You know, I know and every Pakistani I know also knows that there is never going to be ‘azadi’ for Kashmir. Nobody seriously believes that there will be another redrawing of India’s borders. So it is time that this becomes the fundamental principle of a new policy to deal with our oldest political problem. Prime Minister Modi has the best chance of finding a permanent solution, since Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and he must seize the chance. Atalji tried but failed because instead of a fresh start he chose to adopt the same Kashmir policy that successive Congress governments followed since 1947. This was a crucial mistake.
Prime Minister Modi has indicated that he is not burdened by past Congress mistakes and that he is ready for a new beginning. Otherwise the BJP would not be part of a government led by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. Before writing this piece, I had a chat with BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, one of the architects of the Common Minimum Programme. He suggested that I read it. I did. Now what is needed is a policy that goes beyond just running the government. It has to be a policy that makes it absolutely clear that there is no room for any discourse with the likes of Masarat Alam. He must be tried for treason as must anybody who continues to believe that Kashmir belongs in Pakistan. Once this is clear, there should be a serious effort to redress genuine Kashmiri grievances, keeping in mind that the ‘azadi’ movement made victims of both Muslims and Hindus. So far our very active human rights activists have chosen to remain blind to the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits and talked only of the sacrifices made by Kashmiri Muslims. And this is what emboldens separatist leaders in the Valley to continue a struggle for ‘azadi’ that everyone knows is hopeless and futile.
When I was last in Kashmir two years ago what struck me most strongly was how similar the problems of young Kashmiris were to the problems of young Indians everywhere in India. Unemployment was the biggest problem mentioned by everyone I spoke to and the hope of a better standard of living was a stronger aspiration than ‘azadi’. But there remains in Kashmir, especially in downtown Srinagar, a small group of ageing militants who will lose their raison d’etre if Kashmiris start putting economic concerns above political ones and so they will continue to make trouble when they can.
If Congress governments in Delhi were unable to rectify these very bad mistakes it was because it would have meant acknowledging that the mighty Nehru-Gandhi dynasty had let India down. It was not possible to do this since in recent years the Congress has been reduced to a private limited company. Proof of this is not needed but those looking should examine the party’s reactions to Rahul Gandhi’s recent leave of absence. With him gone, the highest echelons of the party rallied behind Sonia Gandhi, and more than one Congress leader went on national television to announce after Rahul returned that he would guide the party in future with the help of his sister. In the year since its worst electoral defeat ever, the Congress has shown not the smallest sign of being anything but a family firm. So how could there be acknowledgement of serious mistakes made by the family’s tallest leaders?Having written a book on the subject, may I reiterate that in my view the historical Kashmir problem died in the seventies. The creation of Bangladesh and the execution of an elected prime minister made Pakistan look very ugly when compared with India. But in the early Eighties a new Kashmir problem was created by Indira Gandhi when she toppled Farooq Abdullah’s government for spurious reasons, and amplified by her son when he insisted on the National Conference forming an alliance with Congress. It was after this that young Kashmiris crossed over to our friendly, neighbourhood Islamic republic and came back as terrorists.
Prime Minister Modi has no such constraints. So he must get down to making a new policy. A permanent solution in Kashmir must keep in mind that the state includes Jammu and Ladakh which have no wish for ‘azadi’ or Pakistan. A solution is more urgently needed today than ever before. Tomorrow Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to arrive in Islamabad to unveil, according to The Wall Street Journal, ‘a $46 million infrastructure spending plan’. The plan known as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor will open new trade routes between China and South and Central Asia. With our two biggest enemy countries cosying up in this way, the last thing we can afford is for Kashmir to remain disturbed. So it is time for a new beginning, time to state clearly that India’s borders will never change.