The Future of Kashmir? "Seven" Possible Solutions!
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Omar1984
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Kashmir is the only Muslim majority state india controls and that all the way up north on the border with Pakistan. Kashmiris are not Indians. Indian Muslims (hindustan kay musulmaan) are all over India (hindustan). They decided to stay in India during partition and that is their land and they should stay in India forever. India is not a disputed territory, Kashmir is and is recognized as a disputed territory by the entire world. If Kashmiris themselves decide that they want to stay as part of India, then we will respect their decisions but the only way to truly know is through a referendum.
Omar1984
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^ Why should they? Indian Muslims have been living in their land for generations, they should stay in their land. They are not Kashmiris.
Kashmir belongs to Kashmiri people only. Only Kashmiri people should decide what they want for their land.
In 1947, Indian Muslims had the choice of coming to Pakistan some did and most stayed in India and that was their choice.
Kashmir belongs to Kashmiri people only. Only Kashmiri people should decide what they want for their land.
In 1947, Indian Muslims had the choice of coming to Pakistan some did and most stayed in India and that was their choice.
If muslims of the sub-continent have got their right to a separate country based on their religion, why should not the non-muslims of the sub-continent have the right to have muslim free country?
Weren't todays Pakistani's Hindustani muslims before 1947?
Was not the nation of Pakistan formed as a nation for all the muslims of the sub-continent, and the rest of India a nation of non-muslims of the sub-continent?
Omar1984
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^ You cant force an entire group of people to leave their homes. Even today many Sikhs/Hindus live in Pakistan. Our land is ours we've been living in our land for generations only a minority of Muslims came from India to Pakistan during partition, most decided to stay in India and we have no problem with that.
Kashmir is different because no one asked the people of Kashmir what they want for their own land thats why its recognized by the international community as a disputed territory. This is not about Indian Muslims because Indian Muslims are a different group of people from Kashmiris. Thye've decided long time ago they dont want to be part of Pakistan so they dont concern us. We have to hear from Kashmiris what they want for their own land. Kashmir belongs to Kashmiri people.
Kashmir is different because no one asked the people of Kashmir what they want for their own land thats why its recognized by the international community as a disputed territory. This is not about Indian Muslims because Indian Muslims are a different group of people from Kashmiris. Thye've decided long time ago they dont want to be part of Pakistan so they dont concern us. We have to hear from Kashmiris what they want for their own land. Kashmir belongs to Kashmiri people.
Zob
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Pakistan to survive as a independent state needs to stabilise its economy and political set up. Reduce the influence of the military and look to develope its economy for the good of 160m pakistanis. Pakistan must come first. Today india is not the main danger to this nation. Its the different religous and political factions within.
WELL FOR US KASHMIR IS OUR INTEGRAL PART....so yes pakistan comes first for us....secondly well we are suffering because we have spent $34billion and in return got $11billion for our efforts so yes ofcourse economically we are unstable....but this should be adressed by the world because they need to THANK US for FIGHTING THERE WAR.....
Secondly war is becoming increasingly less likely. India will continue to grow in terms of industrial strength and this will in time increase the relative disparity esp in conventional military power. Just see how quickly the indian navy in particluar will grow in size and power projection in next decade. Nuclear weapons on both sides will prevent a major war.
TRUE CONVENTIONALLY india is way way ahead of us but like we said we just want a detterant and we think of NUCLEAR technological terms we don't believe so much on spending billions on getting new aircraft carriers.....we think in terms of missile technology and in that we are way way ahead of INDIA....and hopefully will stay that way.
Unless Pakistan drops USA completely i can see Pakistan being influenced by the USA with various incentives to accept LOC as long term solution to peace in this region. India will have more clout i would be very surprised if USA and UN insisted on a plebicite. You can,t force a independent country to give up Land.
Finally if india itself starts pour more money into Kashmir for benefit of those citizens surely this too will reduce tension.
Well YOUGOSALAVIA was forced to give up LAND...so wrong there buddy...and the day we take the so called "incentives" instead of kashmir i am sorry but our army will be stoned because what is the use of an army when the whole issue is KASHMIR and if we give up KASHMIR then seriously what will the army do....replace our police???
