One of the topics that echoed loud at United Nations General Assembly session was the situation turning out in a disputed piece of the land in the erstwhile subcontinent known as Kashmir. It felt like a sudden turn of events as no one would have thought about it if you go a couple of months back.
So, what has led to all the brouhaha that gained steam gradually at UNGA session? Perhaps, seemingly India has been deeply impressed with the way Israel has continued to spread its tentacles onto the Palestinian land, and that too with impunity. Or was it an Israeli suggestion all out?
Israel could have said we have been doing this for the past half a century and nothing has happened beyond condemnation; we managed to annex land over land, area over area; legitimacy? What legitimacy? Legitimacy does not count in this 21st century world. It is all about high handedness, weapons, and enforcement. Does Kashmir has their own well-armed professional force do defend itself? The answer is no. That is exactly what we have in our peninsula also. No well-armed force to fight against and we continue to dismantle the buildings in the midway. Don’t think of it as an octopus unfolding its tentacles. Everything is fair in love and war. It’s for the love of our country.
Deeply impressed by the argument, India embarks onto do exactly similar in the disputed area in their occupied land. First and foremost, cut all media outlets and channels of communications. No chance of the world imagining what’s happening out there. No news about Kashmir is the best news and for that a complete crackdown of media and communication channels in the region was necessary. Israel has done that emphatically for over half a century; why can’t we? Are we son of lesser God?
Next, legitimacy. Well, even though there were 11 UN Security Council resolutions terming Kashmir as disputed piece of land but let’s not discuss that. Line of control is the status quo and beyond Line of Control is what is ours now. We will deal with it the way we want to; suppress any elements causing us any concern in administering the area. There has been some news about us trying to changing the demographics in the Jammu and Kashmir and the Ladakh area.
There has always been a sword that has threatened ever since that the disputed Kashmir area is Muslim majority and if there happens any situation of referendum, like the UNSC resolutions states, we want to ensure once and for all that the vote happens the way we want the turnout to be. It’s the 21st century; no one cares about legitimacy, it’s the interests that matters; no matter strategic or economic ones. One thing that we missed to say above. We are totally certain that a referendum is an impossibility but just in case. Insuring against the impossible.
There can be one spoiler that makes the situation somewhat different from the way Israel has handled the Palestinian land, and that is Pakistan. Well the strategy can work out equally effectively if Pakistan wasn’t there in the first place but does Pakistan’s view or their clamor even matter. The Simla Agreement already states that the two countries will have to resolve the issue amongst ourselves. So, why internationalize the issue or let UN take lead of it. When it’s just between two countries, we know how to nip the issue in the bud. While we shall not talk, we most certainly shall plagiarize the Middle East Palestinian strategy. All hail the Israeli way of handling!
The writer is a Political Analyst with interest in Pakistan’s history and politics