A View for Probable Solution of Kashmir Conflict

Kashmir and the Line of Control

The Indo-Pak war of 1965 had ended with a summit at Tashkent agreeing with a declaration that “Ceasefire Line (of 1949) exists as a permanent international border between India and Pakistan.” The UN was unsuccessful in its legal responsibility so far to persuade Pakistan to vacate the occupied territories and India to hold Plebiscite. By the time period of sixty years the situation had been getting further complicated by many factors and poised for a conflict of greater magnitude leading to a danger of Nuclear War: The followings are the complicated factors : (I) Pakistan surrendered nearly 6000 square miles of the State’s territory to China for building Karakoram Road to facilitate the Chinese to rush troops to the Indian borders as and when required. (ii) Pakistan allowed the Americans to build the most advanced radar complex in Gilgit, an important gate bordering with Afghanistan, Russia and China. By the time Kashmir had seen a huge loss of human life. The history of bygone days said -29th of September, 1947. Maharaja ordered Brigadier Rajendra Singh to defend the State in the event of attack over Kashmir by the Pakistan army. In the 3rd week of October Pakistan Army had attacked Kashmir crossing the borders of Jammu and Kashmir with 500,000 tribal. Along the borders nearly 20,000 Hindus and Sikhs were slaughtered. A large number of women were raped and tortured and more than 30,000 refugees had been conglomerated in Jammu Province. Brigadier had sacrificed his life in fighting against the invader.

Kashmir Annexed to India, a land of Humanity and not a Land of any Religion or Class:

Kashmir included two other regions, the regions of Jammu and the regions of Ladakh. These two regions were once conquered by Hindu Maharaja Gulab Singh and merged with Kashmir. These regions were also being annexed to Indian Union. The demography showed that the people of Kashmir were in belief of Islam mostly and as such majority of the people of Kashmir were Muslims while the Jammu is of Hindus and Ladakh is inhabited mostly by Buddishists. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who was originally a Kashmiri Pandit, had never supported the movement for autonomy on the basis of religion. He was a man of broad and universal outlook and above any religion. His outlook was that a state should never be divided on the basis of religion which was completely in contradiction of the formation of Pakistan. The leaders of India and Nehru in particular had never considered any political decision on the basis of religion, having India being declared a secular Indian Union. If 14 core Muslims had lived in peace in India, the 30 lakh Muslims of Kashmir would have lived in India with full constitutional right making it a democracy of humanity instead of a democracy of any particular class of religious people.

Poverty is the Greatest Enemy of Mankind which Cannot be Suppressed by the Teachings of Religion

 A Hindu or Muslim is a Kashmiri if he belongs to Kashmir. To day Kashmiri Pandits are leaving their home and huts out of fear. This kind of activity can not bring peace and prosperity in Kashmir. In East Pakistan Hindus were rooted out by Pakistani Muslims from their huts. The Increasing –Population- Rate had made the administration of the country vulnerable to sustain. Religious cooperation with Pakistan could not bring peace and prosperity in Bangladesh. The severity of poverty had grasped the country due to continued exploitation by the West Pakistan in the context of an atmosphere of bonding of religious sentiments of belief. But today they are the most suffers, facing the threat of Mutiny, a Mini-Mutiny that had occurred on 25th February, 2009, and resulted a loss of 52 young personal, the mostly trained Army Officers of the country, a worst massacre of this century. Having being secular in principle, India never would have desired such happenings of incidents in Kashmir. Now Bangladesh had urgently required the economic help of Secular India for its very survivable. It is pity to see the plight of Bengalis, who were the most powerful officials and soldiers of the British Kingdom, who had now been perishing to the status of the poorest of poor country of the world after partition being imposed over them by the sentiment of religion dividing the great nation of India into pieces.

