Author: Balraj Madhk
Publication: Lokmat Times, Nagpur
Date: August 15, 2001
Introduction: Now there is no use
talking or writing about making of Kashmir problem. The people who made
it are dead and gone. Now, it is the time of salvaging it and unmaking
it on the basis of experience of the last 54 years. The basic things needed
are realism, full grasp of the ground realities and a nationalistic approach.
Much has been written on the Kashmir
problem. It is now generally accepted that the key role in making Kashmir
a problem was played by Nehru. He had emotional attachment with the Kashmir
Valley from where his ancestors came, was obsessed with Sheikh Abdullah
who originally belonged to the same Kaul clan of Kashmiri Brahmins to which
Nehru belonged and had rooted prejudice against Maharaja Harisingh.
According to Sh. Abdullah, as written
by him in his autobiography, Atish-i-Chinar, Nehru loved Kashmir like a
beautiful woman and wanted to possess it. Abdullah wanted to become the
master of Kashmir to satisfy his political ambition. He banked on Nehru
to fulfil his ambition and Nehru relied more on double dealer Abdullah
than patriotic Harisingh, who was known to be close to Sardar Patel. This
partisan and parochial mindset of Nehru was responsible for his decision
to put Jammu and Kashmir state out of the purview of Sardar Patel. Had
handling of Jammu and Kashmir also been left to Sardar Patel, there would
surely have been no Kashmir problem as such. Horizon of Sh. Abdullah, as
had become clear from Quit Kashmir Movement that he launched in 1946, was
confined to Kashmir. He had no locus stand in Jammu and Ladakh and no influence
on the Muslims of Gilgit, Baltistan and Punjab-speaking Muslims of Muzzafarbad,
Poonch and Mirpur. His instinctive sympathy for Pakistan and his self-interest
demanded that the Muslim majority non-Kashmiri regions of the state were
allowed to pass into the control of Pakistan. Nehru had little knowledge
about these less interest in them. Both bungled to hand them over to Pakistan.
Ceasefire of January 1, 1949 put the seal of finality on it. Nehru was
not interested in getting these areas back. That explains his repeated
offers to Pakistan to accept the ceasefire line as the line of division
of the state between India and Pakistan. His daughter, India Gandhi, tried
to do the same even after the decisive victory of 1971. She never raised
the question of restoration of Pak-occupied territory to India at Shimla
in 1972. She too was interested in Kashmir Valley only.
The rich dividends that Pakistan
got from its aggression against India in 1947-48 convinced it that Indian
leadership could be browbeaten to part with Kashmir Valley also. Failure
of India to integrated Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh with the rest of India
even after the victory of 1971 and evasive attitude of Bhutto about acceptance
of Line of Control encouraged Pakistan to step up its pressure. Sh. Abdullah,
who was restored to power in Jammu and Kashmir in 1975 virtually acted
as an enemy within and prepared the ground in the Valley for the launching
of its game plan by Pakistan after it became free from its Jehadi involvement
in Afghanistan in 1988.
Islamic Jehad has been in full operation
in Kashmir since then. General Musharraf, who rode to power in Pakistan
in 1999 with the support of indoctrinated Pak Army and various Jehadi groups
and organisations operating within Pakistan, has double compulsions to
step up Islamic Jehad in Kashmir. He has to cater to his constituency --
the Jehadi groups and army to justify his coup in Pakistan. Being an Urdu-speaking
Mohajir from India who has no roots in any province of Pakistan, he has
to prove that he is a better Mujahid then. Nawaz Sharif and Banazir Bhutto.
That explains his strident attitude and intransigent stand at Agra.
It is no use apportioning blame
for the failure of the Agra summit. It was a foregone conclusion. According
to inside information, Advani played a commendable role at Agra. But the
final decision was the result of collective wisdom of the team that Vajpayee
had taken with him there. Now there is no use talking or writing about
making of Kashmir problem. The people who made it are dead and gone. Now,
it is the time of salvaging it and unmaking it on the basis of experience
of the last 54 years. The basic things needed are realism, full grasp of
the ground realities and a nationalistic approach. While India should continue
to reiterate its legal claim on Pak and China occupied territory of the
state, it must concentrate its attention on setting its own house in order.
That demands:
i) A spell of President's rule in
Jammu and Kashmir. The present government has failed all along the line
and lost its credibility in all the -three regions of the state.
ii) Reorganisation of the state
and formation of separate states of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory
of Ladakh on the basis of unalterable geography and history. Farooq Abdullah's
approach in the matter - is, totally communal and untenable. This reorganisation
can be effected through a Presidential notification under sub-section 3
of the Article 370 of the Constitution.
iii) Fresh elections to the assemblies
of the new states should be held as early as possible. They should be fair
and free.
iv) Further internal political set-up
of Kashmir with some special powers within the four walls of the Indian
Constitution as suggested by Home Minister L K Advani in his statement
in Parliament on July 26, should be devised in consultation with the new
elected representatives of Kashmir Valley.
v) Any new set-up of Kashmir must
provide for settlement of half a million Kashmir Hindus in a well-demarcated
and secure area in southern part of the Kashmir Valley with a special status
as desired by the leaders of Jammu Kashmir.
They and the Jehadi groups must
be dealt with firmly on our own strength, instead of begging Pakistan to
restrain them. It would be a advisable for the Prime Minister to make an
announcement on the lines given above in this address to the nation from
Red Fort today, August 15. (INFA)
