The way forward on Kashmir

JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: Kashmir has been torn apart after the death of Hizbul Mujahideen’s commander, Burhan Wani. That particular death of an icon ignited and revived an obscuring freedom movement, bringing thousands of people on the streets of Indian-held Kashmir. No sane person can justify the brutality of the Indian forces against stone-throwing youth. It was time for Pakistan to highlight the human rights violations against unarmed Kashmiris, not to start parroting its claim on Indian-held Kashmir. Instead of making a moral case against the Narendra Modi government, Pakistani streets were filled by religious parties and protestors, obviously patronised by someone powerful in the hierarchy.

In this backdrop, when Pakistan’s prime minster was getting ready to deliver a befitting speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the Uri attack happened. It’s logical to assume Pakistan will not give such an opportunity to India to defeat Pakistan’s own case at UN. Then, who did it?

If our own creation, the Taliban, is out of control on western borders and we are waging a phased fight — first, against bad Taliban and now, against all Taliban — then the same could be the case on the eastern border. Bad jihadists on the eastern border want to bring both countries to war. Such species live on the spilling of blood and hatred. That’s what we see happening in almost every other country in the Middle East.

Let’s come out of the denial and first put our own house in order. Only recently, the bank accounts of hundreds of jihadis were frozen, 15 years since 9/11, which shows the level of our seriousness towards abolishing the jihadi culture.

Let’s allow Kashmiris to pursue an indigenous freedom movement and not to become a religiously-motivated jihad. That’s the only way forward on Kashmir.

Masood Khan

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2016.

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