Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan has broken the silence on the Pulwama attack with a clearly laid and reasonable statement. Mr. Khan has made it clear that Pakistan has no soft corner for terrorist outfits.

Imran Khan rightly estimates that “Modi government has lost the plot in J&K and Kashmir has become India’s Achilles’ heel. As the situation dictates, Kashmir surges once again as the centre piece of India’s foreign policy. Analyst M.K. Bhadrakumar (a former Indian Ambassador) is right in pointing out “without doubt, the victory in sight in Afghanistan gives Pakistan a free hand now to turn to the Kashmir Valley.” The United States has finally admitted that only through talks and negotiations with the Taliban can the Afghan problem be resolved. What brought about the military stalemate for Americans and NATO in Afghanistan was mainly the failure of American policy and underestimating the need for negotiations with the Taliban. Pakistan’s peace efforts and facilitating talks and negotiations was a major contribution to end the 17 years long war.

Imran Khan’s reference to the Afghan situation implies that a similar fate awaits India in Kashmir Valley where a stalemate is steadily developing on ground until fatigue sets in for the Indian side, which will be compelled to come to the negotiating table and to opt for peace. In the beginning of his speech, Imran Khan reminded Modi that it is dealing with a “new Pakistan with a new mindset and a new thought process. We hope that like Afghanistan, this issue (Kashmir) will also be resolved through dialogue”. There has to be a political response. Pakistan has to watch the developing-turn of events politically, militarily and diplomatically.

Sanity must prevail. It is the extreme of human rights violation and state terrorism that the Modi government is promoting in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK). India is violating international laws and interfering in other countries’ internal affairs. India, a country of more than one billion people has blinded itself to the reality that India’s problem is not Pakistan. The killing of people can never be celebrated. It cannot be celebrated by suppression and violent politics, killing Kashmiris’ who on their own are struggling for their right of self-determination as per the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions. Kashmir is not an issue of law and order; it is a vital issue of the Kashmiris’ right of self-determination, defining their future. Unfortunately, Indian politics in Kashmir have been used not to correctly understand human feelings and rights but simply as a tool to win elections and to remain in power by whatever means. This has been going on for decades to make Kashmir a graveyard of unfortunate people who have shown courage and have not given up hope to win a homeland of their own and to secure future of their next generations.

Prime Minister, Imran Khan’s warning to Indian leadership is in the right direction. India must learn from its past mistakes and appreciate the positive outlook of Pakistan seeking peace and the wellbeing of the two countries.

The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah talked of national consolidation. He wanted India to deal with Pakistan on equal footing. A major external factor in not being able to contain ethnic divisions was India’s attitude and hegemonic approach. With all the limitations, a territory, a homeland for Muslims, had to be created. A ‘moth eaten’ Pakistan was acceptable to Jinnah because he knew there would never be another such opportunity available. Pakistan had to resist India more effectively since they saw this country as an existential threat after the first Kashmir war and New Delhi’s rapprochement with Kabul. What a perception? In fact it was not India but Pakistan that faced an existential threat. India had invaded and occupied the Muslim majority state of Kashmir through conspiracy. The British commander-in-chief had supported Nehru to make the illegal occupation of Kashmir possible. And he did not obey the order of the Governor General of Pakistan. India had all the resources of the British Raj. Pakistan was denied its rightful share and had to start from scratch. It was a great injustice to Pakistan and to Kashmiris’. Kashmir is a disputed territory. The solution has to be found in the United Nations Resolutions.

There is no military solution. A negotiated settlement of Kashmir is the only way possible. Conflict resolution is the immediate need to stop bloodshed and the killing of innocent civilians. Bilateralism on Kashmir has clearly failed. A third party intervention is necessary, if forces sincere to both India and Pakistan try to resolve the issue. Mediated dialogue could mean hope for peace in the region. There is give and take when you negotiate. Both countries will have to be imaginative and not stick to their fixations. Progress will be possible if both countries move away from their set view point. Patience and consideration is needed from the humanitarian point of view to put an end to violence and brutal killings. Kashmir belongs to Kashmiris. If they are fighting for their rights it is no sin, it cannot be labeled as terrorism or Jihadism. Kashmir is their motherland. So, don’t humiliate them in their own homeland.

The writer is a former Director of the National Institutes of Public Administration (NIPA), a public policy expert, a political analyst, and an established author

Published in Daily Times, February 24^th 2019.