Written on 1/10/2010
A temporary truce has been bargained, bartered, bought and begun in Kashmir.
But in which Kashmir? In the so called 'Indian Occupied Kashmir' - that is how the world recognizes this part. That is the crux of Indian tragedy and national failure. It is only our Kashmir that is recognized as disputed territory. The Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) is seldom drawn into territorial dispute. The China Occupied Kashmir (COK) - Aksai Chin is never questioned about its ownership. Our weak leadership, lack of foresight, fractured political wisdom and diplomatic indecisiveness have made the world bolder to the concept of 'dispute' on Kashmir. And they all just mean the portion on which we have territorial command.
It is a diplomatic disaster that the UN Secretary General called our Kashmir a disputed territory last week. This has ruffled the feathers of those who want to fly the 'plebiscite' kite. Our representatives in the UN should have corrected the phrase 'disputed' to 'disturbed'. But we have a clerical Government that has neither political strength nor the sense of perspective national responsibility.
Pakistan has recently spoken about the similarity of Kashmir to Palestine and has elevated the Kashmir tangle to the historic proportion of the Middle East. This is a new angle of diplomatic mischief, prompted solely by our inaction and irresponsibility. It is high time that we dropped our defensive tenor about Kashmir and claimed both POK and COK as disputed - an act somewhat half-heartedly attempted by Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee.
The basic question that should rock the parliament is whether we should defend Kashmir by continuing to repulse Pakistani assertions OR whether we should aggressively go on offensive to thwart external aggressions, develop infrastructure, promote settlements in the manner the Israelis guard their precious lands and wage a focused war on Pakistan's dominance on Kashmir issue. It is high time that we took up the second option. Instead, we are talking to the parties in Kashmir that want to further fracture this piece of land, giving them an impression that we recognize the status of 'dispute'.
It is also essential that Kashmir consciousness is spread amongst Indians the way it is spread by the Pakistani leadership amongst its citizens. Every Pakistani cares for and revers Kashmir the way the their religious edicts are dignified. Whereas, Kashmir consciousness is weak in Indian minds and is a remote and vague issue for a majority of our populace. Pakistan as a nation can be aroused on the word 'Kashmir'. But large parts of India cannot make sense of it as it has not been elevated as an issue of national integrity or psyche by the political leadership.
In all, bringing peace within Kashmir, flushing terrorists off the lands, developing infrastructure, promoting aggressive settlements and restoring law and order are one part of the game. What's more important is to establish a feeling in the world that we are enraged by attempts to belittle the national integrity and want to fiercely defend our interests and rights. If a limited war is to be waged on this account, India should do so in the way any nationalist government will do in any country.
V K Saxena
President
National Council for Civil Liberties
Ahmedabad -
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