Undisputed Tragedy of Kashmir

Several Pakistani intellectuals who had descended on Washington DC to attend 11th International Kashmir Peace Conference (July 28-29, 2010) were neither intellectuals nor interested in peace.

Wasting time and resources, Pakistani representatives (with very few exceptions) read from a script crafted decades ago at the GHQ – slightly changing words.

I bet if you took the text of their speeches and ran it through sophisticated software to check intellectual integrity you will find an abundance of plagiarisms.

Negativity of approach was so overwhelming that ‘Kashmir issue’ lost more currency instead of gaining ground. With WikiLeaks dominating the mind share, American media barely covered the event.

In discussions, both private and public, Pakistani speakers demanded that America must broker a settlement in exchange for the ‘sacrifices’ Pakistan has made in war against terror. All accused America of betraying Pakistan, an ally of nearly 60 years. “Under Bush administration, the neo-cons have steered US towards India and away from Pakistan,” a Pakistani intellectual claimed. And, he explained that is “because Jewish-Hindu lobby dominates policy making in Washington.”

In abundance was child like envy over growing India-US ties, and old and tired threats that if Kashmir issue is not resolved there will be no peace in either Afghanistan or India. Unfortunately, many who “spoke for” Kashmir lacked intellectual depth, and understanding of imperatives that drive strategic diplomatic ties.

All agree that last decade has been a truly transformational one in the India- U.S ties but cannot explain why. In November last year when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came to Washington on the first State visit of the new U.S. Administration, it was a clear indication that Democrats on the Hill will continue to see India through the prism it first located during the BJP government. India’s proverbial ‘openness’ has yielded rich dividends in terms of cooperation in many areas, underscoring the vitality and the relevance of India-US strategic partnership.

It was therefore, not surprising when Obama administration recalibrated her earlier stance of bracketing “Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan” together. Afghanistan and Pakistan are ‘pain points’ but Washington sees India as a center of influence in the 21st century.

A Pakistani diplomat had whispered in my ears that Americans realize that they cannot “clean the mess in Afghanistan without our help. And of course we want a solution to Kashmir issue in return.”

A friend who also spoke at the conference claimed that Washington is finally realizing that India and Pakistan are equally important in that region. I beg to differ!

I would urge you to look at the transformation of DC-Delhi relationship against the backdrop of India’s initiatives to reform its economy and the geopolitical changes in the post-Cold War world.

Indian officials would claim that their ties with US are primarily due to shared values of democracy, pluralism, tolerance, and respect for fundamental freedoms. You may not agree with this assertion – I don’t buy this argument in entirety either.

But we can’t deny that growing economic linkages and people-to- people contact between India and US are real. Over the last two decades, Indian and American businesses have formed strong and mutually beneficial partnerships touching the lives of ordinary people; a fairly balanced trade in goods and services has grown astronomically.

Most importantly, Pakistanis tend to forget that both Indians and Americans share an increasing convergence of interests on major global issues.

By using the 11th Kashmir moot in Washington DC as a venting session, Pakistanis basically lost an opportunity to build the zone of trust. Kashmir issue is real, and solution will emerge only when Pakistan and India stop exploiting the people of Kashmir. It has become a financial drain for India and Pakistani strategy to use rag-tag army of fundamentalists has cost Pakistan in orders of magnitude more than anyone every estimated.

There is a broad-based political support both in India and Pakistan to finally let the people of Kashmir speak for themselves but these pseudo intellectuals who had come to attend the conference are not ready to move on.

Instead of allowing the GHQ to drive India-centric foreign policy, we will do Pakistan and Kashmir more justice if we were to expand our diplomatic orbit. If we establish mutually beneficial economic ties with Brazil and Venezuela, South Africa and Kenya, Chile and Bolivia, Malaysia and Indonesia – Pakistan will have more allies in the world and we will not have to run to Washington DC to beg Americans for stewardship on Kashmir issue.

India today has free pass to commit unthinkable violence on Kashmiri people partially because we have lost all legitimacy. How can we raise our voices and wave our fists when it is an undisputed fact that Pakistan army used rag-tag warriors of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Jaish-e- Mohammed, the Taliban, and more with intent to make India bleed in Kashmir? What moral grounds do we stand on?

We can’t be running to the US or Israel for support – we must build a broad based multi-lateral framework of developing nations to counter Indian belligerence in Kashmir. We must stop thinking about Kashmir as a ‘disputed territory’ and start working for the safety and security – both physical and financial of the people of Kashmir.

No cause can justify terrorism – Kashmir is no exception. Both India and Pakistan have a vital interest in defeating terrorism and in this context, our bilateral cooperation on terrorism is crucial.

Mos importantly- both India and Pakistan should immediately cease terrorizing Kashmiri people.