Afia Ambreen
A day after the Indian government said it would replace pellet guns with chilli filled shells, one more protester martyred from pellet gun injuries during fresh clashes in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). The 21 year old man was killed during clashes in Anantnag district southeast of the main city of Srinagar, in which scores were injured. There have been weeks of deadly unrest in the occupied region in the aftermath of Burhan Wani death. More than 80 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in the worst violence against innocent people of Kashmiri. The metal pellets or birdshot fired from the pump-action shotguns rarely result in deaths, but can often blind victims if the fragments hit them in the eye.
In this context, ‘The Wire’ an Indian magazine, interviewed former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) Chief Amarjit Singh Dulat to understand the crisis in Kashmir and possible resolutions. Dulat, who also was director of the Intelligence Bureau, has served in Kashmir for a long time. His most important tenure was between 2001 and 2004, when he was the advisor on IOK in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s office. Last year, his book ‘Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years’, co-authored with senior journalist Aditya Sinha, created a lot of ripples as he became one of the few members of the Indian security and intelligence community to advocate a reduced military presence in Kashmir and to argue the need for India to build confidence amongst Kashmiris through humanitarian measures.
In his interview, A.S. Daulat said, “See, first of all, this label of pro-Pakistan…when things are bad, everyone becomes pro-Pakistan. The Hurriyat is pro-Pakistan. The BJP has a very short memory. The same Hurriyat when it was talking to the government of India was labeled in Kashmir as Advani Hurriyat. Now, you call them as pro-Pakistan, so where is the connect? This comes out of our lack of confidence. We have to talk to Pakistan. We have raised Balochistan now, fine, talk Balochistan if you want to. But the problem lies in Kashmir, when we have to talk Kashmir with Pakistan.”
In the backdrop of Daulat’s interview, Indian Prime Minister Modi finds himself caged in and is now desperately seeking a way out as he and his aides realise that every card that they had up their sleeves to counter the resistance on the streets of IOK has boomeranged right back on their faces. Ironically, New Delhi is now literally begging Islamabad not to send its dozens of special envoys to world capitals to sensitise them about India’s continuing atrocities in IOK. Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar says, “As far as the Kashmir issue is concerned, Pakistan must not internationalize it; it is a bilateral issue.”
This comes at a time when one of the most experienced minds on Kashmir, former chief of RAW AS Daulat says he is optimistic that the two sides will soon start talking. He said, “The uprising is completely indigenous. India-Pakistan relations are always on-off, off-on. My own gut feeling says that there will be talks with Pakistan. I am sure talks with Pakistan will be resumed, maybe we are already talking to Pakistan. I had suggested the other day also that I think the best way…of course the foreign secretaries need to meet because that is the open way, but there is a back channel that has been going on and it’s been a good back channel, an effective back channel, between the NSAs (National Security Advisers). I think they still talk.”
It is worth mentioning that Pakistan had already proposed an exclusive dialogue on Kashmir dispute. Although it has received a response from the Indian foreign secretary but regrettably India is not serious in resolving the issue. Still, Pakistan considers dialogue as the best option for resolution of disputes. Being a responsible country, it wants to resolve all issues peacefully through a meaningful, sustainable and result oriented dialogue. However, India continuously tries to deflect world’s attention from the grave issue of the grave Human Rights situation in IOK. Since Indian claim of Kashmir being an internal matter is a violation of UNSC resolutions and that is why India is not ready to even talk about resolving the issue.
Islamabad believes that a just and lasting solution to the Kashmir dispute can only be found through a process of dialogue and engagement. For this reason, it always initiated a dialogue with New Delhi for the solution of Kashmir dispute. It is essential that Indian Armed Forces must stop violations of Human Rights in IOK. Despite all sincere efforts by Pakistan government to resolve the long standing dispute, India has not shown flexibility in this regard. All this reflects that India is not willing to solve Kashmir dispute and end the sufferings of the Kashmiri people. Instead it wants to strengthen its illegal hold over the valley. The world and UNO must pressurize India to stop her brutality and give rights to Kashmiri who believe in plebiscite. The only workable option is the “Plebiscite Option” for the Kashmiri people to decide their rights.
