Another diversionary effort on Kashmir

pakistan OBSERVER, Mon, April,30, 2007.

Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema

A Roundtable Conference on Kashmir has been recently held in New Delhi in which the major vehicle of Kashmiri’s struggle All Patties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) did not participate. The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke of his vision of splitting the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) into three sections of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh. He termed his idea as the ‘Naya Kashmir’. He stressed that his new Kashmir must become a model of real empowerment of the people. 

Many in India and Pakistan would question about what exactly is new. This is just dividing the IHK into three administrative units. In India many times the existing states have shortened and been deprived of some of their districts in order to form another state. In 1966 when the reorganization of states took place many states were deprived some of their districts and new states emerged. Some were divided into more than one state such as the Punjab was split into three (Punjabi Suba, Haryana and Hamachal Pradesh). 

What Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should have addressed in the conference was how to resolve the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan and not just informed the convinced another administrative arrangement. This merely amounts to pacifying critical voices in Ladakh who have been clamoring to de-link the area from Srinagar’s rule. While there is no doubt that some group in Ladakh has been asking for separation for quite some time but perhaps most important group APHC’s demands and aspirations have not yet been given any considerations. 

Not only the Kashmiri groups struggling for freedom under an umbrella organization APHC did not participate in the latest round of eyewash but no serious thought has been so far given to their aspirations. Pakistan has been openly stressing that the Kashmiris should be associated with peace process especially on the Kashmir baskets. Instead what one witnesses is a series of frivolous meetings mostly aimed at delaying the resolution of the dispute. What the Indian administration appears to be pursuing is to focus on Kashmir as a purely administrative problem and avoid viewing it as a major dispute between India and Pakistan. 

One needs not to assert over and over again that the Pakistanis have given so many out of the box solutions to India but not much response have been witnessed from the Indian side. All that what has been heard recently is that President Musharraf’s proposals to resolve the Kashmir dispute were being discussed at several official levels.  What does this means? Since so much time has passed in analyzing those ideas, by now some tangible response should have issued but one only sees or reads phrases like that the proposals have been subjected to considerations or serious considerations. 

Reports emanating from Indian sources are indicating that some more Kashmir related CBMs would be tabled. One such CBM is to accelerate the process of allowing people to board the bus that has been theoretically plying between Srinagar and Muzafferabad. So far very people have been able to travel to their respective destinations either in Azad Kashmir or in IHK primarily the procedure is lengthy and complex which, in turn, discouraged many interested travelers.  Admittedly if e-mail is employed to accelerate the procedure, then the chances for increase in travelers would certainly brighten. 

Addressing the roundtable Prime Minister referred to his vision of ‘Naya Kashmir’ as a simple vision which he argued must become ‘a model of real empowerment of the people and comprehensive security for them’. Both ideas of ‘people’s empowerment and comprehensive security’ deserve comments. Real empowerment of the people of Kashmir would entail not just the reduction of security forces but also the release of political prisoners along with drastic reduction in human rights violations. Many international reports have tried to impress upon the government of India to reduce if not altogether eliminate these undesired violations. 

As far as comprehensive security is concerned it implies the absence of real or perceived threats whether stemming from external sources or internal turmoil or economic disparities or social inequalities to certain coveted values. Economic, physical and power disparities and social inequalities seem to be the important features of the incumbent international political system. The main sources of violence in IHK are internal and nothing has been done to plug them. 

A vast number of human rights violations are the product of excesses committed by the large number of security forces. India is not willing to reduce the security forces on the repeatedly employed excuse of cross border terrorism despite the well acknowledged fact and claims by many important Indian political and military leaders that the cross border infiltration has largely reduced. 

Prime Minister of India constituted five working groups last May to suggest various political and economic measures to build confidence among the people of IHK. Although some of the recommendations of these working groups have been adopted, but none of the recommendations deals with the resolution of dispute between India and Pakistan. All these recommendations are devised to help improve the life of the Kashmiris in IHK. The primary focus is to please the Kashmiri people by improving economic conditions in the state and adopting elements of good governance. 

Whatever one say about these developments, one thing is becoming clear that India is unlikely to agree to Pakistani suggestion of involving the Kashmiri representatives in the ongoing composite dialogue-at least in near future. The Roundtable without APHC has only focused on providing funds for developmental projects and to inject elements of good governance. One fails to comprehend the logic that what can be done is not done but a rosy picture of future is being painted. The security forces can be easily reduced; human rights violations can be drastically cut down, political prisoners can be released etc. 

Given the nature of statements and the recommendations of the various working groups, it is not too far fetched to assume that this roundtable is another of India’s cleverly devised move to delay the resolution of dispute. The signals from Pakistani sides are generating optimism whereas the signals emanating from Indian side merely reflect tactical moves in the well planned delaying strategy. The Pakistani President during his recent tour of Spain generated optimism when he stated that a reasonable progress have been made with regard to Kashmir dispute. 

Undoubtedly the onus for lack of progress is upon India but as experienced in the past that India would always blame Pakistan for failing to stop infiltrations. Even in the roundtable the Indian Prime Minister deemed fit to put the blame on Pakistan. Many Pakistanis are becoming increasingly convinced that Dr. Manmohan Singh led Congress government is neither capable nor desirous to make much progress on the conflict resolution area. They see the current roundtable as nothing more than another frivolous move.

The writer works for Islamabad Policy research Institute.