Urdu Articles

“Zardari’s statement should wake up Kashmiris”.

Dear Sir

It is quite evident from the statements issued by Zardari (co-chairman of Pakistan People's Party) during an interview telecasted on Sunday on an Indian T.V. channel (where he intends to put the Kashmir problem on back burner “till matters improve”) that Zardari considers Kashmir problem as a bipartite issue only between India and Pakistan, while conveniently forgetting that 1,00,000 Kashmiris have laid down their lives for the cause of "Independent Unified J&K" mainly under the fundamentalist leadership of Pakistanis. This naïve & callous statement of Zardari evoked wild reactions of Kashmiri leaders from both sides of LOC.

Though Zardari’s statement is being lauded in India but it will not be taken favorably by any section (which matters politically) in Pakistan and therefore it certainly portends a difficult, politically uncertain and destabilizing period ahead for Pakistan especially when one of its influential politician Zardari (who will be at least the de-facto if not the de-jure ruler of Pakistan as the political situation stands presently in Pakistan) has such impractical & ludicrous view on Kashmir, the problem which is extremely important for Pakistan (as it has fought five wars against India for Kashmir) and has every potential of deciding the political fate of SAARC region. Hence PPP will do well to ease out Zardari (who has gained political importance not by his hard ground work but simply due to martyrdom of his wife Benazir Bhutto hence will not mind to waste hard earned political capital of PPP) sooner the better from every important position in the party, if PPP does not want further damage to its image & popularity (not only amongst Kashmiris from both sides of LOC but also in entire Pakistan) and wants to survive as a politically relevant force in Pakistan.

Also the people in India who think that this statement of Zardari is in India's favor are politically naïve and are living in their make believe world because Indians should realize that such immature politicians as Zardari (as has been exposed through his statement on Kashmir) cannot do any good either for India or for Pakistan or for stable peace in SAARC region. At the same time if any body in India or in Pakistan thinks that the energy corridor as proposed by Zardari during this T.V. interview (where Pakistan will earn rent as India will get petroleum products from Gulf through Pakistan) will come into existence without first solving Kashmir problem then he still has a lot to learn about politics of this region.

Nevertheless having said this, it is a warning bell to Kashmiris from both sides of LOC and they should not take this matter lightly by confining themselves to merely issuing wild press statements or even merely by organizing public meetings, demonstrations, seminars etc. as it will only serve the purpose of merely giving an impression that such a grave statement of Zardari (which has very serious implications not only in India & Pakistan but internationally) is being resented & challenged by them and nothing more fruitful. These agitational postures and gestures will be of use for time bound solution of Kashmir problem only when Kashmiri leaders make politically effective concerted vigorous move while keeping the historical background of Kashmir problem in view and also by realizing not only the importance of the support of international community and appropriate strategy for garnering it but also understanding own mistakes / major hurdles and urgent need to overcome it in the interest of time bound solution of Kashmir problem so that the martyrdom of 1,00,000 Kashmiris (more than the lives lost by combined India & Pakistan for their freedom from British Raj) does not go in vain.

As the Kashmiris, speaking same language and practicing same religion (predominantly Islam) cannot be expected to remain divided for ever across LOC therefore in the backdrop of 1947 partition of India on religious lines (and also in view of Hyderabad & Junagadh controversy), it was natural that Kashmiris had an inclination to make 'Unified Kashmir' a part of Pakistan especially when it became evident that 1948 UN resolution for plebiscite is not worth the paper it is written on and in later months of 1948 India tried military solution to retrieve Pakistani side of Kashmir but failed (as narrated by noted historian Ramchandra Guha also in his latest book "India After Gandhi" at the last para of page No. 74). After that one more factor played an important role i.e. Hindu majority India is simply not interested in retrieving its lost territory of Muslim majority Pakistani side of Kashmir.

Thus necessitated due to failure of UN and Governments of India & Pakistan in finding a time bound solution to Kashmir problem, the Kashmiris were constrained to launch independence struggle (which caused this martyrdom of 1,00,000 Kashmiris during last two decades and this generated nationalism and a new martial element in Kashmiris) which was made possible by the motivation and active support of Muslim fundamentalist forces from Pakistan including support from Government of Pakistan (through ISI or otherwise). But now after 9/11 (even much before said unfortunate statement of Zardari) Pakistan, which used to term terrorist attacks in J&K and in rest of India as part of independence struggle, has stopped calling these terrorists as freedom fighters and has started considering Kashmir problem as a nuisance to Pakistan’s progress which constrained the Kashmiris to more vociferously start defining Kashmir solution as "Sovereign Unified J&K" disintegrated from both India & Pakistan.

