We witnessed glimpses of the anger and anguish of the Kashmiri Muslims against the revocation of the special status of Kashmir as enshrined in the Constitution of the secular India of Jawaharlal Nehru when curfew was relaxed for a few hours to allow Muslim worshippers to attend the collective Friday prayers in Srinagar. After the prayers, thousands of Muslims gathered into an instant demonstrating crowd defying security restrictions. They were baton charged, fired upon by pellet guns and injured. Hundreds of them have landed in the Srinagar hospitals. Similar public demonstrations erupted in the town of Kargil in defiance of the curfew restrictions that reflected the resentment of the Ladakh Muslims against the onslaught of Mr. Mod’s Hindu fascist regime on their land. It seems that Mr. Modi has bitten off what he would not be able to chew unless he turns the entire territory of Kashmir into a war zone or a killing field. This would inevitably lead to what is called genocide – a genocide that would surpass the tragic ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo, Albania and Burma which shook the slumbering conscience of the world community, or what happened in the African countries of Rwanda, Congo and the Central African Republic which, perforce, moved the lethargic UN into action and the deployment of peacekeeping forces. This would unmask the ugly face of the Hindu fascism to the world. What I feel is that the BJP leaders, out of sheer desperation and religious fanaticism, have exercised their last option to keep Kashmir with India. They tried suppression by bayonets keeping over a half a million troops in the valley since years that were at liberty to arrest, rape, arson, kill, maim and blind the armless people of Kashmir since the first revolt starting from 1989. They also tried the political option but the Kashmiri people rejected the BJP in the elections of 2014 dashing the hope of Narendra Modi to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir. The state, off and on, has been governed by an elected administration under a Kashmiri leader or by Governor Rule. This, more or less, has been the political history of the state since the shameful flight of the British Imperialists. Having fully tried the military and political options, what more has India in its armoury to keep Kashmir under the thumb of Hindu fascism? The BJP regime would resort to change of demographics and ethnic cleansing, turning the overwhelming majority Muslims into a minority. If the movement of the Kashmiri people for self-determination survives this odious move too, would they submit to the will of the Kashmiri people. Apparently, they would be at the end of their options. The government of Jammu and Kashmir in exile should lay claim on all the territory of Kashmir under the illegal occupation of India as the article of 370 and clause 35-A have been revoked laying bare the sinister designs of India to strip Kashmiris of their autonomy and their ownership of the territory Au contraire, Pakistan has many options even after taking some diplomatic, political and economic steps. Pakistan has to be alert to the likely Indian move to transmogrify its constitutional rape of Kashmir into doggerels of their traditional narrative on terrorism promoted from the other side of the LoC. We have to tightly leash the Jihadists or militant Islamists. Apart from the strong aversion of the world community to terrorism and militant Islam, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is already heavily breathing over our neck. We are still stuck in the grey list in FATF. This could affect the flow of finances from the International Monetary Fund as indicated by its resident Director a few days ago. We could hardly afford any lapse. Any wrong step on this count will send us spiraling into a hazardous pitfall. Why should Pakistan now feel bound by the bilateral Shimla Agreement when India never gave it two-dimes worth in the past over four and a half decades, and violated its clauses to unilaterally alter the status of the disputed territory, making it an integral part of its Union!In the Hobbesian world of power politics, the major powers are not bound by laws or agreements. They apply only to small states. India, unfortunately, has been steadfastly following this maxim. In the new emerging situation, India would never think of the agreement to be of any worth for interface between the two states. One suggestion is that Pakistan, in order to increase pressure on India, could consider provisionally renouncing the Shimla Agreement that has already been made irrelevant by the Indian move. Subject to the situation as it evolves in Kashmir after the lifting of curfew and the restoration of communication means, Pakistan could go a step further to alter its policy towards Kashmir giving Azad Kashmir further autonomy for self- rule. This would give a new lease of life to the freedom movement in the Indian held Kashmir, and impregnate Kashmiris with a new vigour to fight back. If the conditions permit, and subject to prior consultations with China, a grand coalition of the Kashmiri leaders across the border could be arranged in a neutral country to form a government in exile which Pakistan should recognize immediately and lobby with the friendly countries to follow suit.This government in absentia can apply for membership of the UN. I shall dare hyphenate this suggestion with our previous experience in failing to convince our friends to recognize the Taliban regime in Kabul though they were controlling over 80% of the territory of the country. After all, this is what India did in the former East Pakistan forming the Awami League government in exile based in Kolkata and recognizing it. This would push India to a defensive position. The government of Jammu and Kashmir in exile should lay claim on all the territory of Kashmir under the illegal occupation of India as the article of 370 and clause 35-A have been revoked laying bare the sinister designs of India to strip Kashmiris of their autonomy and their ownership of the territory. The situation is very delicate and demands extraordinary caution and wisdom. A wrong step could cast us dearly. The world is weary of wars. War is no option. We should avoid warby all means unless it is imposed on us. The author was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books