Need to Nurture the Peace Process in Kashmir
This article was first published in the print edition of Manushi Journal. (Issue-150, Sept-Oct, 2005)
The offer of the Indian Government to carry out relief operations for earthquake victims across the LOC, jointly with Pakistan government indicates the new confidence we have acquired in dealing with the Kashmir issue. By using this natural calamity to reach out to the people of “Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK)”, the Indian Government has expanded the scope of the “Healing Touch Policy” across the once hostile border.
For decades India fought a defensive battle vis a vis Pakistan on the legitimacy of Kashmir’s accession to India and we acted as though we had a lot to hide. Foreign journalists were not allowed to visit Kashmir. Pakistanis found it difficult to get visas even to meet sick and dying relatives. The idea of soft borders seemed inconceivable.
However, all that started changing after the October 2002 elections, which were acknowledged by the world community to be free and fair. Since then the State has witnessed a new resurgence of democracy with a growing constituency for peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue after 15 long years of bloody conflict. This is a major factor for the new confidence displayed by our Government in dealing with Pakistan.
Hitherto all our J&K chief ministers used to be derided by the Pakistani leaders as puppets and stooges of the Delhi durbar. They projected only pro- Pakistan secessionist outfits as the “true representatives” of Kashmiri opinion. For the first time in decades, the Pakistani establishment has had to acknowledge the legitimacy of the elected government of J&K by inviting Mufti and PDP chairperson Mehbooba Mufti to Islamabad, thus tacitly recognising that PDP has been successful in representing the aspirations of a large spectrum of people of J&K. All this has given India an unprecedented advantage in dealing with Pakistan as well as the international community in its attempts to bring about an enduring settlement of the Kashmir issue. The Centre could never have launched its peace offensive with Pakistan, if the internal situation in the State had remained explosive.