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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 August 2000 Issue No. 494 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 August 2000 Issue No. 494
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Phlegmatic in Pahalgam
By Gamal Nkrumah
Progress towards peace in Kashmir is so slow that even a small step forward deserves acknowledgment. So when the Indian government initiated tentative talks with the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference -- an umbrella body grouping several militant Kashmiri separatist organisations -- soon after United States President Bill Clinton's historic visit to south Asia in March, hopes were raised for a breakthrough in the stalemate over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
These hopes were dashed this week with a series of mass killings, the last in a series of massacres that claimed the lives of over 40,000 people in the past decade. The escalation of violence over the past week in Kashmir once again brought to the fore the critical importance of resolving once and for all the Kashmiri question. A spate of gruesome massacres of innocent pilgrims on their way to a scared Hindu shrine of Pahalgam in Kashmir by unidentified armed men in Kashmiri police uniforms and the subsequent killing of immigrant Hindu workers by militant separatist Kashmiri groups focused attention on one of the world's most problematic troublespots. The immediate outcome of the massacre is highly unpredictable. The massacres underline how difficult it continues to be to find a lasting solution to the Kashmiri crisis.
Can India's politicians remain phlegmatic with the latest violence in Pahalgam? The orchestrators of the massacres were apparently vehemently opposed to a cease-fire unilaterally declared by the largest and most influential Kashmiri separatist group, which had succumbed to intense pressure from the US to reduce tensions in south Asia. The Indian punitive measures in response to the massacres prompted the more moderate Kashmiri separatist groups to call off their unilateral cease-fire.
The recent tension in Kashmir further aggravated the already acrimonious relationship between India and Pakistan. India points an accusing finger at Pakistan, accusing it of fomenting trouble in Kashmir. India insists that Kashmir is a fully-fledged Indian state and an integral part of India. Kashmiri separatists, backed by India's arch-rival Pakistan, see things differently. The Pakistanis insist on the Kashmiri people's right for national self-determination. Officially, Pakistan condemned the killings. And, the Jihad Council -- the umbrella grouping that includes all the main groups fighting against Indian control of Kashmir -- disclaimed responsibility. Meanwhile, Kashmir remains divided by the Line of Control, which splits this strategic Himalayan territory into an Indian-held two thirds and a Pakistani-controlled third -- Azad Kashmir.
Ominously, the leading Kashmiri separatist group, apparently under intense pressure from Kashmiri separatist hard-liners, announced on Tuesday that it intends to call off its unilateral cease-fire in order to resume the armed struggle against Indian forces in the northern Indian state of Kashmir -- the only predominantly Muslim state in India. India has come round to accepting the necessity of negotiating with groups that have long campaigned for an independent Kashmir.
"We direct all the commanders with the Mujahideen in the field to break the cease-fire and go ahead with all target-oriented missions. The Indian leadership has failed to respond to our ice-breaking move which could have become productive and meaningful," declared Syed Salahuddin, the leader of Kashmir's most powerful separatist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen. The Mujahideen have now raised the stakes by calling off the cease-fire.
India has condemned these actions as unacceptable. Indian officials were quick to dismiss what it claims to be the Kashmiri separatists boastful bravura. "The government of India continues to be determined to restore peace and normalcy in Kashmir. [Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee] made it abundantly clear that India will not be deterred from pursuing the path of peace in [Kashmir]," India's Ambassador to Egypt Shiv Shankar Mukherjee told Al-Ahram Weekly.
India insists that any dialogue would have to be within the framework of the Indian constitution -- which rules out any discussion of Kashmiri secession. "As far as India is concerned, violence and terrorism in [Kashmir] is sustained by the active involvement of the Pakistani state, which continues to pay lip service to dialogue, and at the same time provides arms, training and refuge to terrorists. India has always been for a solution to all our problems with Pakistan including Kashmir. We have told Pakistan that they cannot talk peace and indulge in terrorism at the same time. Unfortunately, Pakistan's unremitting, hostile propaganda and its support for terrorists continues, thus making it virtually impossible for bilateral talks to begin again," said Ambassador Mukherjee.
The Kashmiri separatists vehemently oppose this way of thinking. The Kashmiri militants are determined to step up their campaign of terror because of what they believe to be a just cause and they have no qualms about receiving Pakistani support. "Hizbul Mujahideen has already made it clear that the only unresolved issue over the last 52 years is Kashmir, which could be settled only by meaningful tripartite talks," said Salahuddin recently. "We want unconditional and tripartite talks so that the festering Kashmir problem is resolved at the earliest," added Salahuddin. He spoke of India's "traditional duplicity and deceitfulness" and warned that India's "intransigence" would have dire consequences.
The hardening of attitudes could abort the entire process and will certainly spark a harsh response from New Delhi. Pakistan must also do nothing to jeopardise the precarious situation.
The Kashmiri crisis is fast becoming internationalised. The US in particular has taken a keen interest in defusing tensions. Washington's efforts appear to have backfired. The US has applied immense pressure on Kashmiri separatists as well as India and Pakistan to get round to the negotiating table. The irony is that American pressure has not led the Kashmiri separatists to reach a consensus concerning talks with India. Instead, US pressure appears to have succeeded only in radicalising the militant separatist Kashmiri groups and hardening attitudes towards India. But there is no guarantee that the internationalisation process has a beneficiary result. Apart from the substance of the negotiations, one important stumbling block remains to be overcome: a deep-seated mistrust.
Influential Kashmiri groups abroad are anxious to see the peace process jump-start. "We are not concerned about the future shape of a settlement; we want to first set the stage for a settlement," explained Ghulam Babi Fai, director of the Washington-based Kashmiri American Council recently. The stalemate that suits neither India and Pakistan must not be allowed to fester on. But a couple of months before the Indian premier's scheduled visit to the US in September is a desperately short time in which to resolve the pain and antipathy of the past half a century.
