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In the final days of the year Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh has finally acknowledged, and welcomed,
President Pervez Musharraf's proposals on Kashmir,
underscoring that improving relations with Pakistan are his
government's priority too. What concrete action the ruling
coalition will take to back the Indian prime minister's
words, the year 2007 will show. For now, however, the fact
is that in Pakistan, the president himself led the
discussion on the Kashmir issue by introducing ideas and
formulas throughout the year.
The current year was marked by much discussion on the
Kashmir issue, mostly courtesy the various proposals floated
by President Musharraf for resolving the dispute. His
proposals -- ranging from demilitarization, a phased
withdrawal of troops, self-governance or autonomy to
bringing the state under the joint supervision of both
countries and free movement of people within the state
without redrawing borders -- have generated an animated
debate on the issue.
Every time the president advances these proposals, which
hinge on reciprocity, they create ripples with screaming
headlines. However, the key questions that arise are: What
have these ideas and proposals advocated by the president
achieved? Have they done anything for the Kashmir issue and
the Kashmiris? While most critics and cynics credit them
with nothing, the fact is that President Musharraf's
proposal-churning strategy has had a positive bearing and
given Kashmiris the hope that there may be light at the end
of the tunnel. One cannot but notice that the sharp reaction
to every 'out of the box' idea by the president has been
accompanied by a conspiracy theory suggesting that there is
a 'deal' behind the proposal. This is evidence in itself
that all parties across the LOC are now finally ready for a
resolution of the dispute, and also consider it imminent at
times.
Granted that nothing has been achieved in tangible terms but
President Musharraf' s public pronouncement of what seems to
be his thoughts on the issue, have given birth to an
informed debate on the subject on both sides of the LOC as
well as Pakistan and India. The proposals are essentially
seen as vital steps towards the final settlement of the
issue that have strained relations between the two nuclear
armed neighbors for almost six decades.
For once the Kashmir issue is being considered not just in
sentimental rhetoric and slogans but in terms of concrete,
pragmatic suggestions regarding decisive moves towards a
negotiated final settlement of the issue. While the Indian
government has publicly remained mum for the most part over
the various proposals mooted by the president, they are
being discussed on the quiet within the official and
political quarters. These proposals have also triggered a
national debate in India.
This is obvious from the discourse in the media and among
members of civil society. Even the international community
has taken a keen interest in these proposals and has been
prodding India to consider them. Hence the pressure on India
has been mounting from all ends. Even the pro-India Kashmiri
leaders urge New Delhi to see the merit in these proposals.
And now there are some encouraging signals from New Delhi on
this front. Last week External Affairs Minister Pranab
Mukherjee advocated flexibility in border talks with
Pakistan and China, saying such disputes could not be
resolved without making some adjustments.
The Indian prime minister has also hinted that he is willing
to consider President Musharraf's latest four-point formula
of a phased plan to solve the Kashmir dispute. This may be
an indication of the much-awaited flexibility from India on
the issue and its reckoning that maintaining status quo on
the issue will no longer work. It also conveys recognition
of Kashmir as a dispute despite New Delhi's claims that
Kashmir is an integral part of India. A clear manifestation
of this is the fact that Kashmir is being seriously
discussed within the framework of Indo-Pakistan composite
dialogue at all forums since 2004. Back-channel diplomacy on
the issue is also active on both sides.
OUTRAGE: One was astonished at the fact that Foreign Office
spokesperson Tasnim Aslam's statement (in response to a
question) at last week's news briefing that Pakistan had
never claimed Kashmir as its integral part evoked such a
fierce reaction. What Ms Aslam said was no revelation. She
had merely dispassionately and ably articulated the
country's position on the Kashmir issue, putting forth the
legal, technical, political, and moral aspects of the case.
However, the hysteria and emotional outburst that followed
made it seem as if she had committed blasphemy or tampered
with history. Even more shocking were the vicious and
unwarranted comments in a section of the Urdu press about
her person. The remarks cross the basic norms of
professionalism and decency. They have no relevance to the
subject. The angry critics perhaps lost sight of the fact
that Tasnim Aslam was only stating the government's
position, and not her personal views.
An open and enlightened debate on key foreign policy issues
is always welcome and must be encouraged. It leads to
clarity and a sense of participation. However, it makes no
sense to start shooting at the messenger of the policy and
digressing from the real issue.
Freedom of expression certainly does not give any of us the
license to indulge in character assassination.
(The articles first appeared in the daily DAWN, Pakistan)
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