Daily Times

Sir: Since 1947, India and Pakistan have been to war four times – the most recent being the Kargil conflict in 1999 – all of which have somehow or the other centralized around Kashmir.

It has been 71 years since the first shots were fired in the valley of Kashmir and it has not known complete peace and tranquility since then. The dispute is an aftermath of the Radcliffe Award that accompanied Britain’s withdrawal from India in 1947. Both India and Pakistan lay claim to the region, and unfortunately both are now capable of nuclear warfare. A recent report based on Indian official data suggested that 41,000 lives have been lost; Kashmiri separatists often cite a higher figure.

International intervention is out of the option due to the Simla Agreement signed by then Pakistani PM ZA Bhutto and Indian PM Indra Gandhi. This agreement was signed after the secession of East Pakistan to Bangladesh left 90,000 Pakistani soldiers as PoWs (Prisoners of War). In order to negotiate their safe release, Bhutto had to compromise and agreed to refer the Kashmir Issue only through bilateral conversation, held directly between India and Pakistan. Furthermore it was also stressed that from then on the Kashmir issue not be discussed on international forums such as the United Nations where it was being discussed previously.

Presently, this year the Indian police seem to be winning against so-called Kashmiri ‘insurgents’. Officials said at least 225 militants have been killed since the beginning of this year, the largest death toll of insurgents in a decade. What the Indian forces fail to understand however is that the Kashmiri people are simply protesting to gain a voice of their own and these people cannot be called insurgents. Brave people who rise up against oppression and tyranny are courageous and people who fight for their identity are freedom fighters.

HAMD AZAN

Lahore

Published in Daily Times, March 17^th 2019.