LONDON : Speakers at a day long conference on Kashmir called for change of mindsets among the Indian and Pakistani leadership as way towards the solution of the disputed Himalayan region and warned unless the two countries are prepared to show more flexibility in their substantive positions, the continuation of high levels of mutual distrust and hostility has the potential to unravel peace process and lead to resumption of conflict.
The Conference titled “Unfolding instability in Kashmir -- A blind spot in regional security” was organized by a leading British defense think tank -- Royal United Services International (RUSI) here on Monday.
The speakers included former Army Chief General Jahangir Karamat, John Cushnahan, leader of European Parliament delegation to Kashmir, Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy of New Delhi Jawaharlal Nehru University, former Senator Shafqat Mahmood, former Ambassador Arif Kamal, Prof. Sumantra Bose of London School of Economics, Prof. Richard Bonney, Chairman Public Policy Research Institute and Prof. Nazir Ahmad Shawl, Director, Kashmir Centre, London.
While welcoming the confidence building measures between Pakistan and India, speakers noted its slow pace and said these discussions are far removed from a process of engaging in serious dialogue about the core issue at the heart of Indo-Pakistan relations.
“If political stability is to be established in Kashmir and its wider hinterland there has to be an acceptance that an exclusively bilateral process which fails to acknowledge the regional and international dimensions of the long running problem, is doomed to failure,” said Cushnahan.
He observed that past attempts to make progress have failed due, not only to domestic constraints on the part of both India and Pakistan but additional because of the exclusion of Kashmiri representatives from negotiations. “No permanent progress is possible without their inclusion,” he added.
The former European parliamentarian blamed the attitude of Indian Government and said if India continues to resist offer of international facilitation for peacemaking by bona fide third parties it leaves itself open to charge that it rejects genuine peace-making and has no wish to settle the Kashmir issue.
According to him a solution will have to embrace the strategic interests of both India and Pakistan while at the same time take full account of Kashmiri aspirations.
“This will necessitate a re-ordering of priorities and preferred options. Ultimately progress will depend on political leadership and willingness to compromise.”
General (retd) Karamat asserted that the Kashmir dispute must be resolved in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people for bringing peace and stability to the region.
He said the region remain destabilized because of the failure to settle the Kashmir issue and a flashpoint for a future conflict as well. However, at the same time he ruled out a military solution and said a negotiated settlement was the best option.
The former Army Chief said Kashmir was central to good relations between Pakistan and India, adding that the old-mindset needs a re-thinking in the context of new and emerging global and regional realities.
He noted India’s failure to win over the support of the people of the State despite the fact it held many elections in areas under its occupation and said people’s alienation has grown with the passage of time and so has been their movement for the right to self-determination.
The General was of the view that Good Friday Agreement that paved the way for peace in Northern Ireland could serve as a guide to the eventual settlement of the Kashmir issue.
He termed the intra Kashmir trade links and the bus service as positive signs and suggested that demilitarization along the Line of Control could further contribute to better environment.
Prof. Chenoy in his balanced presentation said the Indian government had forced Kashmiris to demand freedom after taking away their state powers and resorting to short sighted approach.
The Indian Government policies have led to the alienation of the people of Kashmir and the recent violence in the Valley clearly showed their frustration against the Indian rule.
He spoke of massive human right abuses by the security forces and said thousands of young men have disappeared and their wives turned into ‘half widows’ because the fate of their husband remains unknown to this day.
The Professor described the uprising in Kashmir Valley as purely indigenous while claiming that it had the moral support of Pakistan.
Lashing out at the right-wing Hindu groups, he said India’s civil society felt ashamed about mass human rights violations against minority communities.
He said the Indian civil society understood the alienation faced by Kashmiri youth as in other parts of India Muslims are, in some cases, more excluded and separated than the Dalits and other low castes.
Like other speakers, Prof. Chenoy said Kashmiris must be made part of any dialogue between India and Pakistan. The veteran civil society activist said Kashmiris were hostage to the respective nationalism of Pakistan and India.
Former Federal Minister Shafqat Mahmood said people of Pakistan desire to live in harmony with India but agree that there could be no lasting peace without the settlement of Kashmir issue.
He was critical of the attitude of the Indian Government and its establishment over its failure to resolve ‘doable’ issues like Siachen and Sir Creek.
Mahmood said even the out of box solution presented by the former President Pervez Musharraf on Kashmir never evoked positive response from the Indian Government.
Prof. Bose noted deep sense of alienation among the people of Kashmir over the denial of their rights and subjugation by the Indian security forces.
He said the Kashmir issue cannot be put in a cold storage under the guise of war on terrorism. The issue, he added, required a political approach as the level of political awareness in Kashmir was very high.
The Professor also observed that elections in the Indian Occupied Kashmir were no substitute for permanent solution.
Prof. Bonney, ex-diplomat Arif Kamal and Prof. Shawl in their respected presentations spoke of the need to resolve the Kashmir issue through dialogue and said the international community has a role to play by facilitating negotiations.
The prospect of a UN envoy for facilitating a solution of Kashmir has been welcomed by Kashmiris across the political spectrum, they said.
Former BBC correspondent in Pakistan Owen Bennett-Jones, writer and commentator Victoria Schofield, senior fellow for South Asia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies Rahul Roy Chaudhry and Alexander Neill, head of Asia Security Program at RUSI, acted as the moderators during the different sessions.
this news published by www.tehrantimes.com
