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archive: Kashmir not the core

Kashmir not the core

Editorial
The Times of India
Posted on Fri, 02 Jul 1999 11:48:13 +0530


    Title: Kashmir not the core
    Author: Editorial
    Publication: The Times of India
    Date June 28, 1999
    
    It is somewhat understandable that many in this country fear US
    involvement in the Kargil conflict might trap India into some
    mediation or arbitration prejudicial to our interests.  The British
    betrayal in 1948 -when they reneged on the provisions of the Indian
    Independence Act of their own Parliament on Kashmir's accession - and
    the Cold War bias of the Western powers towards Pakistan would explain
    this Indian mistrust.  However, the world does not stand still and the
    international strategic environment is constantly in flux.  If the US
    had any plans of mediating, it would not have dispatched, at this
    stage, an official of the rank of a mere deputy assistant secretary of
    state.  Obviously, the official came here only to report on General
    Zinni's mission to Pakistan.  Various pronouncements from Islamabad -
    including the Pakistan Army chief's announcement of the possibility
    and desirability of a Clinton-Sharif meeting - would tend to indicate
    that at present Pakistan is not in a mood to vacate its aggression. 
    Instead, it appears to be seeking a quid pro quo in terms of a
    substantive discussion on Kashmir to reach a solution on its terms. 
    The Pakistan prime minister is in Beijing today and already the China
    Daily has called for a cease fire, which would freeze the status quo
    to Pakistan's advantage.  Foreign minister Sartaj Aziz is attending
    the Organisation of Islamic Conference meeting in Ouagadougou and one
    need not be surprised if Islamabad's call for a cease fire and
    resumption of dialogue gets nominal support.
    
    The problem today is that Indian thinking is still deeply mired in a
    re-active mode.  At present, the Indian official mood is oscillating
    between euphoria at the G-8's mild endorsement of India's stand and
    vague fears of international involvement in the Kashmir dispute. 
    Unless India takes a proactive approach, it will continue to be
    exposed to the risk of external intervention.  As of now, India deals
    with Kashmir on terms dictated by Pakistan, which considers the
    dispute to be the core issue.  India has to tell the world loudly and
    clearly that Kashmir is not the issue.  Rather it is the 'two-nation
    theory'- a direct off-shoot of religious fundamentalism and the
    doctrine of ethnic cleansing.  India must emphasise that Pakistan's
    claim to Kashmir stems from the same obscurantist logic as that
    country's blasphemy laws, its discrimination against women and
    oppression of the Ahmediya community, its suppression of journalists,
    its militarist authoritarianism fuelled by fundamentalism, its
    narcotics trafficking and its sponsorship of terrorism.  India lost
    out on Kashmir during the Cold War because the West was prepared to
    sacrifice human rights and democratic values for opportunistic
    advantages.  While Washington's policies are still driven by national
    interests and not democratic values, the compulsions of the Cold War
    are no longer there.  Therefore, India should initiate a campaign to
    portray the issue of Kargil as a symptom of the struggle to defend
    democracy, secularism and human rights against the reactionary and
    divisive two-nation theory which considers religious differences to be
    the basis of perpetual hatred and division.  Indians have full respect
    for Pakistan's right to organise itself as it sees fit.  However,
    there is no way India will ever accept that religion should be the
    basis of nationhood.  To accept that is to justify acts like ethnic
    cleansing and the Holocaust.
    



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