Another flop drama

By Dj Mathal

Imprisoned to their own vested interests and under the intense pressure of America, India and Pakistan again staged the drama of parleys in Islamabad but the poor show by the actors this time miserably failed to impress the audience, both national and international. However, India succeeded in tactfully making some parts of the drama a showpiece of interest for its people.

India had sent its foreign minister S.M. Krishna and secretary foreign affairs Narapuma Rao as star players in this soup opera while Pakistani actors included its head Shah Mehmood Qureshi along with side actors like Salman Bashir and hordes of others. However, their poor show at the stage could not impress the audience in the waiting. The Indians as usual repeated their mantra of asking Pakistan to take more action against alleged terrorist operating from its soil and promote trade with New Delhi besides allowing Indian goods to pass its territory to Afghanistan. While the Pakistani scrip mainly included the water issue and dialogue on some other matters. Though this time the stage for the drama was set in Islamabad but the script and direction for the play still remained in American hands. This was the reason that the main topic relating to the issue of Kashmir and Gilgit-Balatistan did not figured well in the process and Indian came up with the view that it by holding a plebiscite (election) in accordance with the wishes of the people it had handed over powers to the Kashmiris.  On the other hand, the Pakistani foreign minister failed to emphasize the need and the legal requirement of self-determination under the UN mandate.

Both India and Pakistan have fought bloody wars and carried attacks and counter-attacks over the issue of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan latest of them being the Kargil war and Mumbai attacks of November 2008. However, the issue has not been resolved. India does not want to change its stance as it has already declared Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan its constitutional parts and even reserved seats for both the regions in its lower and upper houses of parliament. The two regions are of strategic importance for India if it wants to paralyze Pakistan economically. Pakistan’s agriculture totally depends on water coming from the glaciers of Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir and India knows very well that if the issue of Kashmir is resolved it would be next impossible for New Delhi to bargain on its terms future competitive situation including on the world nuclear front.

India has been keen to get permanent membership to the UN Security Council and recognition as the sixth nuclear state in the world and by keeping the issue of Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir alive it wants to dictates the international community to accept its stance.

On the other hand, keeping the issue of Kashmir alive is also imperative for the corrupt establishment of Pakistan because it facilitates it in getting economic and military aids from the international community. Both the countries, therefore, have made the people of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan hostage and kept them deprived of their due rights due to their own vested interests. So far thousands of people have lost their lives in the region but their sacrifices have not borne fruits. Pakistan has always worked as a unwanted advocate of the people of Kashmir, an advocate who is neither sincere in achieving the rights of its client now eager to get them. Pakistan is perturbed on the issue only because of the fact that as long as India continues its occupation of the region, its survival as an agrarian economy is at stake because New Delhi has the key to the gold spouting mountains of Kashmir. It has no concerns about the conditions of the people who have remain under miserable conditions and a wave of terror.

The condition of Gilgit-Baltistan has been even worse. For the last over six decades this region has gone through all types of barbarities and injustices. Today the region is deprived of all basic necessities of life despite having tremendous amount of natural resources. There is neither any industry to provide employment to the youth nor proper system of education. Besides, the common man has been kept deprived of all its basic rights. 

Pakistan and India have always used the issue of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as a bargaining chip to gain monetary and diplomatic gains from the international community. Whenever any of them wants to get some concession in the world, it start the mantra of talks to resolve the issue. Neither Farooq Haider of Azad Kashmir nor Mehdi Shah of Gilgit-Baltistan ever demands that they should be included in the talk process. They even do not have the capacity to do that that’s why they have been brought to the their dummy positions. Mehdi Shah even no experience to hold talks at the national level let alone at international level. Perhaps he may not have the proper comprehension of the UN resolutions on the Kashmir issue. 

It is the duty of the international community to resolve the issue for the sake of world peace and instead of being blackmailed at the hands of both India and Pakistan it should bring the true representatives of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan to know the actual wishes of the people of the region. After they reach a stage of taking a final decision, the political leaders of India and Pakistan may be included. Otherwise, both the countries will continue staging the dramas and blackmailing the international community.

At the end, it is also imperative for the political leaders of Gilgit-Baltistan to also work for the future good of the nation instead of always talking on petty domestic problems.    

They should also cerate a courage among themselves to say the truth and demand inclusion in the talks process between India and Pakistan because they are the main party to the issue. 

(www.bangesahar)