Author: Neerja Chowdhury
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: October 15, 2001
While India has scored a victory
with the US-British freeze of the assets of Jaish-e-Mohammad, it has also
come as a signal that the US will step up pressure on India to resume talks
with Pakistan on Kashmir as soon as the situation in Afghanistan is brought
under control. This was clear the moment Washington brought Pakistan on
board the coalition against terrorism. With President Pervez Musharraf
playing ball, despite the opposition and riots he is facing at home, he
will want more than the economic goodies to quieten his people. However,
for the moment, the Western world does not want either of the two countries
in the subcontinent to do anything that will deflect from the main battle
the Americans have at hand.
Of course, this is not the time
to militarily up the ante in Kashmir as it may not get the requisite support
but it is an opportunity for India to launch an informational offensive
worldwide on its stand on Kashmir. It is not as if India's stand has changed,
but a new situation has evolved globally after the September 11 strikes
in New York and Washington. The offensive has to go beyond the theoretical
discourses involving top decision-makers, caucuses, Senators and Congressmen,
though they too should be mobilised. The offensive this time has to touch
the Western consciousness. For there may be a greater receptivity there
today than has existed earlier.
America is continuing to make a
distinction between terrorism which kills innocent civilians and the use
of violence against military installations for a cause. It is true the
alienation in Kashmir is not just the handiwork of terrorists. Successive
governments in Delhi have bungled, they have rigged elections in the state,
they have imposed their will on Srinagar. But it is also a fact that Pakistan
has trained and sent across groups to fuel discontent and to spread terror.
India has provided much more evidence of these camps and activities than
Washington has revealed about Osama bin Laden's direct links with those
who rammed into the WTC. Had Jammu and Kashmir been located anywhere else
in India and was not contiguous to Pakistan, its problems may have been
contained.
Americans have rightly perceived
Black Tuesday as an attack on their way of life and value system, and not
just as the destruction of one of their modern high-rise buildings. In
the same way, India's fight in Kashmir is not a fight for a piece of territory;
it is for the preservation of the very idea of India.
It is true that Kashmir has always
been a part of the cultural and civilisational unity of India. It is, therefore,
wrong to call Kashmir a disputed territory as the Western countries do.
There are legal connotations to that construct, whereas the Instrument
of Accession was signed by the ruler of the state under the Indian Independence
Act, 1947, which also created Pakistan.
In spite of the deficiencies in
democratic governance in the state, India's track record as a democracy
tolerating differing viewpoints is as good as any in the world. Few nations
allow people to talk about secession but the Hurriyat leaders can move
around freely talking about an independent Kashmir. The Shahi Imam of Jama
Masjid has openly called upon Muslims to support bin Laden, who has been
fuelling terrorism in Kashmir, but he has not been arrested. Even a democracy
like the US had to get five of its main TV channels to stop broadcasting
Osama's speech unedited because it was nothing but "propaganda".
But India's case goes beyond all
these arguments. The battle in Kashmir is between Pakistan's belief that
religion is the basis of statehood and what India and the undivided state
of Jammu and Kashmir opted for in 1947 - a multicultural, multifaith society.
If India accepts the idea of the separation of the Valley just because
it is a Muslim majority area, it would not only invite trouble for the
150 million Muslims residing in all parts of the country, it would be the
beginning of the end of India as an entity.
Musharraf had said an interesting
thing at Agra, that both sides could start the dialogue by setting out
what was absolutely unacceptable to either side. India can conceive of
autonomy, yes, maybe even soft borders, but there is no way it can allow
the Valley to secede without setting into motion the balkanisation of the
country.
In the ultimate analysis, it is
not the pleadings of a country but its strength which others respect. But
this is also an opportunity for a renewed effort by India to articulate
its concerns and it should not be missed. Ordinary people the world over
have to understand that terrorism in the US cannot be stopped as long as
it is allowed to thrive in Kashmir. That is why India may be the real frontline
state in the battle against terrorism, though Pakistan may be the US's
short-term tactical ally.
