Optimism on Kashmir?
By the Editor

WITH a zest for the birth of a durable peace and serenity, President Musharraf has reiterated his call for identification, demilitarization and change in the status of the seven regions of Kashmir, as a whole, for resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Speaking at an Iftar festivity held in Islamabad on Monday, he, overtly focused on the option of division of Kashmir on the basis of geography or ethnicity. It’s food for thought for media to develop consensus on the issue, he proposed.

If analyzed with a pragmatic approach, Gen Musharraf poured out his heart while explaining his options to seek resolution of the Kashmir issue, laying in abeyance, for over five-and-a-half decades.

The ardour, sincerity and authenticity, rayed by the President, to end the perpetual state of confrontation and conflict between India and Pakistan is certainly above board. He appeared to be in a hurry to find an early settlement to the dispute. As is evident, Musharraf had proposed similar options in an interview to the New Delhi-based newspaper ‘Asian Age’, on the onset of this month.

Seemingly, the ball is now in India’s court. Thus the question is what’s India’s response to these initiatives and options? Does India really want to heal this long bleeding wound and is the present Indian Government capable of pursuing any of the options proposed by him?

It’s significant to evaluate India’s mindset, lest it might turn out to be yet another abortive exercise. It’s necessary because five of the regions of Jammu and Kashmir State are under India’s forcible occupation and as such its approach towards the options is pivotal in the process of seeking resolution of the issue.

Going by the index of lexicon, India’s track record hardly substantiates hope of a requisite response to these options. True that Pakistan has been able to rally international opinion about the need to resolve the Kashmir issue on its side. It’s also true that President Musharraf has gained worldwide recognition, for his positive loom to normalize Pak-India relations.

But New Delhi’s willingness to interact with Islamabad and address the contentious issue, on the basis of these options, still remains to be the starting or if otherwise phrased with reality, as a take-off point.

Pragmatically, although there exists an element of apprehension vis-à-vis Dr Manmohan Singh’s ability and resolve to proceed in the ongoing composite dialogue with a sense of urgency for various reasons, yet we wish the Government in New Delhi, is equally keen to seek elimination of the root cause of tension in the region of South Asia.

As a matter of fact, Kashmiris have suffered a great deal and Pakistan and India have had a long stand-off on the issue. It’s an apt time that the options proposed by President Musharraf, should also be debated in India to generate a consensus in both countries.

That will not only back-up or push the Congress-led government, but also a healthier confidence to the Indian Prime Minister to pursue the issue vigorously, in a meaningful and result-oriented style. Such courses, if perused, will eventually go a long way for the resolution of the dispute itself.

We feel optimistic that with a realization of ground realities, best know to the world, the Indian government shall eschew all types of ambiguities and usage of typical rhetoric, based on ‘ifs and buts’, to get the longed dispute on Kashmir solved, of-course in line with the aspirations of the people of the Himalayan State, who are the real owner of the charismatic realm, as well as in the best interest of over billion-plus populace of the region, without any delay.●