The feature is no doubt laudable-“as this crucial region has as confronted nothing except a spate of perils-“ever since it sought autonomy from the cage of a prolonged British rule.
Paradoxically, the two nations could not cultivate the finest rapport-“due to the raison d’être-“of which every pragmatic realm around the globe is well-acquainted. Its’ a fact that India-“right from the day-one-“did not acknowledge the fabulous emergence of Pakistan on the world Atlas as a sovereign state and instead got itself engaged in every gambit to disseminate a spiteful propaganda crusade-“to inflict impairment-“with a pushy style.
Simultaneously, New Delhi eluded every logical n’ genial offer of Pakistan for the amputation of the vital irritants which have-“by now blemished vistas for an affluent South Asia-“via the solution of the core issues-“with the Kashmir dispute atop.
Though the ceasefire has gone into effect-“with the consensus of India, the suspicions vis-Ã -vis New Delhi’s actual mindset shall continue to persist-“till the time a process of malodorous n’ meaningful dialogue is set off for an idyllic n’ marvellous relationship between the two nuke-neighbours, which can be accomplished-“only through the solution of the dilemmas-“responsible for emotions of abhorrence for each-other, which have pragmatically been the antagonistic Indian outlook towards the ground realities.
It is therefore, an apposite time for India to eschew its inherited egotism by opting for a ‘positive course’ as has been done by it on Pakistan’s proffer for a truce. It can conveniently-“be translated into a reality-“ones India bends before the universal call for reconciliation of all the issues-“explicitly-“the Kashmir dispute, in line with the UN resolutions-“adopted for more than a dozen time n’ that too-“with one-voice, reflecting the bona fide aspirations of the gallant people of the fascinating Himalayan State.
Else, every manoeuvre-“what so ever it may be-“shall eventually prove pointless. At the same time world wants India to recognise a proactive role for the United Nations Military Observers Group for India and Pakistan [UNMOGIP] in monitoring the pronounced ceasefire along the line ferociously dividing Kashmir between the two nuclear-armed countries. With elfin hopes-“yet with an icon of optimism, as we move in the direction of resumption of dialogue with India, it is only helpful that we quietly clear the cobwebs that are a legacy of a past we better shed as good riddance.
Ironically, we have tended to be content moving in ruts, because we have lacked the courage to emerge out of the deceptive security of immobility. One such rut is the myth about the ‘Line of Control.’ Actually, this line has no political import or status, hence no validity or relevance to any future dispensation. A dauntingly great deal remains to be discussed about the methodology of the discussions that lie ahead.
Amidst a clear-cut message, beamed by President General Pervez Musharraf with a focus on realism that there can’t be any relationship with India on any facet sans the settlement of the core issue of Kashmir [which has invariably made New Delhi ‘upset’ as a truthful voice has once again emerged literally devastating the deceitful mentality of the Indian headship], a need for India to bend before the Atlas voice-“peace n’ tranquillity in South Asia-“has become all the more essential.
Nonetheless, if there is agreement on the basics of a solution to the Kashmir dispute, progress in search of a final settlement would be smooth and steady, if not exactly swift. In fact, any insistence on haste would be manifestly imprudent. Both sides should bring a high-minded and big-hearted commitment to bear on the negotiations. We cannot presume at this moment what exactly the solution would be. But we do know that only a fair solution will be sustainable with the sincere support of all parties concerned.
In this context all concerned are, first and foremost, the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Only in the second position jointly stand the people of Pakistan and India. What all the parties concerned can agree upon straightaway is that whatever the solution, it has to be one that is seen by all concerned as just, fair and equitable to all. When placed in the parameters of the principles set out above, the ‘Line of Control’ ceases to have any relevance whatsoever. It has not been drawn by the Kashmiri people. Nor can Pakistan or India claim to be its authors.
As a matter of fact, both Pakistan and India have, in so many ways, expressed inability to maintain the inviolability of the ‘Line of Control.’ India stands self-confessed as unable even to mount an effective guard on this so-called ‘Line,’ though it has a million-plus troops standing by. Once we settle down to talk earnestly about a future solution of the core dispute-“Kashmir, the ‘Line of Control’ would simply fade out of all reckoning. That would be the moment to address surpassingly delicate and sensitive issues, intertwined with which is the peace of almost a billion n’ half populace in this subcontinent-“South Asia.
Virtually the ‘Line of Control’ is no line; it controls nothing of significance or substance. Not only that a resolution-“still preserved in the top index of the UN-“makes it crystal clear that no bar-“whatsoever-“can be imposed on Kashmiris’ mobility, as they were compelled by the India-backed ruthless n’ tyrannical Dogra Hari Singh rule to leave their ancestral abode in 1947 n’ in a few follow-up years, taking refuge in Pakistan.
The grand n’ salient ‘Ceasefire Line Tor Do’ [break the cease-fire line] movement by the apex Kashmiri Leader, late Ch. Ghulam Abbas in 1958 [in Sikandar Mirza’s regime] is still known to all world-over, which literally jolted the New Delhi stalwarts-“as they have had no legitimate way to stop it, specifically in view of the all ready-“aired global voice from the UN podium.
Pundit JL Nehru felt a sigh of breath when Field Marshall Ayub Khan-“by virtue of the then political scenario-“came in power n’ eventually convinced the magnificent n’ dynamic voice of Kashmiri leader, late Ch. Abbas to put his crusade in abeyance for sometime as he [Ayub] would get the Kashmir Issue resolved in line with the aspirations of the dwellers of the captivating Himalayan State.
In a way he did try through diverse means including via the Tashkant Summit-“yet the superciliousness of India persists even today-“which on the one hand speaks about ‘allure for talks’ yet on the other amplifies rather magnifies the magnitude n’ scale of its brutalities on the guiltless people of India-held Kashmir [IHK] with the advent of every dawn n’ applies one ploy or the other to get the realistic solution of the Issue delayed.
Hence New Delhi’s ‘gusto for a dialogue’ has proved nothing beyond a trick to hoodwink to world. With mounting pressure from every sane nation n’ more overtly with the unfolding of the factual reports by world’s human rights champions focusing ‘the instant settlement of the core issue of Kashmir is the only way for ensuring a durable peace in South Asia to the eventual benefit of the world.
Kashmiris-“by all perceptions-“are right in their outlook-“as the UN commitments on Kashmir fully endorse this uprightness-“as clear as the coherent n’ translucent as the waters of River Jhelum-“with a basis of flickering helix-like Spring of Veri Nag, flanking the eye-catching n’ charismatic-“Srinagar. This will have to be accepted as an image of the Kashmiris’ mood-“as an exact truth as their kick against the Indian invaders will continue to swell-“till the time the despotic manacles are splintered for all times to come.
With this realism-“we expect n’ hope-“that with the origination of cease-fire course, India would now-“give a sombre mind to the ground realities-“by opening a process of dialogue with Pakistan to sort-out all the hazards which engulf this region with lofty risks-“n’ for this it shall have to espouse a realistic approach-“if not for any-one else-“at least for the affluence of its own people. We feel buoyant that the Vajpayee-cum-Advani-led Indian leadership-“shall expeditiously n’ expediently take yet another step-“if at all they are excited for a long-term peace-“on this part of the earth planet.
