Author: M.V.Kamath
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: November 6, 2003
URL: http://www.samachar.com/features/061103-features.html
Let this be clear: what Pakistan,
a rogue nation, deserves is not some sops to make it behave itself, but
a resounding slap on its face. For years now it has been behaving like
a spoilt child, crying for chocolate. For years it had been pampered by
the likes of the United States and Britain, for their own nefarious reasons.
The time has come to read a firm lecture to it. It must, for instance,
be told once and for all that it cannot pursue its old ways.
It must further be told as firmly
as possible that it must remember four things: One, that India does not
accept the Two Nation Theory that its elders in 1945-47 felt compelled
to accept under different conditions. Two, that Pakistan can never hope
to get Jammu & Kashmir through war or other means, such as terrorism.
Three, that it can never acquire equality of status with India no matter
how hard it tries in any sphere of human activity, civil or military and
four, it has by now alienated a substantial proportion of Muslims whether
in Jammu & Kashmir or the rest of India.
It is against this background that
India has offered what The Economist has described as "a sackful of goodies"
to Pakistan in the hope that it will see reason. To make its intentions
plain India has also made it clear that the deputy Prime Minister, L. K.
Advani is willing to talk to separatists in Kashmir. Advani's expressed
willingness to talk to the All-Party Hurriyat Conference does mark an about
turn. But, as he himself pointed out, if Delhi is willing to hold talks
with certain rebel groups on the North East, why should it not feel free
to talk to the Hurriyat as well?
The offer might be seen as directed
at moderate hump of the Hurriyat chaired by Maulana Abbas Ansari, the Peoples'
Conference representative Bilal Lone, the Muslim Conference chief Abdul
Ghani Bhat and the Awami Action Conference leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.
In any event Abdul Ghani Bhat has been quoted as sayings: "The latest developments
are encouraging. We would take our time. We seek a honourable and respectable
settlement". And even while appealing to dissidents within the Hurriyat,
Bhat told the media: "We want a broad consensus within the Hurriyat and
outside. In other words, we want all the pro-movement outfits under one
banner including Syed Ali Shah Geelani's group and want to have a broader
consensus. Let us bury the past. You cannot build a tomorrow unless you
capture today".
Very well said. What it means is
that a majority of the people of Kashmir want things to move towards an
era of peace. That point indeed was stressed by the Jammu & Kashmir
Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed himself who told a national newspaper
that his one-year rule so far has signalled " a historic turning point"
and that his state is "on the threshold of peace and normalcy". "When I
look back and form an objective opinion of my government, there is a feeling
of satisfaction. This is because, after a gap of 13 years, people of the
state feel that they are on the threshold of peace and normality. I know
the will of the people is for complete peace. They want violence to end
and nobody can deny them this right". Not the terrorists. Not even their
godfather in Islamabad, General Musharraf. Furthermore, said the Mufti:
"I sincerely believe that the line of Control be softened i.e. that Jamu-Sialkot
and the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road network be opened so that people living
in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and other parts of Pakistan can come here
to see the freedom enjoyed by the people. Which is precisely what Delhi
has done in offering a 12-point Peace Programme to Pakistan.
Now India is willing to start a
bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-Occupied
Kashmir that had been snapped immediately after partition. Additionally
India offered rail or bus links between Khokhrapar in Rajasthan and Munnabao
in Sind, Pakistan and a new visa checkpost at Khokhrapur. Indeed, the goodies
that India has offered like free treatment in India for twenty cardiac-ailing
Pakistan children and ferry service between Mumbai and Karachi are mouthwatering.
Not to accept them would put Pakistan
in a bad light. Of course India has not said a word about Jammu and Kashmir.
The letter is non-negotiable and the sooner Musharraf learns to accept
that as a fact of life, the better it would be for him and his moronic
army commanders. Nothing on earth would persuade India to give up Jammu
& Kashmir and the world is coming to accept that. In some circles in
Pakistan there is disappointment. Naturally. Thus, Najam Sethi, editor
of the influential Pakistan daily Friday Times has written to say that
"the Indian proposals lack depth and sincerity to resolve the major issues
like Kashmir". It is not a question of lack of sincerity. The plain fact
is and Najam Sethi and the entire Pakistani Establishment must accept it
sooner or later for India, Jammu and Kashmir is NOT, an issue.
