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India And The Kashmir Problem: Can The U.S. Help?
Fauzia Ahmad
India should learn from Indonesia and give the people of Kashmir their chance to decide their own fate. India is the world's largest democracy in the world but for the past fifty years it has brutally oppressed the people of Kashmir …and it's about time that with the help of American leadership this issue should be resolved according to the principles of self-determination and human rights, once and for all! The recent fighting between India and Pakistan last summer only demonstrates that they are not capable of negotiating any form of settlement between themselves over the issue of Kashmir without the help of International community. Though they have met on numerous occasions to discuss this issue but they have failed to accomplish much. The International community needs to take an active part as a mediator in resolving this issue before it's too late. The recent exchange of fire between India and Pakistan was brought to an end with the assurance and pressure by Clinton administration to take a personal interest in this issue. However, the moment of peace only proved to be ephemeral, as soon after that India downed an unarmed Pakistani naval aircraft within Pakistan's own airspace! Incidents such as this may prove to be more harmful than they seem, as both the nations are now nuclear powers. India and Pakistan both surmise that none may resort to nuclear weapons, but at the same time they threaten to use it if the need be, in order to protect their territorial integrity. Recently released Indian nuclear doctrine is a far cry from the principle of restraint and remains a major hurdle between any conceivable détente among the two arch-rivals. And last but not the least, the Hindu fascists and the BJP are at the center of the things in India, just as the military is in Pakistan. The people of Kashmir have suffered long enough and struggled hard in the last fifty years to achieve self-determination, which has also resulted in two wars between India and Pakistan since 1947. How many more wars have to be fought before India finally lets the people of Kashmir decide for themselves? In the past decade alone, over 60,000 people have lost their lives and more than 1.3 million Kashmiri refugees have been forced into a diasporic existence around the world. Isn't it about time that the 13 million people in Kashmir are heard and they decided their own fate? Kashmir conflict was the outcome of undivided India when the British gave the state of Kashmir the option to choose if it wanted to remain with India or became a part of Pakistan. It was then that the Hindu prince of Kashmir without giving the people of Kashmir the opportunity to choose opted to remain with India. Such anti-democratic move is illegal by any modern standards of self-determination and human rights. Since then Kashmir's painful cry for self-determination is heard but no adequate international response has come to address the issue. The United States and Britain pay a lip service to the issue but do not regard it exigent enough to be on top of their agenda such as Kosova or Kuwait. The issue now at hand is to negotiate a long lasting political settlement between all three parties, Pakistan, India and the people of Kashmir. It should also involve United States in the capacity of the global power and China in the capacity of a regional power to broker a long lasting peace and a pledge to act as the guarantors of peace. The future stability of that region should involve a settlement, which gives Kashmir an option to either join India or Pakistan, or retain full autonomy from both so that the people of Kashmir can control their own destiny. Jawahrala Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India submitted: "We have declared that the fate of Kashmir is ultimately to be decided by the people, that pledge we have given-not to the people of Kashmir but to the world. We will not and cannot back out of it. We are prepared, when peace and order have been established to have a referendum held under the auspices of the United Nations." The people of Kashmir now pin hope on President Clinton's promise that he made to Pakistan's ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on July 4, 1999. Hopefully, Mr. Clinton will take a personal interest in resolving the Kashmir issue, but as of now, the state department's statements show that opposite of that is being accomplished. American foreign policy is driven by the buck since there is no buck in Kashmir for the Americans, so they won't do anything. Conversely, India is a much bigger market for the US for which America is willing to sacrifice its "principles of liberalism". The US is ready to graft ties with a society that burns its missionary guests alive with little children, while the people clap. How the American assurance will help the Kashmiri cause is yet to be seen and what role the US intends to play remains obscure. Nonetheless, it is certain that the Kashmir issue requires more than just a lip service from the international community. With a sincere American initiative and a reflective foreign policy however, it could eventually lead to some form of resolution that can prevent a grave disaster that seems to loom large over South Asia.
Fauzia Ahmad is a freelance writer for IslamOnline.
For comments e-mail ejaz@islam-online.net
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