Here lies one of the main three problems of Kashmiris. First, the martial element (a precondition for sovereignty) emerged due to sacrifices of 1,00,000 Kashmiris under the leadership & active support of Pakistanis hence the Kashmiris are finding their new independence struggle (for "Sovereign Unified J&K" disintegrated from also Pakistan apart from India) without any leadership. What ever Kashmiris may boast but it is evident that Kashmiris have not been able so far to through up indigenous leadership which will be competent enough to lead this new independence struggle meant for bringing a land locked new independent country of unified J&K in existence

Here it is in context to add that the apprehensions & reservation (shown by some that Hindus and Buddhists of Jammu and Ladhakh may not support independent J&K because it is mainly fought by Kashmiri Muslims) are baseless and mischievous to say the least. During independence struggle every Indian / part of India did not support or participated in it but now every Indian is taking the benefit of this independence. Also after independence the Congress party, which mainly spearheaded Indian independence struggle, ruled over entire India. Similarly Kashmiri Muslims (who have already laid down the lives of 1,00,000 of their people for independent unified Kashmir) and the political parties sponsored by them (having membership from entire J&K) have every right to rule over entire J&K after it becomes independent "Sovereign Democratic Secular Unified J&K".

The second major problem of Kashmiris is that civilian Kashmiris like Muftis of PDP, Abdullahas of NC, Azads of Congress etc are enjoying political power for decades without least bothering about time bound Kashmir solution for which 1,00,000 Kashmiris have already laid down their lives. It is absurd that the Kashmiris, whose martial element can not rope in / inspire / motivate the civilian element of Kashmiris, are aspiring to become an independent sovereign nation. The Kashmiris ought to realize that sovereignty / nationality mainly originates from & survives on martyrdom. Therefore, Kashmiris will have to invoke and institutionalize the martyrdom of 1,00,000 Kashmiris through NGO that may take care of the human rights of the surviving needy dependents of these martyrs. In this NGO, the Kashmiri leaders of all the hues, ought to be persuaded to participate so that they can all persuade the people of J&K to completely boycott the forthcoming J&K Assembly / Indian Parliamentary elections, in the interest of time bound Kashmir solution because such elections are the right & opportune times to press for getting effective solution to such chronic problems, as Kashmir problem and once this NGO gets momentum in Indian side of J&K then Pakistani side of J&K can always be associated with independence movement for J&K.

This NGO may work in tandem with other international human rights organization like Gender Concerns International at Hague, Netherlands, which is allegedly already working for securing the human rights for the women needy dependents of these 1,00,000 Kashmiri martyrs. This will not only help in mobilizing world community for the cause of Kashmir solution but will also go a long way in associating Pakistani side of Kashmir in this independence struggle.

The third major problem of Kashmiris is that when they were fighting for separation from only India then their leaders from both sides of LOC were working physically together with Pakistanis but now when Kashmiris want separation from both India & Pakistan then it has become a great problem for the Kashmiris from both sides of LOC to function physically together for their independence. This problem could have been solved by Kashmiris (especially after 9/11 when under the pressure of USA & its allies, the Pakistanis almost severed their links with Kashmiris) by establishing Government of "Sovereign Secular Democratic Unified J&K" in exile on the soil of some third country (where Kashmiris & their leaders from both sides of LOC could meet and function together), which is the prerequisite for any independence struggle for an emergent nation, in the contemporary world but they have failed so far to do so.

The golden opportunity for establishing this J&K government in exile came when in October 2007 Hans Wolff Counselor for Agriculture, Nature & Food Quality for Netherlands embassy in India during a meeting with Kashmiri businessmen at Shrinagar, offered on behalf of Dutch companies to collaborate with Kashmiri entrepreneurs for importing fruits, flowers, honey, mushrooms, saffron etc. from Jammu & Kashmir. This meeting was chaired by Secretary to Govt, Agriculture Production Mrs. Tanveer Jehan and among others was attended by the Director Agriculture Kashmir, Ghulam Haider besides top officials of Horticulture, Horticulture Planning and Marketing and growers of the valley. The Dutch councilor gave his assurance to the officers as well as the growers of all sorts of possible help from the embassy for the start of Joint ventures in the state with those of Dutch companies.

Though, obviously, there was no Dutch offer to allow on Dutch soil this government of J&K in exile but it does not require a genius of political science to understand that once people of J&K (from both sides of LOC) engage in a big way in export activities through Dutch embassy (and later on through other embassies and EU's CBI - The Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries) then the establishment of this government in exile on the soil of some third country (even other than Netherlands) will be only a matter of time and the solution to Kashmir problem in the form of "Sovereign Secular Democratic Unified J&K" will be then very much nearer than what it is at the present moment. But Kashmiris are atrophied to such an extent that there still is no sign of leadership of this J&K independence struggle for mobilizing the entrepreneurs of J&K in order to grab this opportunity offered by said Dutch proposal.

Let us hope and pray that at least now when they are jolted by Zardari’s statements (of putting Kashmir problem on back burner), the Kashmiri leaders will gird themselves up and by invoking the martyrdom, by roping in civilian Kashmiris for poll boycott and by establishing Government of independent J&K in exile even by taking the benefit of said Dutch offer, the Kashmiris will over come all these three major problems / obstacles which are coming in the way of the realization of their long cherished mission of the "Sovereign Secular Democratic Unified J&K” and with a new vigor the Kashmiris will strive for Kashmir solution in a time bound period.

Yours truly

Hem Raj Jain

208, Supriya, Plot # 20, Sector – 10, Dwarka, New Delhi -110075, INDIA.
Mob: 09871194983, 09871365288
Email: jainhemraj59@gmail.com