Pakistan in a State of Crisis with East Pakistan Because of Regional Administration

Now Pakistan is suffering with the pain of frustration and humiliation due to repeated failure to Capture Kashmir by force. To neutralize its effect Pakistan had chosen the path of hatred and vengeance which is against the culture of civilized society. Pakistan had been recruiting the young boys for terrorist training since 1971 with the intension of doing maximum harm to India. After the fall of East- Pakistan, there was unrest in Pakistan. The irony of the fact is that Pakistan was formed to serve its citizen better than that of India but reverse had happened. Now the existence of Pakistan is at stake, the East Pakistan is already segregated to Bangladesh; the Baluchistan is in the boiling stage to be parted with, Kashmir became a part of India by history, how Pakistan could have absorbed so much of humiliation? Pakistan had attempted twice to snatch Kashmir from India in 1947 and 1965 respectively but without success and lost East Pakistan in 1971. Pakistan declared itself an Islamic State, therefore its obligation was being rested mainly to look after the Islamic people i.e. Muslims, but on the other hand India declared a Democratic Secular Republic instead of a Hindu State and as such its administration was being obliged to perform the act of well fare for all. To day Indian Democracy is compared with the Democracy of a country which is a Superpower. It is a Democracy which things for the welfare of people irrespective of religion, caste and creed. The Democratic USA had shown the world that a Black can also be President. Similarly India also had shown that a Sikh can be Prime Minister in Democratic India. Who knows a day might come when India would choose a Muslim as Prime Minister of India. It might be difficult to achieve but possible, depending on the circumstances and progress of the country, because the motto inscribed in the Constitution is Equality, Fraternity and Brotherhood.

The Path of people-to-people Contact is more Sacred than the path of Vengeance

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the leader of Pakistan’s people’s Party was the Prime Minister of the country. He was very successful in his diplomacy with India to liberate 90,000 Pakistani soldiers, who were under the custody of Indian government as surrendered soldiers. Bhutto government, who was supported by a large majority of electorate, had planned to reform the economy and social structural of the country.  But the international diplomacy had turned otherwise. In 1977, the Pakistan Military, through a military coup, took up the administration of the country dismantling the structures of democratic government and had imposed martial law under the General Muhammad Zia-us-Haq, who became the President of the country in 1978. Under the military regime, economic reforms, which were being started by Bhutto, reversed and undone. Subsequently, Military Ruler executed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to establish the supremacy of the military rule in the country. Muslim country, Pakistan, is at the cross road of India, China, Middle East and Arab Country, where America who had established its military base, supported the Military Government to avoid the risk of endangering American military base at Pakistan. To undermine the structure and the popularity of the civilian government, the Military Ruler had imposed the doctrine of ‘Islamic fundamentalism’ in the functioning of the state. This had initiated the spread of radical Islam in massive scale and helped in growing of unaccounted Madras in the urban and rural areas of Pakistan pushing the whole country under the grip of Fundamentalist Forces.

Terrorists were Fortified by the Support of Pakistan and by the Support of American Arms and American’s Modern Technology

The development in Afghanistan had given a new twist to Pakistan politics. . There are many factors responsible for the present dismal situation of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 1979 Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan without any provocation for the expansion of communism. It had shaken the world and America in particular.  The number of Soviet troops in Afghanistan had reached 100,000 by 1980. Anti communist forces, called Mujahidin, Islamic warriors, were trained by Americans who were engaged to fight the Soviet troops and the pro-Soviet Afghan government. To restrict the expansion of communism, the policy of the United States was always to back the anti-Soviet forces. In 1983, the CIA purchased war arsenals from China in large quantity, which were assault rifles, grenade launchers, mines, and AS-7 light anti-aircraft weapons totaling 10,000 tons. President Ronald ordered the administration to transport all the weapons to Pakistan that a country at that time was working closely with Washington. Seeing the heavy casualties on the war front to fight against Soviet troops, President Ronald Reagan ordered to give logistic support to Mujahidin. Soon after, CIA dashed to supply military expertise and advanced weapons to the Muslim rebel forces. The arsenals were satellite reconnaissance data of Soviet targets in Afghanistan, Soviet plans for military operations based on satellite intelligence and intercepts of Soviet communications, long-range sniper rifles, a targeting system linked to a US Navy satellite and wire-guided anti-tank missiles. American trained Pakistani officers were sent to Afghanistan to set up a secret Mujahidin Stringer training center. A steady supply of 65,000 tons arms to the Mujahidin was maintained with strict observation. Washington entrusted the Inter-Service Intelligence agency (ISI) for giving training to Mujahidin and provided them with weapons and money over 2 billion dollar to seven Mujahidin factions in 1980.

