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SINECURES
& BENEFACTORS OF CONFLICT IT’S ULTIMATELY A POOR COMMON MAN’S SON WHO SUFFERS TO FEED AN UGLY POLITICS JUNAID
AZIM MATTU The obduracy of the conflict in Kashmir is all too visible. Albeit the sinecures that sustain and prolong it, are often less visible – merging and dovetailing into the rhetorical séances of a status-quo-ist discourse. Our radical-by-convenience leaders tell us that an amicable, acceptable and pragmatic resolution means a ‘sell-out’. Nothing short of a plebiscite ‘come what may’ are the charming proclamations that resound from safe houses and pulpits of righteousness. They speak of morals and integrity as they unabashedly bask in an accountability-free atmosphere of sensationalism and polemics, feeling little or no need to answer questions – where are we headed and how? Desperate cries for realism are subdued by invoking the imagery of blood and gore, belittling our numerous sacrifices by reducing them into bargaining chips and discounting equations. END KASHMIRS SUFFERING "Kashmir's history dates back to 7th Century when Indian Union and Pakistan were not even conceived, its long history of independence was broken over 250 years ago when Afghans established their rule over Kashmir" For more than half a century the people of Jammu & Kashmir have become the victims of deep rooted political corruption in Delhi and Islamabad; while successive generations of Kashmiri leaders have exploited their religious and emotional sentiments only for their personal gains. It is an appalling tragedy that despite three major Indo-Pak wars over Kashmir, colossal loss of human life and massive displacement of people the question of Kashmir remains unresolved. GENESIS OF KASHMIR CONFLICT More than sixty-three years after the partition, four major Indo-Pak wars, 38 years after the Simla Agreement, colossal loss of human life and displacement of people the question of Kashmir is no closer to a solution. It is an appalling tragedy that so many people have perished, that the lives of two generations have been blighted, that India and Pakistan have gone to war four times, and that the resources of the Indian subcontinent are diverted into an arms race away from much-needed human development. It is lamentable that that we should allow such a tragic situation to linger on for the next fifty years! |
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