CURRENT KASHMIR CRISIS IS NOT A PAKISTANI CREATION

 Photo courtesy Mukhtar Khan, NAMNEWSNETWORK

Mukesh Devrari

Pakistani newspapers are obsessed with India these days. They are giving too much importance to the speeches of their leaders and statements of their bureaucrats. Reading them is like listening to someone totally inebriated and talking incessantly without caring what he or she means.

Former ambassadors and public intellectuals in Pakistan through their writings are encouraging their government to raise Kashmir issue. They think it will encourage Kashmiri Muslims to protest more vehemently against India. If their version is to be believed, Pakistan has successfully cornered India on Kashmir in United Nations and rest of the world and assimilation of Kashmir in Pakistan is days away.

In India, this perspective appears extremely ambitious and unrealistic. India lived peacefully for twenty years after 1971 war. During the 1990s Pakistan started creating troubles for India again by encouraging armed militancy in Kashmir. Although it is not entirely their fault, India contributed in it by rigging state assembly elections to help National Conference. Things went out of control. Militants with the support of local population forced Kashmiri Hindus to leave the Valley, India watched as a spectator. 

Current BJP government has no Pakistan policy. They do not have any idea how to deal with the current crisis. Their dilemma has been doubled with the fact that they cannot use the rhetorical language and resort to heroic actions which they preached when they were in opposition. All out war with Pakistan is not an option. Not because it is wrong or immoral in any manner in modern statecraft, but simply because we don’t have the capability to do it properly, secondly, Pakistan is not as weak as we would like to believe, thirdly, nuclear weapons in Pakistan will scare western world to force India to pursue peace rather than war. 

Indian policy makers must think of the reasons which suddenly encouraged Pakistan to attempt internationalization of Kashmir conflict. It is unrest in Kashmir valley which is behind our troubles. India must deal with Kashmiri stone pelters and separatists. It is a battle for winning hearts and minds. Otherwise, violence will lead to the spiral of violence.  That's bad publicity for India.

No one can separate Kashmir from India. However, it does not suit India to appear as an aggressive state which resorts to violence to suppress unrest. We may not like to believe but the reality is Kashmiri Muslims hate India, as it is Hindu majority nation. Mainstream India tries to promote liberal cultural values and imitates the western value system which is anathema to the conservative Muslim population. Radical Islam in Kashmir is at the root of all issues. The decline in the influence of religion likely to help India in the long run.  

It is also a fact that many Muslim nations buy Pakistani argument that as a Kashmiri Muslims should be given a choice to join the Islamic Republic of Pakistan through the plebiscite. Constant Pakistani propaganda is ruining the image of India. It is also a cause of concern. No one in India hates Kashmiris. Not a single person in Indian armed forces has any personal hatred or ill will towards Kashmiris.

How on earth Kashmiris expect India to treat terrorist, who have openly taken arms against India to deal with? How Burhan Wani's fate could have been different? Just compare how China and Sri Lanka dealt with separatists in their respective states and how India deals with it. India still has not yet resorted to absolute violent means to suppress the misguided Kashmiri youth. There are still checks and balances in the Indian constitution to stop the absolute violation of fundamental rights along with strong civil society groups. 

We must give a considerate hearing to all their concerns. We must do everything to make their life better. We must pull armed forces from civilian areas once the situation normalizes. All their demands within the parameters of Indian constitution should be accepted. This current crisis in Kashmir is not a Pakistani creation. 

Indian armed forces released the pictures Burhan Wani after killing him in an encounter. Before he was killed, he shared his pictures along with other Islamic terrorists on social networking sites. They were published even by national media in India. These terrorists became a household name.

We could have forced Facebook to remove all his pictures. Our policymakers never thought why Americans decided to throw the body of Osama Bin Laden in an unknown place in the sea. India must not forget that it is facing a jihad in Kashmir valley. We cannot act as a totalitarian Chinese regime, but at the time we should ensure the cultural integration of Kashmir valley with mainstream India. 

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