Nilacharal

Avoid the Prejudice

India after a long wait and watch approach, almost for two years, recognized that Pervez Musharraf's is the representative office of Pakistan. That is the reason, our Prime Minister was too enthusiastic to wish him at the dawn of the day when Musharraf assumed the Presidentship of Pakistan even though USA was keeping a guarded silence. Some in India apprehend as to how far this summit would be fruitful given the fact that Musharraf is what he is today only because of the military coup and does not enjoy the mandate of the people of Pakistan. The pessimists also cite that when Musharraf assumed the office of the President, his own second-in-command did not attend the ceremony. It is widely believed in the international stage that Musharraf orchestrated the infamous Kargil war. However, it is very interesting to note that very recently Musharraf lambasted the war cries of "irresponsible religious leaders". There is also another way to look at all the pessimistic arguments. All along the military was the thorn in the flesh although the governments elected by the people, both Benazir's or Nawaz Sheriff's governments in the recent past, were genuine about building trust with India. Whenever they made attempts, the Pakistan military threw the axe in the wheel because the military did not like the civilian prime ministers to take credit out of them. Now, the military hero himself is in the supreme chair and the military would not mind their erstwhile chief taking the credit when the summit turns out to be a success. The Pakistan military would assume this success as its own success.

Bid Adieu to Dogmatism and Jingoism

When Kashmir accession took place, there were a few pre-conditions in the "Instrument of Accession". One amongst them is to conduct a plebiscite or referendum to get the approval of the Kashmir people while ensuring full autonomy. It was never stuck to by the Indian government. In a way, we were forced to have Shimla Accord in 1972 and Lahore Declaration in 1999 only because of that error. Had we got the people's approval through a referendum then, we would not have to reiterate that "Kashmir is an integral part of India". In return, we gave autonomy and special status to Kashmir but that had only fueled the anger of dominant religious section but did not seem to have pacified or benefited the Kashmir people. The Kashmir people were more and more alienated from the mainstream because of the fact that the development in Kashmir took a back seat due to intermittent tensions. Before the Kashmir people completely go away from India, we need to win their hearts. It is unfortunate that the gunpowder masks the natural resources and tourist potential of Kashmir.

All along we have been saying that we would not talk to Pakistan on Kashmir issue but we would talk "directly to our own people". It is high time now to make an effort o understand the "real" wish of Kashmir people. There should be no place for jingoism and political rhetoric. This should not be viewed as a "fissiparous voice or fissiparous suggestion". In fact, many forward thinking Pakistanis object to Islamabad's rhetoric that India should implement 1948 UN resolution. The referendum must be conducted not only in J&K within India's border but also in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and in Azad Kashmir. The referendum should not have an option of Independent (Azad) Kashmir as we became only as two countries when British left this sub-continent and there was no concept of a third country at that point in time. If the logic to hold the referendum is to stick to the commitments retrospectively, there should be no talk of Independent Kashmir. Pakistan should not support the concept of an independent Kashmir. It would only vitiate the atmosphere and would do no good to any party.

Indispensable Measures

India must come forward and suggest that we would go back to pre-1989 situation as far as the military deployment in Kashmir is concerned. Pakistan should also reduce the military forces in the border. India and Pakistan should sign a moratorium on any war including the border fights. Pakistan should convincingly prove its genuine interest to normalize the relations with India by not sponsoring the terrorism within India. The ISI should be kept under check and control. Both the countries should sign an agreement to significantly reduce their defense budget. India's defense budget is almost one-fifth of the nation's overall budget. Even if this is brought down to 10-12% of the overall budget, the money that can be deployed for other useful measures would be a mind boggling 25,000 crores. It must be reminded here that the overall annual budget of states like Tamilnadu is around 5,000 crores. If such an enormous amount of money could be saved out of mutual trust, it can be made available for literacy mission, health and hygiene, infrastructure development, and for other poverty alleviation programmes. Especially when both the countries are in the "developing phase", it is pathetic that we waste such a precious resource due to distrust and animosity.

Both the countries should co-operate with each other for industrial development. Trade should be facilitated between the two countries. When we have a huge market next door, why do we turn a blind eye to it for unjustifiable dogmatism? Mutual visits of experts, scientists, technocrats, and cultural exponents should be made possible. There should not be any ban on sports events between the two countries on either soil. The road transport between the two countries should be immediately resumed. The road and rail transport would make the people on both sides of the line of control (LoC) to acquaint with each other freely. Those who understand the ground reality suggest the bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarbad to facilitate the transport across the LoC. The tourism in Kashmir should be encouraged. . ....more