affairs, Defence and Communication. Taking advantage of this the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru sent the Indian Army to Srinagar.
I land at Srinagar after waiting for six hours for the flight to take off. The air is heavy and not free. I am so enthralled by the trees, the streams, the hills in the far distance, the cold air, the snow, everything. But there is something else. Every 50 meters there’s a man standing with a weapon in uniform; a soldier. The shadow of the gun looms large and suddenly I feel suffocated. The army is omnipresent. It’s like darkness filling up a vacuum. I don’t think these people think of me as one of their own. They look at me with distrust.
Then the governor General Lord Mountbatten suggested that in view of India and Pakistan’s competing claims for the state, the accession should be confirmed by a “referendum, plebiscite, election”.
Pakistan contested the accession, suggesting that it was fraudulent, the Maharaja acted under duress and he had no right to sign an agreement with India when the standstill agreement with Pakistan was still in force.
Pakistan also argued that because Hari Singh fled from the valley of Kashmir, he was not in control of his state and therefore not in a position to take a decision on behalf of his people. This led to the local revolt against the Indians purportedly supported by the tribal people of Pakistan. Then accusing Pakistan of engineering the revolt, the Indian forces attacked Pakistan. The tiny Pakistan army supported by the tribal groups confronted the army and got a part of Kashmir now called Azad Kashmir librated.
Since 1947 much water has flowed down the stream and the Kashmiri people are languishing under Indian occupation and struggling to get liberation. Interestingly it was the Indian government which took the Kashmir dispute to UN and agreed to give the right of self determination to the people of Kashmir; a dream which is yet to come true for them.
They have sacrificed not only their honour but shed blood for liberation. As a result since 1989 they are engaged in an armed struggle for liberation from Indian subjugation.
According to the ‘Hindustan Times’ about forty thousand people in Kashmir have been killed up to December 2006 but the non governmental organizations put the figure exceeding seventy thousand. The number of missing Kashmiri youth in Indian held Kashmir since the start of the armed struggle, stands at eight thousand according to Khuram Perwez, an activist of Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society.
The National Conference, a pro India party of Kashmiri law makers demanded a debate on the fake gun battles in which innocent Kashmiri youth are being killed by blaming them as terrorists.
In the given situation Pakistan has consistently called for the issue to be resolved by means of plebiscite and has blamed India for reneging on its pledge.
On the other hand the hatred against Indian forces and the urge for liberation is increasing day by day. The BBC in a broadcast “Impressions from Kashmir war zone” depicted the hatred and distrust faced due to the Indian troops in their own words.
“I land at Srinagar after waiting for six hours for the flight to take off. The air is heavy and not free. I am so enthralled by the trees, the streams, the hills in the far distance, the cold air, the snow, everything. But there is something else. Every 50 meters there’s a man standing in uniform with a weapon; a soldier. The shadow of the gun looms large and suddenly I feel suffocated. The army is omnipresent. It’s like darkness filling up a vacuum. I don’t think these people think of me as one their own. They look at me with distrust”.
Since the armed struggle by Kashmiri youth or militancy in Indian held Kashmir or what so ever it may be called, the Pakistani nation has fully supported the Kashmiri cause. They hold rallies, symposiums, seminars and conferences, and make human chains to express solidarity with the Kashmiris on February 5 every year.
Side by side the government of Pakistan has been exploring different avenues, floating fresh ideas to solve the 60-year-old dispute. It may be back channel diplomacy or parleys at different levels; it has gone far ahead to solve the issue.
However, the Indian response has always been lukewarm. At some stages advances made in this connection came to standstill due to hawkish policy of India.
Recently the president of Pakistan, Perwez Mushrraf went far ahead; by passing all the previous polices for solution of the dispute he floated the four point formula. The four-point proposal says that Kashmir will have the same borders, but people on both sides will be allowed to move freely; it will have "self-governance or autonomy" but not independence; there will be a phased pullout of troops, and a tripartite mechanism for "a joint supervision" of the disputed state.
At first the Indian response was very cautious and apparently negative but the statement by Indian Premier Dr Manmohan Singh that they want very cordial relations with neighboring countries appear to be a welcome sign. His statement; “breakfast in Amritsar, lunch in Lahore and dinner at Kabul”, was viewed a silver lining in an otherwise bleak scenario. However, soon after his statement these words were over shadowed by the Indian allegation of firing by Pakistani troops on line of control to cover up the alleged infiltration of the militants into Indian held Kashmir.
Recently, Jammu and Kashmir’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti had demanded that both Indian and Pakistan currency be permitted for use in financial transactions in the state.
Thus indirectly she supported joint control of India and Pakistan in Kashmir. But Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has bitterly condemned Mehboba’s stand.
“If there is a will there is a solution” says Pakistani president Mushrraf speaking of a solution to the issue. In the given situation the proposals moved by Mushrraf are the most appropriate. As India stresses for maximum devolution of power and a solution of the ethnic issue through negotiations in Sri Lanka, it should also adopt the same course and accept Mushrraf’s proposals for joint control of Kashmir so that the hostilities may come to an end and peace is brought to the region. If it is not done now, the yearning for peace would remain a dream and hostilities continue to haunt the people.
Comments