WELL FOR US KASHMIR IS OUR INTEGRAL PART....so yes pakistan comes first for us....secondly well we are suffering because we have spent $34billion and in return got $11billion for our efforts so yes ofcourse economically we are unstable....but this should be adressed by the world because they need to THANK US for FIGHTING THERE WAR.....
Secondly war is becoming increasingly less likely. India will continue to grow in terms of industrial strength and this will in time increase the relative disparity esp in conventional military power. Just see how quickly the indian navy in particluar will grow in size and power projection in next decade. Nuclear weapons on both sides will prevent a major war.
TRUE CONVENTIONALLY india is way way ahead of us but like we said we just want a detterant and we think of NUCLEAR technological terms we don't believe so much on spending billions on getting new aircraft carriers.....we think in terms of missile technology and in that we are way way ahead of INDIA....and hopefully will stay that way.
Unless Pakistan drops USA completely i can see Pakistan being influenced by the USA with various incentives to accept LOC as long term solution to peace in this region. India will have more clout i would be very surprised if USA and UN insisted on a plebicite. You can,t force a independent country to give up Land.
Finally if india itself starts pour more money into Kashmir for benefit of those citizens surely this too will reduce tension.
Well YOUGOSALAVIA was forced to give up LAND...so wrong there buddy...and the day we take the so called "incentives" instead of kashmir i am sorry but our army will be stoned because what is the use of an army when the whole issue is KASHMIR and if we give up KASHMIR then seriously what will the army do....replace our police???
Nihat
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There is a bit of difference between Yougosalavia and India , LTTE wanted seperate land , Tibet wants autonomy , Palastine wants 2 state policy , Chechneya revolted too. Question is , what did they get.
If all type of people start demanding right to self determination then the world will be like little gem shaped countries scattered all over.
niaz
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After listening to N different solutions in the last 62 years, I have come to the conclusion:
1. Pakistan doesnt have to power to physically capture Kashmir and India is not going to gift Kashmir to us.
2. Therefore the way forward is what Musharraf suggested. Make the travel between the two parts of Kashmir very easy, such as between US and Canada. This would make the border irrelevant for the Kashmiris.
Frankly IMO there is no other way forward
1. Pakistan doesnt have to power to physically capture Kashmir and India is not going to gift Kashmir to us.
2. Therefore the way forward is what Musharraf suggested. Make the travel between the two parts of Kashmir very easy, such as between US and Canada. This would make the border irrelevant for the Kashmiris.
Frankly IMO there is no other way forward
Zob
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well we don't take KASHMIR back then india will always blackmail us with water...and if we don't plan on getting KASHMIR we don't need the ARMY....i am sorry i won't let pakistan become NEPAL.... my belief is that if india and pakistan both want to dominate ASIA and rise and become big kashmir should be given autonomy and UN forces should be placed in it.....make it independant country....something of the type like SWITZERLAND!!
Zob
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exactly we don't care if KASHMIRis block our water....atleast it is not a INDIA PAKISTAN WAR....but when INDIA does it creates friction between both the countries....i thought this argument was about INDIA and pakistan and what should be done for the betterment of both....india and pakistan should drop there claim for kashmir and withdraw or kashmir should go how in 1947 states chose or were handed out to india....based on demographics
Rabbit.Rabbit
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The borders can be softened only if the insurgency ends. In any case, what is the advantage of soft borders?
The only tangible advantage is trade, but with the completion of rail links, even that will be gone.
Gabbar
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Why are Kashmiris heading to the polls?
Kashmiri leaders under house arrest I must, at the outset, admit that I have never been to Kashmir. I have watched it keenly with a journalist’s eye from distant Mumbai for over 14 years. Every time I think about it – as a newspaperman and as an Indian – the same questions keep popping up in my head. Will peace ever return to Kashmir? Does Kashmir have the option to be anything other than a state that’s part of, yet at odds with, the Indian democratic mix?
Until a year and a half ago, the answer would probably have been ‘no’. While Kashmir has had duly elected state governments for a while now, nobody considered the situation on the ground to be anything like the rest of India.
