End Kashmir's suffering

By Siraj Shah, Friends of Kashmir , London

In his message to Pakistan the visiting American President, Mr Bill Clinton, said, "stark truth must also be faced - there is no military solution to Kashmir. International, sympathy, supports and intervention cannot be won by provoking a bigger, bloodier conflict. On the contrary, sympathy and support will be lost and no matter how great the grievance, it is wrong to support attacks against civilians across the Line of Control. Pakistan must also help create conditions that will allow dialogue to succeed. For India and Pakistan, this must be a time for restraint, for respect for the Line of Control and renewed lines of communications".

While for the people of Kashmir, Mr Clinton had this message, "borders cannot be redrawn with blood, violence must end and the Line of Control must be respected". And with the entire international community now perceiving the current turmoil in Kashmiri as an offshoot of sponsored terrorism, any prospects of a third party intervention to end the conflict are virtually zero.

Those in Kashmir who had pinned their hopes in militancy to resolve the 53 year old dispute must now accept the reality that the gun has done very little to gain them any international sympathy or support for the Kashmir cause. It is an appalling tragedy that thousands of people have lost their lives, thousands more have lost their limbs, homes and hearths, and that Kashmir's social fabric has been destroyed beyond recognition since militancy gripped the state.

Kashmir once known as a "paradise on earth" a heavenly retreat for tourists from all over the world, has been described as a "Bandit Country of Kashmir" in media reports (Sunday Times, 27 Oct 1996) since kidnapping of five foreign tourists and feared as one of the most dangerous places on earth. While its peace loving people renowned for their hospitality and kindness to outsiders are seen as suspected terrorists wherever they go.

Unfairness and injustice, never witnessed before in the entire history of Kashmir have destroyed the fabric of our society built upon centuries old tradition of religious tolerance and communal harmony. The collective psyche of Kashmiri people today feels deprived and cheated as a result of devastating damage inflicted to our unique culture and heritage, education system, economy and environment in the last 11 years of armed conflict. Militancy has choked the moderate voice of Kashmir and provided opportunities for the most corrupt, selfish and incompetent individuals to project themselves as the leaders of Kashmiri struggle.

Most distressingly human rights abuse has become ubiquitous in Kashmir. Army brutality, torture, custodial violence, reprisal attacks against civilians; disappearances and wanton destruction of property are today a palpable reality in Kashmir. People are caught in a vicious cycle of violence between Indian armed forces, militants and the renegades, their fate out of their hands. The culture of the gun and the morality of the mercenary now overwhelm a valley whose culture was once identified with the gentle teachings of Sufi mystics. Since the eruption of militancy, the agony and suffering of Kashmir has compounded while the state has plunged into a deep economic recession, chaos and anarchy.

Today, what is left in the valley is a populace stunned with confusion and sorrow, unprepared to endure more killings just to keep the Kashmir issue simmering. But Kashmiris can no longer ignore the fact that a durable solution of the Kashmir issue ultimately lies with India and not with Pakistan or any other world power. The most judicious step Kashmiri leadership can now take is to initiate a dialogue with New Delhi to negotiate the best possible political and economic package for Kashmir. A package that would fulfil the wishes and interests of vox populi and usher in a new era of peace and stability in the region with honour and dignity.

Since it is the people from Indian side of the Kashmir who have always become the victims of Indo-Pak rivalry and suffered most in the last 11 years of armed confrontation-- a dialogue in the first instance between Kashmiri representatives and New Delhi is the most logical step in the right direction. The representatives of Kashmiri people do not need to seek the permission from any one to initiate a dialogue with New Delhi.

It is true that Pakistan is also a historical party to Kashmir dispute but in the current climate of mistrust and bitterness between India and Pakistan her inclusion in any dialogue will be fruitless. But the suffering people of Kashmir cannot be expected to wait until India and Pakistan develops a friendly and cordial relationship with each other, to talk over the future of Kashmir! It will take India and Pakistan a long time yet, to transform five decades of bitterness and hostilities into friendship and mutual trust. Meanwhile, India and Pakistan should embark on a series of genuine and meaningful confidence building measures.

The people of Kashmir, irrespective of their religious affiliations, have proved it time and again that they are not prepared to accept any division of the state based on religious or ethnic basis. It is time that Pakistan also came to terms with the reality that Kashmir couldn't be conquered through force; and the only way to resolve the conflict is through a peaceful dialogue with India. And if Pakistan is really a champion of the Kashmir cause then she must help to create conditions conducive for a meaningful dialogue with India.

While New Delhi cannot afford to commit any more blunders in Kashmir by ignoring the fact that shortly after India gained her own independence, Kashmir was given full autonomy, and safeguards to preserve her economy, traditions and the complexion of her population. But the autonomy and the safeguards were nibbled away one by one. Even the staunchest of her allies, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, was removed from office and put in prison when he reminded India of her own solemn pledges given to the people of Kashmir. Therefore, if New Delhi wishes to regain the trust of Kashmiri masses, she will have to concede much more than a quantum of autonomy to satisfy them.

The tragedy of Kashmir at this crucial juncture in its turbulent history is the lack of an honest, nationalistic and visionary political leader, that could take Kashmir out from the present morass of backwardness, chaos and anarchy. It may take a long time yet for Kashmiris to groom and throw up a charismatic and popular leader like Sheikh Abdullah, but the time is fast running out for Kashmir.

Enlarging the existing political space to accommodate all shades of Kashmiri opinion could fill in the meantime present political vacuum in Kashmir. If the majority of political and historical resistance forces, within and outside Kashmir, could sink their differences for the time being and unite on a minimum agenda in which: (1) a solution acceptable to the people of the state must also be negotiable with New Delhi and (2) any division of the state on religious or ethnic basis will be unacceptable. For success of any such political move, the traumatised masses of the state will also need to muster enough courage to disown the gun.

"If we assume that mankind has a right to survive, then we must find an alternative to war and destruction. In our day of space vehicles and guided ballistic missiles, the choice is either non-violence or non-existence"- Martin Luther King