Kashmir means many things to many people. Located in the heart of Asia, with historical links to both South and Central Asia, Kashmir stands surrounded by Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and India. The total area of J&K state is 222,000 sq.km. Of this, the Pakistani area accounts for 78,114 sq.km. Chinese area is 37,555 sq. kms plus another 3,180 sq. km. (that was an area adjusted during the boundary agreement with Pakistan).At present, 35 per cent of the state is Pakistan occupied Kashmir and 17 percent is Chinese Kashmir. In a landmark boundary adjustment between Pakistan and China, China received 2.3 percent from Pakistan. India occupies less than half of the original state ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1947. Kashmir is yet to be understood as a region of more than 10 million people whose lives yearn for a fuller meaning.
Pakistan's interest in Kashmir is obvious. The population is predominantly Muslim. M.A. Jinnah and the leadership of Pakistan assumed that Muslims could never be full citizens in a
Hindu-majority India. Thus, by the very logic which created Pakistan, for M.A. Jinnah, Kashmir should have been an integral part of the Islamic country. When questions arose as to whether this would happen, it became the so-called duty of Pakistan's leaders to defend the rights of Kashmiris. One of the main reasons for the Indian interest in Kashmir, and perhaps the most important, is that, in the words of historian Paul Brass, "at the top of (Indian leaders) goals, for everything else was an abiding faith in and determination to preserve the national unity and integrity of the country against all potential internal and external threats to it. The very fact that this first priority, the centre of the dreams of the Congress nationalists, had to be sacrificed at independence itself, with the partition of the country, reinforced the determination of the leaders never to make such a sacrifice again."
Thus, the very partition of India by the British was, for Indian leaders, an insult to their struggle. To allow
any more territory to "fall" to Pakistan would be a betrayal of the ideals of the secular independence struggle. Accordingly, it was in the national interest to use force, if necessary, to deal with any secessionist movement. They believed that to act otherwise would invite a rapid disintegration of the Indian Union. Allowing Kashmir, therefore, to join Pakistan after the Maharaja had signed the Instrument of Accession would have been, in Nehru's eyes, to begin the destruction of India.
If India is genuinely interested in the people of Kashmir, it will have to change its policies not because of any international pressure but because of domestic and internal pressures. Kashmir could never become an important international issue although it was discussed on international fora like OIC especially at the instance of Pakistan. This shows its lessening strategic importance. But Kashmir still remains an important issue of domestic political mileage. For revivalists and fundamentalists, "Kashmir" is an emotional
subject. For the men of war on both sides, it is a wonderful excuse to build up their weapons of mass destruction.
If real democracy had been brought to Jammu and Kashmir early in the conflict, the Kashmiris might have been persuaded that they had a place within India. The Kashmir issue is an unfinished business of the 20th Century and India and Pakistan cannot afford to venture into the 21st century with that unfinished business. They have only two more years at their disposal. For centuries before Pakistan was born, Kashmir has existed as an integral part of the Indian subcontinent. But India is yet to prove to the people of Kashmir that it is interested in them too.
When we look back at our policies in Kashmir over the past 50 years we must also evaluate our own performance vis-a-vis the frequent statements of our politicians that "Kashmir is an integral part of India". The truth remains that today's Kashmir even lacks a basic infrastructure. Kashmir stands culturally disintegrated and environmentally
degraded.
The writer is with the Nehru Centre, Mumbai
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
