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Kashmir will be paradise on earth again

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By Vishnu Prakash

"If there is a paradise on earth; It is this, it is this, it is this" ― Amir Khusrau, an iconic Indian mystical musician, poet and scholar, thus dedicated a paean to Kashmir in the 13th century.

Little did he know that the guileful British would sow seeds of discord in the paradise by partitioning India before quitting in 1947. Freedom also resulted in bloodshed and amputation of India.

Under the Indian Independence Act, 1947 Muslim majority regions devolved to Pakistan provided they were geographically contiguous. The princely states were given the choice to accede to India or Pakistan.

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), one such princely state, was ruled by a Hindu ― Maharaja Hari Singh. A majority of its population was Muslim. The ruler wanting independence (which was not on offer) vacillated. In order to force his hand, an impatient Pakistani establishment sent armed raiders (Afridi tribesmen and army regulars) to occupy the state by force.

Alarmed, the Maharaja sought India's military assistance, but was asked to first exercise his choice. He decided to accede formally to India on October 26, 1947.

The Instrument of Accession was accepted by Governor General Lord Mountbatten, an appointee of the British crown. Indian troops were flown into the theater and began to get the occupation vacated. That did not suit the British game plan, which preferred the issue to hang fire, in the hope of retaining a mediatory role on the Indian subcontinent.

Mountbatten persuaded Prime Minister Nehru to take the matter to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) in 1948, instead of completely driving out the Pakistani invaders.

To India's dismay, under British influence, the UNSC ignored the legalities and gave a political verdict asking ― a) Pakistan to withdraw from the occupied territory and cease hostilities; b.) India next to "progressively reduce" its forces to the minimum level for maintaining law and order; c) India to conduct a plebiscite to ascertain the will of the people. Even though the resolution was flawed, as a responsible member of the comity of nations, India agreed. However, Pakistan refused to withdraw its troops, but demanded a plebiscite that was a non-starter.

Nevertheless, to give the U.N. resolution a chance of being implemented, in the remote possibility of Pakistan withdrawing its forces from occupied Kashmir (POK), India temporarily accorded a special autonomous status to J&K under Article 370 of the Constitution, which was promulgated on January 26, 1950. In the same spirit, Article 35A was inserted temporarily in 1954, prohibiting non-Kashmiris from acquiring property in the Kashmir region.

While disingenuously asking India to implement the U.N. resolution, Pakistan set about changing the demographics in POK. Not content and to seal a special alliance, Islamabad gifted a chunk of the occupied Kashmir to China in 1963. In due course Gilgit and Baltistan (one of the regions in POK) was de facto absorbed by Pakistan. As a result, presently 35 percent and 20 percent of J&K is under the illegal occupation of Pakistan and China respectively.

Meanwhile Articles 370 and 35A bred a feeling of alienation among Kashmiris. Over time, groups wanting a split, aided and abetted by Pakistan, sprang up. It led to disorder, under-development, discrimination and corruption especially in the Kashmir region. Islamabad kept up the rhetoric of Islamic brotherhood with Kashmir, conveniently ignoring the fact that India was home to the world's second-largest Muslim community (200 million) after Indonesia. Nor did it learn any lesson from its East wing breaking away in 1971 to become Bangladesh, despite the Islamic bond, due to atrocities committed on the Bengali people.

During the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Pakistan became a launch pad and heaven for the U.S. trained Islamic fighters (Mujahideen) who carried out guerrilla operations against the Soviets. Pakistan received billions of dollars in assistance and military equipment for its services from the U.S. It diverted some of its ill-gotten resources to initiate a proxy war against India, first in Punjab and next in J&K in 1989. Terrorism fostered by Pakistan has so far consumed about 45,000 lives in the state.

On August 5, 2019, India abrogated the temporary provisions of Articles 370 and 35A, which should have been done decades ago, to safeguard India's unity and integrity, as well as to spur peace and development in J&K. The Indian Parliament passed a resolution to this effect, with an overwhelming majority.

The move was supported by several opposition parties and hailed by the people across the nation. Even leading Islamic countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, recognized the development as an internal matter of India.
Pakistan pleaded with China ― its "all-weather" friend ― to convene an informal meeting of the UNSC for closed consultations on Kashmir, but drew a blank.

Given its dismal track record as a narco-terror state, which has been brutalizing its own Province of Baluchistan and its minority population, Pakistan similarly could not make any headway at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR). However, it is unlikely to give up in a hurry, due to its compulsive hostility toward India.

Today Pakistan is a bankrupt and failing state, but continues to nurture terrorists. During his July 2019 visit to the U.S., Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan publicly admitted ―"…when you talk about militant groups, we still have about 30,000-40,000 armed people who have been trained and fought in some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir."

U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said recently, "Of all the countries I've dealt with, I consider Pakistan to be the most dangerous, because of the radicalisation of its society and the availability of nuclear weapons."

India has always sought peace, dialogue and cooperation with Pakistan, but not under the threat of a gun or nuclear blackmail. People of India and Pakistan have similar developmental aspirations. However, the Pakistani deep state ― military, jihadis (Islamic fighters) and intelligence agencies ― which is a law unto itself, has a different agenda. It is hoped that our neighbor will read the writing on the wall and change course, before it does more damage to itself. In any event, now that India has corrected a historical wrong, Kashmir will soon become a paradise on earth again.


Vishnu Prakash is a former Indian ambassador to South Korea.




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