Kashmir, ultra-nationalism and religion
In India, the mentality of the Sangh Parivar in the ruling BJP appears to have overwhelmed the external affairs and national security civil-military establishment. With an emphasis on the cultural and political manifestation of Hinduism, there is increased pressure on religious minorities in India’s domestic context and a strident approach has been adopted in foreign and security affairs in the region. India has returned to its traditional position on Kashmir, i.e., Kashmir is an integral part of India, and has taken up a tough policy towards Pakistan. The BJP government is showing to its political far-right and religious supporters that India can assert its conventional military superiority and economic advantage over Pakistan.
The BJP knows that the Kashmir issue cannot be settled on the basis of its traditional position. However, it continues to insist on that in order to build support for itself in the domestic context, by projecting Indian fearlessness. This has led India to take serious exception towards the meeting of the Pakistani high commissioner with Kashmiri leaders. This was not the first time that the Pakistani high commissioner has met them. However, the Indian reaction was belligerent and the foreign secretary-level talks were cancelled in protest. This satisfied the political far-right and those with conservative orientations, who want India to act strongly against Pakistan. Similarly, the ongoing violations at the Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu-Sialkot sector (the Working Boundary in Pakistani parlance) are another manifestation of India’s toughness for the benefit of its domestic audience. In a way, the Indian Army, another supporter of the ‘get tough with Pakistan policy’, has found a way to undertake punitive action against the Pakistani mainland by launching artillery attacks across the LoC from the Jammu sector, targeting the Pakistani mainland rather than Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The two sides are engaged in firing bullets and bombs from their bunkers close to the LoC rather than going across it. This has avoided escalation against the backdrop of the presence of nuclear weapons on both sides. India can build military pressure on Pakistan, knowing well that the Pakistan Army is engaged in countering terrorism in the tribal areas and it is strengthening security on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
India has shifted the focus of the bilateral dialogue from eight issue areas to a single issue. It wants Pakistan to satisfy it on terrorism before talks on other issues can be held. However, India maintains an interest in trade with Pakistan, but without meeting the complaints of the Pakistani business and trading community about the obstacles of no-tariff exports from Pakistan to India. This policy may help the BJP to win state elections and share power in India-administered Kashmir as a coalition partner after the forthcoming state elections.
If the BJP government is appeasing the political far-right, religious hardliners and ultra-nationalists, the Nawaz Sharif government in Pakistan is playing a similar game. It is trying to salvage its domestic political reputation threatened by the ongoing political agitation by Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri by showing to the political far-right and militants that it is equally tough with India. Like India, the Nawaz government has returned to Pakistan’s traditional position on Kashmir, i.e., its future should be decided on the basis of the UN resolutions of 1948-49 that call for holding a plebiscite in Kashmir to decide if the people want to join India or Pakistan.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gave more space to the Kashmir problem in his address to the UN General Assembly in September 2014 than was the case last year. This enabled him to win much appreciation in Pakistan’s domestic arena in the same way as India’s current stand on Kashmir and the ‘get tough with Pakistan’ policy is wining goodwill for the BJP, mainly in the Hindi-belt states.
The special assistant to Pakistan’s prime minister has recently rejected the work done for evolving a workable solution of Kashmir between 2004 and 2007 (the Musharraf years) and asserted Pakistan’s traditional position on Kashmir. India has also rejected the useful work done in the past for evolving a working solution on the Kashmir issue.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office needs to undertake a dispassionate review of the current trends in global politics to judge how much support it can mobilise for its demand to implement the UN resolutions on Kashmir. No country, including Muslim ones, made any statement in the UN General Assembly favouring either Indian or Pakistani positions on Kashmir. If Pakistan cannot mobilise support for its demand on Kashmir at the international level, especially from the five veto-wielding powers in the Security Council, how would it resolve the issue?
China, other big powers and most other countries expect India and Pakistan to take up the Kashmir issue at the bilateral level and evolve a mutually acceptable solution. The international community will help to implement such a solution. However, it will neither implement UN resolution on its own nor force India to give in to Pakistan’s demand on Kashmir. Its main interest is that India and Pakistan should not go to war on Kashmir.
If Pakistani rulers are confident of diplomatic support, they need to formally invoke the Security Council for implementation of the 1948-49 resolutions on Kashmir. If this is not possible, emotionally charged statements inside Pakistan may help the federal government to become popular with the political far-right, but this will not resolve the Kashmir problem to Pakistan’s satisfaction.
