3/12/2019 The Kashmir challenge - Jahangir's World Times

The Kashmir challenge

Written by: JWT Desk on October 26, 2018.

INDIA cancelled talks with Pakistan blaming it for ‘acts of terror’, along with a vicious attack on the newly
elected prime minister. Pakistanis and Indians back their own versions regarding an alleged atrocity.

Tragically, the truth is rendered irrelevant. The prime minister, however, must ensure he gets to know the
unvarnished truth. Otherwise, like his predecessors, he will be systematically blindsided.

Pakistan wants dialogue. India says Pakistan must first stop ‘cross-border terrorism’. Why did Modi first

respond positively to the prime minister’s proposal and then change his mind? Does he believe Imran Khan
okayed an atrocity? Or that he is irrelevant?

Does India regard the Kashmiri freedom struggle as terror? There is a legal and a political reality. The UN

has acknowledged the Kashmiri right of self-determination in 1948-49. In 1974, it reaffirmed “the duty of

States not to use armed force to deprive peoples of their right to self-determination”.

Armed struggle and resistance against illegal military occupation and repression are not terror.

In 1982, the UN “reaffirmed the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity,

national unity and liberation from colonial or foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available
means, including armed struggle”.

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The UN has rejected India’s claim that Jammu and Kashmir is part of the Indian Union. It remains disputed

territory. The right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people has been forcibly denied by the Indian

military occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.

India blames Pakistan for not fulfilling conditions for the plebiscite. Even if this were so, it could not

derogate from the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The fact that UN resolutions on Kashmir
were adopted under Chapter 6 in no way reduces the obligation of member states and of parties to the

dispute to respect and implement them. Nor does the Shimla Agreement affect Kashmiri rights.

Politically, however, India refuses to accept any of the above. Moreover, other than expressing concern over

the human rights situation in India-held Kashmir (IHK), the international community is not prepared to

press India on the subject of a Kashmir settlement. This, despite the dispute having triggered three wars
between India and Pakistan which are today adjacent nuclear weapons countries.

This, and so much elsewhere, may underline the irresponsibility of the international community. It certainly
highlights the structural ineffectiveness of the UN whose primary purpose is to preserve the peace and
address situations that have led to war and threaten far more devastating conflicts.

Nevertheless, acts of terrorism including torture and mutilation are unlawful and unacceptable under any
circumstances, including in the context of legitimate freedom struggles. The rights of innocent civilians are

inviolable. The terror of one party can never justify that of others, including victims. However, armed
struggle and resistance against illegal military occupation and repression is not terror.

Despite all of the above, political realities cannot be wished away. Only UNSC resolutions under Chapter 7
are enforceable. It is inconceivable that the UNSC will ever pass a Chapter 7 resolution on Jammu and
Kashmir against the wishes of India. None of Pakistan’s friends would support such a development.

At best major powers will continue to encourage and try to persuade India to engage with Pakistan on all
outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir. India may agree to what passes for dialogue. It has done

so in the past.

After several barren rounds on core issues it breaks down over one or more incidents. Tensions rise.

Conflicts happen. Hawks thrive. Peaceniks cower. Cynics laugh “all is for the best in the best of all possible
worlds!”

Should Pakistan abandon dialogue with India? The prime minister rightly rejects such advice. Nor is it
necessary for Pakistan to solicit dialogue if India is unwilling. Over time, however, Pakistan must strengthen

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its credibility. If that happens, India will, sooner or later, have to accept the reality that it can neither
permanently crush the Kashmir liberation struggle nor successfully blame Pakistan for its inability to do so.

Meanwhile, Pakistan needs to improve and intensify its Kashmir advocacy and diplomacy. The prime
minister’s offer to engage India in a dialogue process to resolve all issues between the two countries is also,

sooner or later, likely to be taken up. The challenges of the 21st century, which threaten to further
exacerbate Indo-Pakistan tensions, will leave either country no choice.

However, Modi for the moment has chosen to accuse Imran Khan of being the ‘true face’ of an ‘evil agenda’.
He hopes to exploit Pakistan’s isolation in the international community progressively brought about by the
consistently incompetent decision-making of the establishment.

It is not clear if Modi’s ‘U-turn’ was influenced by a reported atrocity, the approach of the 2019 national
elections, a major corruption scandal hanging over him, the usual persuasion of influential anti-Pakistan

lobbies or personal spite. Whatever it was, it has discouraged sensible realists and encouraged right-wing
ideologues in both countries.

Pakistan’s formal position on Kashmir does not need to change at all. But its strategy does need to be

revisited to ensure its own policies do not inadvertently harm Kashmiris by allowing India to distract
international attention away from its repression. Pakistan should honestly inform its people there is no

alternative to a negotiated and principled compromise settlement with India that is verifiably acceptable to
Kashmiri opinion.

Once India cannot credibly accuse Pakistan of aiding ‘terrorism’ in IHK it will not be able to portray its

repression as ‘counterterrorism’. Nor will it be able to sustain its obduracy on Kashmir forever. Pakistan will
require imaginative and skilled diplomacy and leadership of a high order. It will also need to make clear ‘red

lines’ that cannot be crossed and ‘vital interests’ that cannot be compromised.

The 21st century has one message for nuclear-armed India and Pakistan: cooperate or perish. The seas are
rising. Land, water and jobs will disappear. Populations cannot cope. Stresses of every kind are increasing.
Reason and moderation are giving way to atavistic passions, insane hatred and self-destructive machismo.

Cooperating to reverse this fatal trend will provide a context for a Kashmir settlement.

By: Ashraf Jehangir Qazi

Source: https://www.dawn.com

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