Terrorist Groups Built up their Own Destiny with the Support of Pakistan

In 1988, Soviet had withdrawn troops from Afghanistan, and thereby, an administrative vacuum was created in Afghanistan. In order to install a favorable government in Kabul, Pakistan started to train the Pashtun Islamic fundamentalist students, who had emerged as the most powerful militia of Afghanistan and latter became renowned as Taliban. These students received training in Pakistan’s religious school under Mullah Mohammed Omar, a trained commander. Gradually the Taliban had been going stronger to capture Kabul in 1996, and declared them as the legitimate government of Afghanistan which was immediately recognized by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Many training centers were occupied by Taliban and few were occupied by Pakistan military. Pakistan also trained up an Islamic terrorist group called Harakat-ul-Ansar, which was being identified later by US during missile strike in Pakistan. In the course of time Pakistan created more centers in parts of Kashmir under Pakistan occupation. Afghanistan was devastated by the anti-Soviet war. More than 1 million Afghan died, millions injured, and more than 5 million became refugees in Pakistan and Iran. More than 5 million mines were remained scattered over Afghan land in 1992. There was severe drought in Afghanistan for four years in continuous causing sever food shortage. UN humanitarian agencies could not work as desired because of Taliban regime. Since 11th September, over one million people had been displaced and moved towards Pakistan and Iran. Many of Afghan were sheltered in religious places of Pakistan and were being trained for fighting against Kashmir in India. Finding difficulty in direct fight with Indian soldiers, the Pakistan encouraged the terrorist organizations to fight against India indirectly. The intention is simple to spread the fear of terror in every town and every city and destroy the normal activity to reduce the Industrial production of India, spoil the earnings of foreign exchange by terrorizing foreigners to tourist centers, destroy the security of big hotels to stop the flow of business personnel and create religious mistrust by blasting bombs in religious places and even destroy the communication network by blasting of bombs in trains and airport.

The Vision of Mohammad Ali Jinnah in creating Pakistan to live with India in Peace was Shattered:

After creation of Pakistan, Jinnah said the two States would live as two peaceful nations. But now it had appeared that the newly formed Pakistan had been considering India as its deadliest enemy since birth. The intension was simple to capture Kashmir and also more territory of India in due course of time so as to think a Muslim Rule over the whole region of India as did by the earlier Muslim Rulers. Pakistan created Taliban, they formed the secret nexus with Taliban and finally they allied with the USA to get arms and weapons and billions of financial grants with the plea of fighting Taliban but conversely, to train Taliban with sophisticated weapons. The object of creating terror activity is plane and simple to set up fear of commotion in and outside of Pakistan to get sympathy and world attraction with the issue of Kashmir which has been  going to die out due to the democratic process under taken by the government of India. The commotion indirectly supported the terrorist organization in the process in recruiting more number of terrorists. Instead of calling them terrorist, they were designed as Pakistani Mujahidin’s to fight against India in direct or indirect way creating death squad (fedayeen groups) in necessity giving the logistic support. To day USA is giving Pakistan aid and arms under compulsion for its own protection in Pakistan as well as in Afghanistan. On the other hand India never thought of to utilize the opportunity for the security and benefit of the country in a devious way. Had India thought of security in mischievous method,  the Indian army would have a party to US force to combat Taliban in Afghanistan and would have remained there as a commanding force to fight against terror instead of giving upper hand to Pakistan army. India could build up easily army of infantry involving lacks and lacks of unemployed youths with foreign aid as had done by Pakistan for the growth of their militia. Knowing fully well the terrorist groups had been trained in Pakistan to carry out terror strike in USA, Britain and Mumbai of India and other places, America could not go out for offensive because of Afghanistan, where American and NATO Forces were fighting against Taliban, strangely, the life of these Forces was being depended indirectly on the Pakistan Army engaged in controlling the vital supply chain passing through Pakistan territory. It is this situation that had encouraged Pakistan to threaten India again and again to face dire consequences if any kind of offensive is being under taken against Pakistan in the face of Mumbai attack.