But something seems to have changed. In a marked departure from the high of separatism, the state assembly elections last year saw voters flock to the polling booths. Three million of Jammu and Kashmir’s 4.8 million voters exercised their franchise — a 62 per cent turnout compared to 44 per cent the previous time. And suddenly, the issues of the moment didn’t seem detached from those in the rest of the country. As in other parts of India, bad roads, poor governance, education and jobs seemed to be the magnets that pulled people to voting stations.
The state assembly election was hard-fought, replete with the mud-slinging, aggression and hypocrisy that are so much a part of Indian politics. But that too seemed welcome in far-off Mumbai because it seemed familiar, resembling any other Indian assembly election. Kashmir began to have fewer degrees of separation from India.
Recently, my colleague in Delhi, Monalisa Arthur, travelled to Kashmir for a pre-parliamentary-election series commissioned by the Hindustan Times. She asked Kashmiris what led to the sudden change in their thinking.
She writes: ‘It’s a baffling U-turn few Kashmiris have been able to explain, or understand.… Growing aspirations mean youngsters, though still politically conscious, are increasingly aware of what they have lost in terms of economic and career development over the last two decades. The large voter turnout in November is seen by some as a move by the youth to try and find a place in Indian polity. ‘The agitation was a people’s movement. The elections … well, it was time for change. Plus, our generation connects with our young leader [Omar Abdullah],’ says Hashim, sipping cappuccino at Coffee Arabica.
‘Nazir Bhat (27) scoffs from across the table. ‘It is the Kashmiri character,’ says the young businessman.... ‘We are opportunists; we go with whatever is most advantageous for us at that moment.’’
Which viewpoint is correct? What if both are? After all, everyone has a different motivation to vote. Some of us want a safer economic future, others want a person from their community in a position of power, and still others look for those who can provide security. Whatever the motivation, participation in the election is a vote for the democracy you live in. And Kashmir voted—not at gunpoint, but because it wanted to.
Take, for example, Uri, just 20 kilometres from the Line of Control, which has borne the brunt of the standoff between Indian and Pakistani forces. The mountainous area was one of the early routes for infiltration. Last November, 80 per cent of its electorate voted. That’s phenomenally high in a country where a 50 per cent turnout is considered healthy. The turnout even made the Kashmir state’s high average of 62 per cent seem low in comparison.
Interestingly, during her tour of Kashmir, Arthur discovered the same voter motivations that are witnessed across India. ‘The battle now is against poor governance in Kashmir’s high-security border areas, often ignored by political parties and deprived of schools, jobs and any signpost of progress in a state that has purportedly spent at least Rs 50,000 crore of taxpayer money on development over the last two decades of insurgency.… Young jobless men sit in the town market all day, doing nothing. Roads are pockmarked with huge puddles of dirty water.… Three hydropower projects feed the national grid, but residents get only five or six hours of electricity per day,’ she wrote.
The fact that such matters now dominate Kashmiri politics is a huge step toward real integration with the Indian mainstream. Voter priorities in the state indicate that the focus may be slowly shifting from the militancy-separatism debate to local issues that affect people’s daily lives.
Sajjad Ghani Lone’s decision to contest the elections could be symptomatic of this mood. Lone is the son of slain Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Lone and a known separatist. That he’s chosen to participate in the Indian electoral process could be an indicator of the way Kashmir is thinking. It could, of course, be plain opportunism as well. Either way, India is looking forward to May 16, when votes for Kashmir’s six Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) seats will be counted. There could be a message in the ballot.
Ashraf Engineer is Associate Editor at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai. Hindustan Times has eight editions across India. He can be reached at ashraf.engineer@gmail.com. He also writes a blog, www.mumbaiinsomniac.wordpress.com.
DAWN.COM | World | Kashmir at the polls
Kashmiri leaders under house arrest I must, at the outset, admit that I have never been to Kashmir. I have watched it keenly with a journalist’s eye from distant Mumbai for over 14 years. Every time I think about it – as a newspaperman and as an Indian – the same questions keep popping up in my head. Will peace ever return to Kashmir? Does Kashmir have the option to be anything other than a state that’s part of, yet at odds with, the Indian democratic mix?
