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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