The same can be said about India. The Modi government can continue to play the Kashmir card for promoting ultra-nationalism and strengthening politicised Hindu hardliners. However, it cannot unilaterally solve the Kashmir problem. Pakistan may not be able to get its way on Kashmir, but it has enough diplomatic and military capacity to deny legitimacy to India on this issue. The best option for both countries is the revival of talks on all contentious issues.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (39)
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The author has forgotten or chosen to ignore the fact the UN Security Council passed Resolution 47 on 21 April 1948 imposing an immediate cease-fire, following the set-up of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) and called on the Government of Pakistan 'to secure the withdrawal from the state of Jammu and Kashmir of tribesmen and Pakistani nationals not normally resident therein who have entered the state for the purpose of fighting.' After independence Pakistan invaded kashmir and created this issue. pakistanis should remember this.
@GS@Y: U got a problem with dat ? If so, all u gotta do is to block all IP addresses that originate in India.
@GS@Y: " Pretty much every comment is by an Indian" +++++++++++++ How very observant. India dominates from Sports to Space to Software.
GS@Y It is a matter concerning India, so why not?
@unbelievable Munna was clearly being sarcastic.
Pretty much every comment is by an Indian. Too many of them crawling around on Pakistani news sites. Man!
Pretty sure that Munna's comment recommending a nuclear attack on India is against ET comment policy - if it isn't it should be.
@goggi (Lahore): Agree, Well written.
Most of us are either very naive, or want to forget or wickedly suppress the fact, that we humans
are a disgusting evil of this planet.
The recorded history of human evil deeds is written with the red ink of his own blood!
The world of today is accordingly split up into billions of visible and invisible walls and fences of
hatred! It starts from the fence of our always locked house doors, making almost everyone a
potential thief, rapist or murderer!
Billions of cunning devices of deception, fraud, lies, destruction, killing and justifications are
integral part of our human sadomasochist brainwashed consciousness.
To kill a human is murder, to kill a human in war is sacred, to kill a human in the name of law
is justice???
The wicked enemy beyond the border is the persuaded fabrication of the ancient wicked human
mind and consenting with the father of depth psychology Sigmund Freud,
"human is a polymorphous (multiform) perverse being........... with born criminal tendencies!"
Appearances can be deceptive. Think of this scenario. NS & NM meet at the inauguration. They agree to whip up patriotic emotions in both the countries and rally the people behind themselves. From that position, both can make bold and unexpected moves to compromise and come to a lasting permanent solution. They will also be able to sell the deal to their respective citizenry.
One thing for sure, Modi has his country behind him. He is the best chance for Pakistan to strike a deal. After Modi's term(s), it will be a long time before another strong leader comes along in India.
@vinsin: "not true, Nehru believed that Kashmir is a disputed territory and went to UN to resolve it. After ceasefire and expiry of UN resolution in 1957 and 1965 war India/Congress asserted that LOC should be made an International Boundary."
Nehru went to UN to protest Pakistan's aggression, not becoz he believed that Kashmir was disputed territory ... r u implying that he, himself being a Kashmiri, wud be disputing his nationality ???
"Only from 1984 India started saying that Kashmir is an intergral part after the completion of Karakorum highway." Again, u r factually incorrect ... On 30 October 1956, the state Constituent Assembly adopted a constitution for the state declaring it an integral part of the Indian Union. If u have any issues with this, then take it up with them ...
"India has returned to its traditional position on Kashmir, i.e., Kashmir is an integral part of India ..." Sir, u need to ask urself this question ... when did India ever say anything else ???
how insightful!
1) pakistan is innocent
2) indian govt is under influence of right wingers ( pakistan govt is of course influenced by left wingers)
3) everything pakistan has done is in reaction to indian actions
4) pakistan diplomats rule opinion making sections of international countries ( indeed, everyone holds pakistan in high esteem)
5) pakistan is election issue in India !
how brilliant!
Kashmiris are talking about only 2 options now. Either to stay with India or get independence. In either of the options, Pakistan does not have a role to play. It has to be settled between India and the kashmiris.
@Sneha: You have failed to mention how the West Pakistanis treated their own East Pakistani majority muslims prior to their seperation on 1971. Those horrible atrocities were concealed from the West Pakistan public. Only those who access information thru website only knew.
The writer went to great lengths to portray that India and Pakistan face similar dilemmas...and that is not true. India is a status quo power and is perfectly happy with present borders including LOC..so they view Kashmir as a law-and-order problem and a security challenge to be met with high technology surveillance and security forces. Pakistan is a revisionist power..it wants to make changes to status quo, and tried (and failed) 4 times already (1948, 1965, 1971, 1999). Along the way, economy and society fractured, with intolerance, bigotry, terrorism, and wide spread availability and use of guns. Now they have run out of options...while India can afford to do nothing and focus on economy. That is the reason for cancellation of talks...everybody knows that its a waste of time anyway.