A Probable Solution of Kashmir Conflict Designed by an Independent Individual

It was a concern for the people of India as well as Pakistan and the international community how to solve the Kashmir conflict with the satisfaction of the people of both the countries. No one should thing to resolve the Kashmir conflict on religious line. Pakistan might be interested to resolve the conflict on religious basis as it has been created on the basis of religion even though it failed to hold its other units together. Unlike Pakistan, the leaders of India strictly followed to the principle of secular character instead of declaring a religious Hindu country against strong opposition during the time of independence. If Kashmir had resolved on the basis of religion, the Indian democracy would have been destroyed in turmoil by the time.  There may be religious conflict in local issues but these were thought to be insignificant for the larger interest of democracy. Even America faced local issues entangling Black and White and took long time to resolve it. Indian democracy would also require more time to bring equality in democracy. The regional or religious biasness comes in front more often in a country of economic scarcity. It is only after 1993, Indian economy had shown a little progress, the people were getting the sense of pleasure of interaction of mixing with diverse community and diverse religion and people are learning to be national instead of regional. Since sixty years having strengthened by the arms of USA, Pakistan attempted several times to snatch Kashmir away from India but failed in all occasion inflicting a huge economic loss to both the country. Instead, if Pakistan had involved in economic cooperation with India, it would have improved the economic status of the people of the Kashmir region. The religious addiction would have decreased as is happened in other developed countries and people’s contact would have backed a climate of peace and understanding leading to the formation of a State of confederation. The line of control drawn by UN was a temporary solution, which had divided the people of Kashmir and as such it can not be a permanent peaceful solution. Apart from the solution of peoples’ contact, the other alternative may be the formation of an Independent Units subjecting to the test of viability. The ethics lies in the fact of declaration of Independence of India by the British Parliament. Hari Singh, Maharaja of Princely State Kashmir assented for annexation to India. It was now the responsibility of the government of India to look to the administration, safety and well fare of the people of Kashmir subjected to the wishes of the people. As per resolution of UN, Pakistan must give up the Azad Kashmir and India might come down to a set up in forming a system for the sake of peace in Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh. The strategic position of Kashmir is all important for the security of Indian Union. In no way India could compromise with the system of defense.  The region of Kashmir may be divided into three units, Kashmir (including Azad Kashmir), Jammu and Ladakh. These units might be subjected to Independent Rules of Administration for a limited period of one to five years keeping the defense under the custody of Indian Union for a test of Ruling under independent States giving option either to join India or to remain Independent Units. The annexation of any unit with Pakistan does not arise as the administration of whole of Kashmir lies with the government of India after annexation of Kashmir to India. The question lies with whether these units of Kashmir wish either to remain with India or to remain as an independent State keeping the defense under Indian Union. The problem lies with the well fare of Kashmiri people and the government of India. The Princely State had joined India and hence the problem of Kashmir lies with India and no other country. If Pakistan really wishes the well fare of the people of Kashmir because of religious affinity as is evident by the act of insurgency and not the territory of Kashmir, Pakistan should give up the territory of Azad Kashmir to the independent unit of Kashmir. [The suggestion outlined above is completely personal individual and non political].