Genesis
Of The Kashmir Dispute
By Syed Ali Safvi
21 February, 2007
Countercurrents.org
The
last fifteen years have proved so painful for the poor Kashmiris. They
are getting crushed between the two estranged neighbours of Asia; India
and Pakistan. There is no escaping the fact that it is the common masses
that have to undergo stiff trials and tribulations every now and then.
The queries that frequently strike the mind of every common Kashmiri
in general and particularly the wretched new generation of the valley,
which has never witnessed peace in their native land, are that why are
we being treated as slaves? Why don't we have the right to speak for
ourselves? And many more.
Much has been written over
Kashmir, particularly in the last fifteen years. Kashmir has been an
ideal subject matter for the writers to sell out their books. But the
question, however, is how far the information provided by these authors,
often biased, is accurate and relevant. To understand the intricacy
of Kashmir, we have to re-operate the chest of history in order to scrutinize
the facts, but being impartial. There are, albeit, many factors responsible
for the dispute over Kashmir, but some are indeed very substantial and
merit attention. Let's explore the key factors precisely responsible
for the dispute over the vale of Kashmir.
The debate concerning the
future of Kashmir gained ground particularly from the days of transfer
of power and the partition of British India way back in 1947. The last
Viceroy of British India, Sir Lord Mountbatten's rather friendly relationship
with Jawaharlal Nehru and the latter's sympathetic attitude towards
Sheikh Abdullah and strong affection to what after all was his ancestral
home, Kashmir was the root of all crisis, which remains very much alive
nearly sixty years on. Around this emotional 'triangle' revolves the
history of the Kashmir dispute. Nevertheless, many other famous personalities
of the past too played their part, but these three men ultimately were
to decide the future of Kashmir and its people. The brutal and anti-Muslim
regime of the Dogras, particularly the reign of Maharaja Hari Singh,
who was instrumental to slay thousands of Muslims in the Poonch uprising
facilitated by the Armed bands of extremist militant Hindu party in
India, the Rashtrya Sevak Sang (RSS), was responsible for the splitting
up of public opinion with regard to the choosing of country and the
exodus of over one lakh Muslims from Poonch. In 1946, majority of the
Kashmir people wanted an independent state. The two major political
parties at that time, National Conference headed by Sheikh M. Abdullah
and the Muslim Conference, however, had kept other options open in case
the dream of independent Kashmir was not realized. Sheikh's National
Conference had opened its doors for Indian accession (Sheikh Abdullah's
decision might have been triggered out of his indifference towards M.A.
Jinnah), while Muslim Conference, owing to its links to the Muslim League
in British India, was ready with accession to Pakistan. One of the prominent
writers of the contemporary world, Alastair Lamb writes, " It is
to be regretted that during the crucial weeks prior to the Transfer
of Power Sheikh Abdullah remained in prison and was unable either to
keep in touch with the march of events or to make his own views widely
clear ".
To Sheikh Abdullah, the idea
of independence to Kashmir appealed above all. Sheikh was virtually
'worshipped' by the people of the valley. Although, the main objectives
behind Sheikh Abdullah's "Quit Kashmir" movement was the removal
of Dogra rule and its replacement by an independent Kashmir, but later
on he had developed strong affection towards India, or to be more specific,
towards Jawaharlal Nehru, who was after all responsible for his release
from the Maharaja's prison. When Jawaharlal Nehru realized the special
position of Sheikh Abdullah in the state, he accordingly used Sheikh's
influence as a tool in his policy of Jammu and Kashmir. This was indeed
the reason why Nehru urged the release of Sheikh Abdullah and the latter's
radical change from his policy of Independent Kashmir. Nevertheless,
If Sheikh Abdullah would not have been in prison at the time of the
Transfer of Power, even then there would not have been any change in
his stand over the accession to India, since he strongly disliked M.A.
Jinnah and his Muslim League. Sheikh Abdullah, nonetheless, proved
to be a profitable investment for India in the long run.
Anxious Indian leaders, in
Delhi, used all the political tactics to make Kashmir a part of India.