In the end, Pakistan may not accept
the Indian Peace Plan, but as of the moment, Pakistan sounds wary. "We
have noted the proposals which were announced by India; each of these proposals
will have to be considered very seriously and very cautiously," Pakistan
Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan told the BBC. All that one can tell
Pakistan is: By all means be cautious and serious. But accepting them is
in Pakistan's best interests and in the best interests of peace and normalcy
in all of south Asia.
Truth to say Pakistan is slowly
losing it `friends' and long-time allies. The Indian proposals have been
quickly hailed enthusiastically by the United States, Britain, France,
Russia and even China. Even more significantly, Saudi Arabia, the world's
most influential Muslim nation has refused on Pakistani soil to make common
cause with Islamabad on, for instance, the Gujarat riots. Speaking in Islamabad
in the very presence of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed M. Kasuri,
his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al Faisal described Indian Muslims as
"people with substance, people with courage and with enough of that courage
to stand for their interests by themselves and not to wait for the help
of others".
Furthermore he said: "I would hate
to think of the Muslims in India as a minority, coming from a country that
has less Muslims than the Muslims of India. These (Indian) Muslims are
not tattered in the wind". Prince al Faisal could well have added that
there are more Muslim in India than in the rest of Muslim countries barring
Indonesia and Bangladesh put together.
But what about these Indian Muslims?
Where do they stand? On 21 September 2003, a National Convention of Indian
Muslims on Jammu & Kashmir took place in New Delhi attended by as many
as 150 leading Indian Muslims from various fields of activity. They included
Abdul Hameed Nomani, Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, Abdul Rasheed Shaheen,
MP (J & K), Ahmed Rasheed Sherwani, Member, National Commission for
Minorities, Justice Abdur Sattar Quaraishi of Gujarat, Prof. Abida Samiuddin
of Aligarh Muslim University, Aziz Burney, editor, Rashtriya Sahar, Maulana
Ahmed-uz-Zama, working President, Abne Qadeen Dar-ul-Uloom, Deoband, Prof.
Shahid Mehdi, Vice Chancellor Jamia Millia Islamia, Khurshid Alam Khan,
former Governor, S. M. Hasnain Abidi, General Secretary, All India Shia
Conference, Lucknow, Prof. Mohammad Hashim Quarishi, Jawaharlal Nehru University,
Maulana Hakim Irfan Husaini, Member Executive Committee, All India Muslim
Personal Law Board, Kolkata to mention just a few eminent names, and no
more representative list of eminent Muslims can one think of. And what
did they decide upon?
A Consensus statement obviously
passed unanimously said the following:
* Bound by geography and history,
cultural intercourse, political experience and religious affinity, we,
the Indian Muslims, regard the people of Jammu & Kashmir as an inseparable
and valuable component of the larger Indian committee.
* We consider that the destiny of
Jammu & Kashmir is indivisible from that of India, even if at the same
time we respect the legitimate aspiration of the people of J & K to
find a place of honour and dignity in the Indian family and to blend their
multiple identities into a composite and living Kashmiriat.
* We also consider the Muslims of
the state as part and parcel of the Muslim community of the country. We
regard the state of Jammu & Kashmir, as a bulwark of the secular foundations
of our federal polity. This implies that not only in the long-term interest
of the people of J & K but in the larger interest of the Muslim community
of India, the people of J & K eschew any idea of separation or secession
or independence.
* We regard the accession of the
State as final and irrevocable and desire its continued integration with
the Union of India as provided in the Constitution.
* We note with satisfaction that
an increasing section of the Kashmiri intelligentsia rejects the option
of independence in view of the geo-political situation of the territory
and the emergent threat to the sovereignty of smaller states.
* We totally reject the ill-conceived
presentation of terrorism which destroys innocent lives, as jehad.
* We condemn the infiltration of
terrorists across the LoC and the support it gets from the various agencies
in Pakistan.
* We welcome the beginning of the
process of normalisation in the State marked by the peaceful conduct of
the recent Assembly elections and induction into office of a fairly elected
government...
General Musharraf, one hopes is
not so blind as not to read the writing on the wall. The western world,
Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, the people of Jammu & Kashmir and the
Muslims in India are all against him and his stupid theories. Wake up,
make up, General. We are living in the 21st century. Make your peace with
India. And the sooner you do that the better as much for the people of
Pakistan as for yourself. The time for vengeance is past.
