From: "Rahul Mittal" To: Subject: Re: WE WILL NEVER FORGET!! Date: Sunday, October 21, 2001 1:39 PM --------------------------------------------------------------------- Please help make the Manifesto better, or accept it, and propagate it! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello everyone. It seems there is much hostility as well as much admiration towards foreign entities (like government structure) on this discussion forum. This is a good thing. So here I am to defend my argument earlier that now is a better time than ever before to try and resolve the Kashmir issue. > Can you spell out possible "agreements" between India and Pakistan on > Kashmir? As far as I see these are the only options for India : > > 1. Give Kashmir to Pakistan in which case they will start going after > some other Indian state. They will also eliminate the remaining minority > Hindus and Buddhists in J&K. > > 2. Divide Kashmir on religious lines and handover muslim dominated areas > to Pak. This will be a repeat of partition tragedy. And again pak will > start going after some other state. > > 3. Declare J&K as an Independent country. Is this practically possible? > Pak claims that PoK is "Independent Kashmir". That is their idea of > freedom for Kashmiris. Does any one in the world agree to this claim? Hmm, I actually think there are more alternatives than the three you mentioned. All of your alternatives are based on the assumption that Pakistan will make absolutely no concessions, and that a troubled Kashmir is in fact in the best interest of the Pakistani people and their government. Further, your assumption is that a troubled India is the primary goal of Pakistan. Certainly I have no hard evidence to prove you wrong. But have you once, just once, considered that it might actually be possible for India and Pakistan to have friendly relations? Never mind how, but just consider whether it might actually be something that can exist. Now, once you consider that, all that needs to be done is a good and continued effort to achieve that goal. India has made good efforts in the past, and some very bad efforts as well. More recently, India has made no effort at all. This is what I have been objecting to. Declining opportunities to meet and discuss the issue is not the way resolve a dispute. So, now if you reconsider your position and believe that Pakistan might also make concessions (they didn't in the past with Nehru, but that was a different regime) in the interest of resolving the dispute, a wealth of new possibilities for resolving the Kashmir issue open up. The tough part in all of this is to think positive ;) Both countries have a lot to gain by taking a positive attitude towards Kashmir. Not a negative one as is symbolized by the refusal to attend talks. > Will pak accept anything less than the whole Kashmir? Does Indian Govt. > need trouble in kashmir to sustain itself or is it the Pakistani govt. > which needs to keep Kashmir boiling? Kashmir is hardly an issue during > elections in India but for every Pak. govt. Kashmir is the issue to whip > up voters passions(In the rare event of elections being held). Pakistan > is a terrorist state which denies its own citizens voting rights and > then "morally supports" other peoples fight for their rights. Why should > we accept this? > > Why do we need to presume that what ever Indian govt. did in Kashmir is > wrong? Pakistan is only playing a dirty game which I feel will lead to Why do we need to presume that the Indian Government is perfectly righteous in all its dealings with the Kashmir issue? The wise thing to do is assume that both sides have made mistakes. The challenge is to accept those mistakes and move on towards making things better. All that India and Pakistan have done over the last 50 years is point fingers at the other side. It's like two little children who've been up to something naughty and blame the other kid for having started it. It's time to grow up and fess up that something really really horrible has occurred, and that there is a real and solid determination to make amends. My comments about the Indian Government also apply to the Pakistani Government. But to quote you, "Pakistan is only playing a dirty game", so why should we sit back and watch? Why not be more proactive in dialogue? What is there to lose by talking peace? > its own destruction. India just has to wait patiently till the fire > started by Pakistan burns its own house.Yes, the price that we have to > pay for freedom and national integrity is very high in terms of money > and human life. Very high in terms of money, yes. And historically many nations have paid huge tolls in human life to preserve their freedom (e.g. both the world wars). But the prevention of such huge sacrifices is why we have international politics and diplomacy. Loss of human life needs to be the absolute last resort in the resolution of disputes, not the normal means of resolution. I refuse to believe that we are at that stage with Pakistan. If the Jasmin Shah actually believes at least some people in Kashmir are Indians as well, then I am appalled at her concern for her fellow countrymen. It's the perfect spirit with which to rebuild a new India. If you don't think they are Indians, well then you should have no qualms about either of the above three possibilities you offered for a resolution of the conflict. So why be so negative about it? Cheers! Rahul Mittal -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the National Debate on System Reform. debate@indiapolicy.org Rules, Procedures, Archives: http://www.indiapolicy.org/debate/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------