The policy of India has always been to dislodge the anti-India elements
in the valley. Pandit Ram Kak, Maharaja's Prime Minister, was expelled
in 1947 owing to his policy of non-Indian future for the state. Even
the Indian loyalist Sheikh Abdullah was not spared. Sheikh was put behind
bars for his constant demand for the 'promised' autonomy. Augmentation
of Pro-Indian elements in the administration supplemented the interest
of Maharaja Hari Singh to accede to India. However, before he could
have realized his ambition, Indian leaders were quick enough to grab
the opportunity of 'invading' Kashmir.
Jawaharlal Nehru played a
rather controversial part in the Pathan invasion in 1947. The purpose
of sending the forces to Kashmir, as Nehru himself declared in the telegram
to British Prime Minister, Attlee on 25 th October, was only to encounter
the advancing Pathan forces and not something designed to influence
the state to accede to India. Although Nehru and Mountbatten had declared
that the decision of accession must be decided according to the wishes
of the people, but pragmatically that was not to be the case. There
is no escaping the fact that the decision of accession to India was
taken against the will and wishes of the majority of the population
of the state.
There is a big controversy
with regard to the 'Instrument of Accession' and it has not been clearly
stated by several biased Indian narrators. The conspiracy of V.P. Menon,
who drafted the letter offering Accession (which was almost certainly
drafted in New Delhi without the prior consent of the Maharaja) as well
as the letter of Acceptance and who along with M.C. Mahajan actually
gave birth to the Accession Crisis, is hardly paid attention to. Menon
and Mahajan were supposed to fly to Jammu in the afternoon of 26th October
1947 and bring the Instrument of Accession duly signed by the Maharaja
to enable Indian troops to be flown to Kashmir. However, neither Menon
nor Mahajan had left Delhi for Jammu on 26th October. In the words of
Alastair Lamb " Menon certainly contributed to the widely held
conviction that the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir had indeed signed
up with India some hours before the first Indian regular soldiers set
foot on Kashmir soil." (Incomplete Partition). It may be noted
here that the then Governor-General of India, Lord Mountbatten had made
Accession a prior condition to any sort of Indian intervention in the
state. However, the fact is that, Indian
troops were flown to Srinagar well before the state of Jammu and Kashmir
formally acceded to the Indian union. It now becomes apparent that India
was determined to manipulate the state of Jammu & Kashmir even at
the cost of the wishes of its natives. Many Indian narrators have not
considered this act of extreme treachery by some egocentric Indian bureaucrats
and
their mentors. Nonetheless, no evidence is to be found whatsoever in
the history about Maharaja's signing of the 'alleged' instrument of
Accession (at least prior to 27th of October 1947, which is claimed).
Indians have always been
effective at spreading rumors and cashing on it (at least in case of
Kashmir). Indians, very skilfully, held Pakistan responsible for whatever
was happening in
Kashmir. Indian leaders and media have perfectly attested the truth
in Joseph Goebel's sayings, " frequently repeated lies have the
potential of being acknowledged as the truth". Even the Governor-General,
Mountbatten appeared to have accepted without question every rumour
hostile to Pakistan. On the contrary, it was India which was intervening
in the internal affairs of what was to all intents an independent state
"in the throes of civil conflict". However, the British Government
(Prime Minister Attlee's letter to Jawaharlal Nehru on 26 October) and
Commonwealth Relations Office had recommended India to restrain from
accepting the document of Accession and discuss the question of Kashmir's
future with the Maharaja and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, nevertheless
the Indians, backed by Mountbatten, who was deeply committed to a policy
of Indian military activity coupled with accession, made negotiations
quiet impossible. It is an admitted fact that if India had established
contacts with Pakistan when the former recognized the latter's role
in aiding the Azad forces, the dispute over the future of Kashmir would
not have stretched so far. But, it was a conspiracy on part of Indian
leaders for not consulting the Pakistan Govt. prior to dispatching forces
to Kashmir. This proves the fact that the Indian side was committed
to legitimize its stand on the state by hook or crook and at the same
time it didn't want Pakistan to be a party to it.
