Disputed aspirations and its resolution

Amidst the Kashmir issue, local masses of Jammu and Kashmir are the most significant party to the conflict because it is the question of their own future which is at stake. The major internal confrontation to the resolution of the issue lies among contradictory organizations in Jammu and Kashmir. The JKLF along with other parties and some radical Islamist militant organizations, seeks total independence either from India or from Pakistan. However the other wants to merge Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan. Despite this, unity among these groups could form a stronger front against India’s intrusive actions. Both India and Pakistan have used Kashmir for political gains, while the region continues to suffer. A solution rooted in the unity of the region’s syncretic traditions is essential for long-term peace.

Amidst the Kashmir issue, local masses of Jammu and Kashmir are the most significant party to the conflict because it is the question of their own future which is at stake. The major internal confrontation to the resolution of the issue lies among contradictory organizations in Jammu and Kashmir. The JKLF along with other parties and some radical Islamist militant organizations, seeks total independence either from India or from Pakistan. However the other wants to merge Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan. 

If these organizations want to take a stand in the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue, they should become complementary to each other and unite their respective masses which would make a uniform resistant front which ultimately restricts India to play off with its illicit intrusive actions. The political parties and other public stakeholders along Jammu and Kashmir should unite in order to give a setback to deliberate communal intrusions whether these are state orchestrated or not.

The 1947 accession of Hari Singh, bifurcation of the borders and occasional electoral elections in Jammu and Kashmir led India to claim its control over Kashmir. It is noteworthy to point out that the accession lacked the popular consent of people and the leading factor of accession was the invasion of 90,000 guerrillas. Occasional electoral elections didn’t quantify the popular consent of people or loyalty towards India. Often the government orchestrated false promises made by political leaders which led the innocent Kashmiris to participate in elections and whose grandiose aspiration is yet to be resolved. The Indian state is bilaterally redundant to redress the prolonged issue so that it can gain more time to spread its communal ideology and crush the movement.

Pakistan unlike India envisages the root cause of all hostilities between two countries to be the Jammu and Kashmir issue and demands its solution through plebiscite to be held in accordance with the UN resolution which seeks simultaneous demilitarization of both countries from their occupied parts of Kashmir. It seems there is a lack of political will for negotiations.

The Jammu and Kashmir issue is a zero sum game in which both India and Pakistan are win-win players who are using Kashmir for their political aspirations (particularly India). For example major events which took place in Indian administered Kashmir had suitable political results for Indian governments (1990’s, 2013, 2016, 2019). Kashmir however continues to be a graveyard for thousands of missing Kashmiris.

Being third world countries, both India and Pakistan are dependent upon their western allies for weaponry. But, as it was remarked by George Fernandez, the former home minister of India, in an interview, “Kashmir can’t be ruled with guns.” Therefore, it is imperative to the world organizations along with human rights organizations to pressurize both nations through trade sanctions, world wide condemnation of the Indian brutalities and international pressure to settle down the dispute as both countries are nuclear powers with very less intellectualism.

More importantly Kashmiriyat and the syncretic traditions of the people of all religions who are indigenous to Jammu and Kashmir should unite which needs time but ultimately nothing other than this will emancipate Jammu and Kashmir from these atrocities.

This is a guest written by Waheed Ahmad Rather for The Jamia Review. The writer is a student of B.A. (H) History at Jamia Millia Islamia.

Edited By: Gunjit Verma