@Munna: Please read your comment again would you consider it to have been written by someone with " a sane mind ".
@AVMPolpot: Sir, did u overlook the overwhelming support for Pakistan at UN to the uttering of Sartaz Aziz?
Maybe Sartaz Aziz should pretend he is from China to get more attention, he anyways looks the part
Sir, did u overlook the overwhelming support for Pakistan at UN to the uttering of Sartaz Aziz? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Or maybe u are too embarrassed by the deafening silence?
There is no military solution to Kashmir. All other options should remain open. The sad reality is the current plight of the Kashmiri people which a simple case of overcoming national ego's can resolve quickly.
@ Abhi,
Pakistan is waiting for instructions from its masters ... Britain, US, China ... !
Doctor Sahib have no idea where the world is heading. He is still living in history and go on taking about Nuclear Tamasha, UNSC resolutions, plebiscite blah blah. Tell me even a single instance in last 67 years where GOI have ever uttered that J&K (including PHK & GB) is not its territory? The fear in this entire tangle is only to Pakistan i.e. of losing its unlawful control over PHK and GB. This also generates psyco-fear in its mind about India’s attack anytime to regain its territory of PHK and GB by force?
Further, what UN plebiscite he is taking for J&K? He should understand that tt is election in Indian States, especially J&K, which UNDP (United Nations Development Program) is using as model for world to follow. Even in this J&K elections the observers of over 20 nations of UN are watching and learning as to how free and fair elections are being conducted. For information of all UNDP and ECI have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote knowledge and experience in the field of election management in India. Read and understand it at: http://ceojk.nic.in/pdf/ToRTechicalExpertECI.pdf http://www.in.undp.org/content/india/en/home/operations/projects/democraticgovernance/supporting-democratic-electoral-management0.html http://ceojk.nic.in/ http://www.elections.in/jammu-and-kashmir/
Pakistan has Kashmir as an issue to direct its population and to hide its incompetencies in governance. Pak army uses kashmir to get more money. As simple as that. Accept LOC as border and move on. India's stand is only this. Anything other than this will not be acceptable to India nor it will be acceptable to the rest of the world. Pak's desire of taking over Kashmir is outdated, illegal (after the accession deed by the maharaja of kashmir), impractical and no one accepts that.(except ofcourse the pakistanis, but then who in the world listens to them)
Same old boring crap. Every time I see the word Kashmir in a Pakistani paper I flip the page. Nope, you won't get it. You'll be lucky to keep what you have.
"*India has returned to its traditional position on Kashmir, i.e., Kashmir is an integral part of India, and has taken up a tough policy towards Pakistan. *"
Such blatant lies which can be googled and corrected could be a part of an editorial only in Pakistan.
India has never changed in its traditional position on Kashmir except for the first few years of Nehru. Even in that case it doesn't become a return.
The meaning of the word return is rebound, recovery, restoration. Nothing was restored here. We have always stood on that position. Even during the manmohan singh rule, that was the policy.
There is only one solution i.e. make LOC a permanent international boundary and allow the people of both Kashmirs to visit each other without visa just like USA CANADA.
When did India ever give up its claim to "return" to it? What was at the UN became a bilateral issue in 1965 at Tashkent. It was reinforced and agreed to again in Shimla in 1971. To rake it up in the UN again and use violence in the form of war and through terror proxies is a losing proposition. Threatening nuclear war has no credibility. It is obvious Pakistan does not see it that way. But the cold facts are that neither India nor the world are impressed by such conduct. Post 9/11, Mumbai, OBL - Pakistan has no credibility in the UN or elsewhere.
At the core of it - there is a conflict of values. That is why Indians - no matter the government, are willing to pay any price - they know to give in is to "return" to some other claim by Pakistan.
The author seems to be carried away by his own convictions about BJP and India, He has put all the blame on India. Please Mr Author, pause and take a serious look at Pakistani state policies since 1947. Pakistan wants Kashmir simply because the majority population there is Muslim. BJP came to power only 6 months ago. What happened before 2014? Did these two countries resolve any conflicts?
Not only this government but any other Indian gov will not talk about Kashmir. It's indian state end of story. Only issue to be discussed is respecting LoC by Pakistan and converting to Internatioanal boundary. It's is in Pakistan's interest not India's.
We do not have to solve the issue . Just keep the wound open until one of them bleeds to death . It's the question of , who can take it longer ! I think India can take it longer . Some day , may be 20 years from now , the burden of Kashmir will economically bleed Pakistan so much that the reasons for resolution will change . We can hold our breath for long , the question is can you ?
