Sorry, my earlier mail on this subject was sent out inadvertently. This this the right one. QUEST FOR KASHMIR By: Bennet Paes Kashmir is unlike a candle. It lights up when it does not burn. And that’s exactly when tourism brochures hail it as paradise on earth. At other times it ceases to emit light, and that’s when the burning begins. This is because it happens to be a part of geography that conjoins the twin nations of India and Pakistan, although non-identical either in size or character. It suffers from birth pangs that have now developed into a major disease. Doctors recommended surgery, for which the scalpel was readied over six decades ago and is now gathering rust. The operation is mired in complications, thus making it all the more difficult to trace the path of dissection. Even the Himalayas shrug off at the awesomeness of the task. As much as is the gravity of the situation, the twins do nurture a concern over the menacing legacy they find themselves in. However, India insists that the incision into the diseased organ must start from the Pakistani side of Maharajah Hari Singh’s former State of J&K. Pakistan accepts it, but on condition that a majority of the ‘cells’ that make up the entire conjoining State are free to decide by a referendum, whether a) to accept India’s insistence or, b) have two incisions on either side of the Maharajah’s former empire or, c) to counter India’s insistence and join with Pakistan. The solution still lies in limbo. The reason is that India refuses to budge from it’s stubborn stand, on the grounds that, a) a show-of-cells (plebiscite) is impractical so long as a Pakistani medical team is treating one-third of the conjoining body-part and, b) a large chunk of ‘Hindu cells’ have over the years migrated to mainland India due to religious persecution, thus making the so-called ‘show’ lopsided and irrational. Pakistan too behaves no differently, and insists that India’s surgeons must also vacate simultaneously for the said ‘show’ to take effect. Now, exiting the medical parlance, it seems that India is diverting attention from the real bone of contention, and indulging in what may simply be called an exercise in futility. Pakistan tries to steer back from India’s game-changer, but reluctantly accepts to ride on it’s un-mapped road to a final solution. Then they settle down to some strangely coded terminology like a composite dialog – talks – trust deficit and what have you. This heavily embroidered diplomacy that borders on lunacy, is all that the tax-payers on both sides of the border are fed on, year after year. Hai, hai Ram! Why does not India come out of the groove it is stuck in, and let the brains do the talking? It is time to introspect and find out the root cause that led to three wars, Kargil, attacks on Parliament and Mumbai, and God knows what else to follow. Bus-rides to Lahore and hand-shakes stage-managed for public viewing are certainly not the answer. Statesmanship and moral consciousness dictate that the people caught in the web of this historical botch-up, be set free to seek their own destiny. And the responsibility lies with the two warring nations that have left this human rights related problem unresolved, despite repeated appeals from the UN Security Council’s commission for India & Pakistan (UNCIP), for a free and impartial plebiscite. Therefore, now is the time to get the act together and to be bold enough to face, as well as irrevocably accept the outcome of that historic poll. Inshe Allah – the world’s largest democracy may end up growing even larger. ------------------------------------------------------