Until a year and a half ago, the answer would probably have been ‘no’. While Kashmir has had duly elected state governments for a while now, nobody considered the situation on the ground to be anything like the rest of India.
But something seems to have changed. In a marked departure from the high of separatism, the state assembly elections last year saw voters flock to the polling booths. Three million of Jammu and Kashmir’s 4.8 million voters exercised their franchise — a 62 per cent turnout compared to 44 per cent the previous time. And suddenly, the issues of the moment didn’t seem detached from those in the rest of the country. As in other parts of India, bad roads, poor governance, education and jobs seemed to be the magnets that pulled people to voting stations.
The state assembly election was hard-fought, replete with the mud-slinging, aggression and hypocrisy that are so much a part of Indian politics. But that too seemed welcome in far-off Mumbai because it seemed familiar, resembling any other Indian assembly election. Kashmir began to have fewer degrees of separation from India.
Recently, my colleague in Delhi, Monalisa Arthur, travelled to Kashmir for a pre-parliamentary-election series commissioned by the Hindustan Times. She asked Kashmiris what led to the sudden change in their thinking.
She writes: ‘It’s a baffling U-turn few Kashmiris have been able to explain, or understand.… Growing aspirations mean youngsters, though still politically conscious, are increasingly aware of what they have lost in terms of economic and career development over the last two decades. The large voter turnout in November is seen by some as a move by the youth to try and find a place in Indian polity. ‘The agitation was a people’s movement. The elections … well, it was time for change. Plus, our generation connects with our young leader [Omar Abdullah],’ says Hashim, sipping cappuccino at Coffee Arabica.
‘Nazir Bhat (27) scoffs from across the table. ‘It is the Kashmiri character,’ says the young businessman.... ‘We are opportunists; we go with whatever is most advantageous for us at that moment.’’
Which viewpoint is correct? What if both are? After all, everyone has a different motivation to vote. Some of us want a safer economic future, others want a person from their community in a position of power, and still others look for those who can provide security. Whatever the motivation, participation in the election is a vote for the democracy you live in. And Kashmir voted—not at gunpoint, but because it wanted to.
Take, for example, Uri, just 20 kilometres from the Line of Control, which has borne the brunt of the standoff between Indian and Pakistani forces. The mountainous area was one of the early routes for infiltration. Last November, 80 per cent of its electorate voted. That’s phenomenally high in a country where a 50 per cent turnout is considered healthy. The turnout even made the Kashmir state’s high average of 62 per cent seem low in comparison.
Interestingly, during her tour of Kashmir, Arthur discovered the same voter motivations that are witnessed across India. ‘The battle now is against poor governance in Kashmir’s high-security border areas, often ignored by political parties and deprived of schools, jobs and any signpost of progress in a state that has purportedly spent at least Rs 50,000 crore of taxpayer money on development over the last two decades of insurgency.… Young jobless men sit in the town market all day, doing nothing. Roads are pockmarked with huge puddles of dirty water.… Three hydropower projects feed the national grid, but residents get only five or six hours of electricity per day,’ she wrote.
The fact that such matters now dominate Kashmiri politics is a huge step toward real integration with the Indian mainstream. Voter priorities in the state indicate that the focus may be slowly shifting from the militancy-separatism debate to local issues that affect people’s daily lives.
Sajjad Ghani Lone’s decision to contest the elections could be symptomatic of this mood. Lone is the son of slain Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Lone and a known separatist. That he’s chosen to participate in the Indian electoral process could be an indicator of the way Kashmir is thinking. It could, of course, be plain opportunism as well. Either way, India is looking forward to May 16, when votes for Kashmir’s six Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) seats will be counted. There could be a message in the ballot.
Ashraf Engineer is Associate Editor at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai. Hindustan Times has eight editions across India. He can be reached at ashraf.engineer@gmail.com. He also writes a blog, www.mumbaiinsomniac.wordpress.com.
DAWN.COM | World | Kashmir at the polls
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