@Munna, If there is a nuclear war, most likely Pakistan will get wiped out because of it's size. India is huge, 7th largest country in the world out of 200 other countries. But trust me the nuclear war would be initiated by Pakistan, I don't think India would press Nuclear button when it can easily defeat Pakistan on air, land and water.
There is no sense in a status quo power talking to a revisionist power. India is definitely status quo, Pakistan has always been revisionist. If talks are cancelled, how will it reflect badly to India?
You allege Pakistan has enough diplomatic clout to keep Kashmir issue in the international limelight, at the same time say world powers will not help(meaning they have no interest). These are contrasting viewpoints.
Musharaff's formula said India will keep its side of Kashmir, Pakistan will keep its side. That is why India even entertained the idea. It also said there will be more trade via Kashmir, making LoC irrelevant, which is exactly India's position - to increase trade.
Rest all are for Pakistani public consumption, for a face saving retreat from Kashmir.
The advantages of being a status quo and additionally have an Economy 10 times larger and 20 times the global influence, is that you can be rest assured the outcome can only be favorable to you.
There is not a single thing Pakistan has achieved in the past 68 years. Not one. How will this change in the next 20 years, when India's GDP will be almost 20 times the size of Pakistan's?
Delusions of grandeur.
Dear Author,
Your logic seems slightly flawed.
Congress has ruled for 60 years in India and went to war with Pakistan thrice. Congress under Mr Rao passed a resolution on Kashmir in the parliament that whole of Kashmir belongs to India now BJP is more strident than Congress then how does Pakistan suppose that it will ever have a solution to its satisfaction.
I dont see a solution which is satisfactory to Pakistan in next fifty years. The only solution is to convert working boundary into international border. No government in India has an appetite for anything else. And more important, Indian voters will never agree to anything else.
Only possible solution is to make LOC permanent. I wonder how long will Pakistan take to realize it.
@Munna: " nobody in india is interested in talks with with muslims and Pakistanis" India's Vice President is a muslim. So is our foreign office spokesperson and intelligence bureaue head. And India(modi) has already had meetings with saudi king at g20,Malaysia,Indonesia and other muslim countries visiting India or at summits during modi's visit. We have excellent relationship with muslim countries. It's the same reason as the author rightly said why you weren't able to convince them to raise it in UN recently. It's more of "pakistan" problem.
Pakistan was not an election Issue and will never be an Issue in any Indian election. Indian election was fought on condition of non-muslims in Pakistan and Bangladesh, development, women rights, declare India to be a secular state by implementing uniform civil code, removing article 370, growth of radical Islam in India.
@a_writer: not true, Nehru believed that Kashmir is a disputed territory and went to UN to resolve it. After ceasefire and expiry of UN resolution in 1957 and 1965 war India/Congress asserted that LOC should be made an International Boundary. Only from 1984 India started saying that Kashmir is an intergral part after the completion of Karakorum highway.
@Author: Best move pakistan can play at this time is to move it's army from Kashmir and ask for referendum as per UN resolution within a decade. Truth is Pakistan has no moral and legal standing on Kashmir Issue.
@Munna: Under which legal law you want Kashmir and for what? You are the one who is talking like a psycho. India population won't wipe out but most likely most of the Pakistan population will. When Liaquat Khan refused Kashmir when India offered?
@Munna: India is too big to get wiped out by Pakistan, However, Pakistan will surely get wiped out. your stupidity is why Pakistan is in the state it is in
If fighting wars with India for Kashmir is Pakistan destiny then so be it. Use nuclear weapons also since they are acquired after great cost. In case all of India-Pakistan population got wiped out then don't care, Islam will survive in other lands like Egypt, Morocco etc. For a muslim, it's important to fight for Kashmir, death should be treated as gateway to get beautiful heaven, so don't fear death and go for Kashmir. Regarding talks, it's of no use as nobody in India is interested in talks with Muslims and Pakistanis. They are not considered as sane minds, usually they are thought as psycho's and delusion mind with specific mental state called Grandiose delusion sickness.
Mr. Rizvi states "India has returned to its traditional position on Kashmir, i.e., Kashmir is an integral part of India...". India has never left this traditional position in order to return to it. So, it is not clear what Mr.Rizvi is referring to. What other position did India ever take on Kashmir other than that the whole of Kashmir belongs to India and Pakistan is occupying part of it?
Pakistan and India should sit down with a map of the region and mark with a permanent marker the current LOC and call it the international border. This will save millions of $ untold suffering of civilians on both sides.
In its current state Pakistan does not have the military might or international standing to force India to do anything. The only other option it has is increase LET and other terror outfit infiltration into India.
After 9/11, I don't believe the world has much appetite or patience for that approach.