Let Kashmiris decide their destiny

On this Kashmir Day, one is reminded that the long-standing dispute over Kashmir between Pakistan and India needs to be resolved. Urgently. Particularly so when the peace of the region is already threatened by the web of new militant groups. The Islamic State (IS) is now a very real threat for Pakistan. Not only that, the assembling and regrouping of these militants under the umbrella of the IS is becoming a serious threat to the very future of global peace.

The unrealistic demarcation of the subcontinent by former British colonial rulers not only led to a dispute between the two newly-established states i.e., Pakistan and India, but also deprived the Kashmiri people of their just right to self-determination. Since Partition, the Kashmiri people have been striving painstakingly for the basic provision of human rights. Staging protest rallies and demonstrations for different causes has become their routine. Whole generations of Kashmiris are facing aggression and oppression at the hands of Indian troops and other law-enforcement agencies.

Since 1947, Pakistan and India are allocating considerable chunks of their incomes and resources to defence. Over the last six decades, the two countries have fought hot wars, with long periods of icy coldness. They are consistently struggling against each other, and wasting resources in the process. Besides the rulers, the media, the intellectuals and analysts from both sides are seen to be engaged in a heated debate over the issue.

After the two great wars of the last century ended, the world geography changed, with enmities turning into friendships and many countries deciding to bury the hatchet. The Berlin Wall collapsed and the ideologically disintegrated Germans became one nation after half a century marked by fierce hostility. European countries and nations, which remained in confrontation with each other for around a century, eventually became friends. Such sensible integrations led to peace, progress and prosperity.

Like those of the European and Western world, the people of the subcontinent also deserve peace and prosperity. But the Kashmir issue is a major thorn on the road to peace. It is time our rulers, policymakers, intelligentsia and media personnel from both countries help resolve the dispute, which lies in giving the right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people. Let the Kashmiri people decide their destiny on their own. Global forces need to fulfill their responsibility and mediate in this conflict between Pakistan and India.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2015.