With the intractable Kashmir conflict raging unabated, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent call for a multilateral resolution to the dispute must have been taken into account. However, the Indian government, asserting that the dispute had to be resolved bilaterally between New Delhi and Islamabad, quickly dismissed the proposal. In response to India’s refusal to consider a multilateral solution, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz stated, “The Indian counter-proposal that it is ready for bilateral dialogue with Pakistan is no longer credible because, in the past two decades, India has scuttled all opportunities for a meaningful dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN Security Council’s relevant Resolutions on Kashmir.”
For centuries, writers and poets have paid homage to the Kashmir’s unmatched natural beauty; majestic mountains, crystal clear lakes and verdant hills were once considered an idyllic holiday destination particularly for skiing and house boating. Sadly, for decades, Kashmir has been ravaged by endless conflict.
Describing Srinagar, the capital of Indian-held Kashmir, famed Kashmiri writer Basharat Peer observes, “Once a beautiful medieval city known for its multi-storey wooden houses with latticework windows, exquisite Sufi shrines, ancient Hindu temples, and ornate houseboats on Dal Lake, Srinagar is now one of the world’s most militarised cities. It has lost its nights to a decade and a half of curfews and de facto curfews. Srinagar now has empty streets, locked shops, angry soldiers and boys with stones.”
In 1947, Britain’s prized imperial possession of India came to a turbulent end with the arbitrary delineation of boundaries by the withdrawing colonialists. Since then, the fabled vale of Kashmir has been the site of horrific violence as its status continues to remain fiercely contested between Pakistan and India.
Hostile relations between Pakistan and India assumed a chilling dimension in 1974 when India test-fired its first nuclear missile — a move that caused disquiet not only in Pakistan but also across the region.
Though President Erdogan’s call for an urgent constructive dialogue went unheeded by New Delhi, it remains starkly clear that a stalemate on the issue of Kashmir remains unsustainable. Recurrent tensions between Pakistan and India in a protracted conflict, which has cost countless lives, a heavily militarised Line of Control, and the stockpiling of deadly arsenal has overwhelmed bilateral relations for far too long.
Renowned journalist Mirza Waheed’s account of the Indian military’s brutally repressive measures following the killing of 22-year-old activist Burhan Wani in 2016 underscores the horrific violence routinely deployed against a helpless Kashmiri population. “Since July, when the killing of a young militant leader sparked a furious civilian uprising across the Kashmir valley, the Indian state has responded with singular ruthlessness, killing more than 90 people. Most shocking of all has been the breaking up of demonstrations with “non-lethal” pellet ammunition, which has blinded hundreds of Kashmiri civilians.”
Last month, six civilians were killed in Indian-held Kashmir when police fired on protesters at a polling station during a parliamentary by-election. More recently, Kashmiri militant group Hizbul Mujahideen claimed responsibility for an attack that killed five Indian officers. However, India has blamed Pakistan for the attack, a charge that Pakistan has unequivocally denounced. Ironically, though political relations remain characteristically fraught between Pakistan and India, cultural ties between the two countries are vibrant with several collaborative projects in television, cinema, music and fashion.
However, intransigence on the central issue of Kashmir remains untenable with the people of Kashmir rising against decades of malign military occupation. The will of the people can no longer be ruthlessly undermined, and their right to self-determination must be finally realised. Celebrated author Arundhati Roy explains the new-found assertion of the Kashmiri people in the face of ongoing repression as: “Raised in a playground of army camps, checkpoints, and bunkers, with screams from torture chambers for a soundtrack, the young generation has suddenly discovered the power of mass protest, and above all, the dignity of being able to straighten their shoulders and speak for themselves, represent themselves. For them, it is nothing short of an epiphany.”
With polarised positions often framed across religious and nationalistic lines, it must be remembered that the valley of Kashmir was once a land where a multiplicity of communities harmoniously flourished.
The writer is the founding editor of Blue Chip magazine. She tweets @MashaalGauhar