All the efforts made by the
United Nation Security Council (UNSC) in holding the plebiscite in the
state of Jammu and Kashmir proved futile. Although, India had repeatedly
pledged that the question of Kashmir's accession would be decided in
accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiris, but the pledge is still
to be honoured. India has denied the right of self determination to
the people of Kashmir. The question is what it is in the resolution
that irks the Indian side. Omkar Razdan writes " The will of the
people of Kashmir has been held supreme in these resolutions. If this
"will" is with the state of India, as the Indian media would
want Indians to believe, then why do we fritter our energy in fighting
a bloody proxy war in the state. " (The Trauma of Kashmir).
However, with the passage
of time, India has transformed Kashmir into a military camp and all
the promises made to the Kashmiri people by Nehru and Mountbatten have
been forgone by the successive regimes of Indian politics. More has
been said than done for Kashmiris. Kashmir has, particularly in the
last more than a decade, witnessed scores of soul-deadening incidents.
All methods of human rights violation have been adopted by the Indian
troops and the militant outfits. The brutality has put to shame the
likes of Hitler and Chengez Khan. Ruthless interrogations, illegal use
of forces, disappearance, rape, and custodial killings have become regular
phenomena in Kashmir. Meanwhile, death of thousands of young men is
upsetting the sex ratio, economy is in depression, education has gone
down, child labour has become rampant, and many other social evils have
cropped up. The paradise of Kashmir has not just been lost but ruined
and peace in the vale has been broken into 'pieces'. Ironically, the
electronic media of a democratic Indian state portrays the situation
in Kashmir as 'normal'.
Common Kashmiris die a thousand
deaths each day and nobody pays heed to their miseries.
On the contrary they are treated merely as slaves who have been deprived
of their fundamental rights. The concern of the army and militant outfits
is to keep Kashmir; the means are not their concern. The militants lob
grenades at security personals and in the bargain the blood of innocent
Kashmiris is spilled over the green valley. Kashmiris are, as Arundhati
Roy once said, " sandwiched between security forces and militants."
It is a high time for all the Kashmiris, particularly the new generation
to wake up and think about the prospect of Kashmir and Kashmiris. What
Kashmir requires today is a leader who has no attachment with money
nor the lure for power; a leader, who would be committed to bring peace
to the grief-stricken valley. Unfortunately, at present there is hardly
any leader worth the name and that has added to the miseries of Kashmiris.
There have been innumerable
direct bilateral negotiations between India and Pakistan, on or including
Kashmir in the last five decades, but unfortunately all these discussions
have not yielded any result, and rightly so. Robert G. Wirsing has rightly
stated that " India and Pakistan are far from free to settle the
Kashmir dispute in their own terms." (Kashmir in the Shadow of
War).
Despite the fact that Kashmir
was never a property of either India or Pakistan and there can be no
question of deciding the fate of Kashmiris without their consent, Kashmiris
were, ironically, ignored in the dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad
to resolve the Kashmir dispute. However, it is a good gesture that both
the countries have realized the importance of Kashmiris representation
in the dialogue process.
The problem of Kashmir would
only be resolved through the democratic method of a free and impartial
plebiscite. But holding of Plebiscite with only two options (union with
either Indian or Pakistan) is not now acceptable to the bulk of Kashmiris.
The ideal solution for Kashmiris, as Prof. Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema of Pakistan
asserted, would be an "independent status for the entire state
of Jammu and Kashmir". Steps like starting a bus service from Srinagar
to Muzaffarabad, laying down railway lines, or giving hefty economic
packages won't solve the problem of Kashmir. Both India and Pakistan
should make U.N Resolutions the basis of solving the problem. U.N. resolution,
after all, was responsible to ultimately solve the international disputes
in South Africa and Angola. India and Pakistan must keep the interest
of Kashmiri people paramount and take serious and resolute initiative
in order to make things better for the common mass of Kashmir and settle
the Kashmir issue once and for all.
(The author can be reached
at [email protected])