What if India, Pakistan freeze Kashmir issue?
Wednesday February 29, 2012 04:40:45 PM,
Sheikh Qayoom, IANS
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Srinagar: Have India
and Pakistan decided to freeze the Kashmir dispute for 10 years
and move ahead on improving relations with each other? A hot
debate is doing the rounds in Jammu and Kashmir these days, with
the common man saying peace and the unique Kashmiri identity
should be prime considerations in any such move.
Media reports carried in some local and national newspapers
recently suggest that through backchannel diplomacy the two
countries have decided to freeze the contentious Kashmir issue for
a decade.
Even the separatist camp is agog with rumours that there could be
some truth in these reports.
"How can the dispute be relegated to the backburner? It is the
main dispute between India and Pakistan since its causes are
rooted in history. Forward movement would always be dicey unless
the political aspirations of Kashmiris are met," said a senior
separatist leader who did not want to be named.
Hardline senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani has reacted to
news reports saying, "India has always believed in delaying
tactics while dealing with the reality of Kashmir."
Most mainstream politicians have reacted on expected lines.
"Once relations and confidence levels between the two countries
improve, a solution to the Kashmir problem would automatically
filter out. As long as the Kashmir problem holds India-Pakistan
relations hostage, there would be no solution," said a senior
leader of the ruling National Conference.
India maintains that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of its
territory, but Pakistan disputes the claim. India has for years
accused Pakistan of fomenting insurgency in the state. The two
countries have fought two wars over Kashmir and came to the brink
of another in 1999 in Kargil.
The common man, however, wants peace guarantees for any bilateral
understanding between India and Pakistan on Kashmir.
"The most important thing is guaranteeing peace in Kashmir till
the two countries agree on a negotiated settlement. We must not
continue to stew in our own soup while India and Pakistan decide
on trade and commerce," said Nazir Ahmad Mir, 42, a resident of
north Kashmir's Ganderbal district.
People in Srinagar city, especially those living in the old city
areas, react more emotionally to the prospect of the Kashmir
problem being frozen for a while.
"What about the thousands of people who died here? Peace would
evade India and Pakistan as long as Kashmir remains in the lurch,"
said Zahoor Ahmad, 34, a resident of Aali Kadal old city locality.
Younger generations who do not have a baggage of the past to carry
on their shoulders believe anything that gives Kashmiris a sense
of pride and belonging would be fine.
"Why can't India and Pakistan agree in principle that we as
Kashmiris have a distinct identity of our own? If our identity is
recognised and protected both by India and Pakistan, then there
should be no problem," said Sohail Ahmed, 22, a college student.
"But the big question is peace should be guaranteed till such time
as the two countries reach a settlement that is endorsed by us."
Bashir Manzar, a local newspaper editor, said: "Interestingly, the
prospect of Kashmir losing centrestage to trade and commerce in
India-Pakistan relations would not suit many who have made the
Kashmir issue a lucrative industry during the last two decades."
(Sheikh Qayoom
can be contacted at sheikh.abdul@ians.in)
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