Kashmir-history-turmoil-solution-part-III.

In Part-I of Article on Kashmir I had given History of Kashmir from 1846 to 1985. 

In Part II, I had given secret history of violence in Kashmir from 1985 till date.

Present article – Part III, the final article in the series explores the solution to continued violence in Kashmir;

As of August 07, 2011, India administers approximately 43% of the region, including most of Jammu, part of Kashmir Valley, Ladakh, and the Siachen Glacier. Pakistan controls approximately 37% of state, namely part of Kashmir which it calls Azad Kashmir and the northern areas of Gilgit and Baltistan. China controls 20% of Kashmir, including Aksai Chin, which it occupied following the brief Sino-Indian War of 1962, and the Trans-Karakoram Tract (also known as the Shaksam Valley), which was ceded by Pakistan to china in 1963.

Leh, ladakh and Siachen areas constitutes about 65% of Indian Administered area. Its population is predominantly Buddhist or Hindu. 

Jammu constitutes about 20% of total Indian administered state of Jammu and Kashmir which is predominantly Hindu dominated.

Kashmir valley constitutes about 15% of Indian administered Area i.e. approx 7% of total area. Kashmir alone is Muslim dominated area. 

See the map below; the area circled in the red alone is Muslim dominated area under Indian administered state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The future – Solution to Kashmir Problem;

Option A, as desired by all Indians;

If those in the polity of power genuinely believe that Kashmir is part of India and that Muslims in Kashmir do not account for more than the number of Muslims in any other part of India than THE ONLY OPTION is to remove Article 370 and merge Kashmir fully into Indian heartland thus depriving People of Kashmiris the reason to say that they are not part of India. Let Non-Kashmiri Hindus buy land and settle in Kashmir and real estate companies like DLP, Unitech, Omaxe, and financiers of Punjab and Delhi develop Kashmir and thereafter plebiscite can be held there any time after 20-30 years when the constituents of Kashmir have undergone a sea change.  Had the leaders of Congress party thought and acted like Indians, the problem would have ended 30 years earlier. With tons of money in their pockets given by financiers, many Muslims will prefer greener pastures in Karachi, NWFP, Islamabad, etc where there is no “oppression” of Muslims.

Option B;

In 2000, a suggestion was made by the author / undersigned to Sh Atal Behari Vajpayee the then prime Minister of India as under;-

To,                                                      7.12.2000

Sh Atal behari Vajpayee,

Prime Minister of India,

Prime Ministers’s office

North Block

New delhi

Sub; Indo-pak relations.

Sir,

In continuation of the present peace initiatives, particularly the seize fire at Loc and reduction in cross border terrorism I wish to suggest following four points proposal for ever lasting peace in the region.

1.     Both India and Pakistan give up their respective claims over Kashmir Valley and let it become an independent state like Nepal and Bhutan with elections to be held under UN forces / supervision.

2.     Jammu, Leh ladakh shall remain integral part of India.

3.     In exchange of India giving up its claim over Kashmir. The President of Pakistan along with all major Muslims leaders of India and Pakistan should personally hand over the sites at Ayodhya, Mathura and kashi to Hindus considering their historical and emotional attachment to these three places to Hindus. Hindus build another three mosques in exchange for the mosques at above places.

4.     Pakistan should also handover all fugitives / terrorists residing in its territory including Dawood Ibrahim.

Your faithfully,

SD/-

Kaps...

CC Yashwant Sinha, Foreogn affairs Miniater new Delhi

CC Sh brijesh Mishra Principle Secretary PMO

Support for above formula:

Support by Congress;

Senior Jammu state Congress leader and Minister for Health Sham Lal Sharma demanded the division of the state on these lines in a rally on December 6^th 2010. Speaking at a public rally in Bani in Kathua district of Jammu region, Sharma said: “Kashmir region has remained disturbed since long. The people there are demanding azaadi (freedom), indulging in violence and also raising voices against the nation…regional imbalances were at galore and Kashmir was being pumped with funding at the cost of Jammu people. People of Jammu region cannot be made to suffer for long. Time has come that Jammu should be separated from Kashmir, Ladakhis be granted UT status and Kashmir be given azaadi (Freedom)”.

Support by BJP;

While the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has long called for the division of Jammu and Kashmir into three separate states, freeing the provinces of Jammu and Ladakh from the tyranny of Muslim-majority Kashmir. At a June 24, 2010 function in Jammu, Senior party leader Jana Krishnamurthy supported regional BJP leaders who have been demanding a partitioning of the State.

Krishnamurthy's comments came a fortnight after a BJP delegation met the Union government's official Jammu and Kashmir envoy, K.C. Pant. The delegation had submitted a memorandum which, sought separate statehood for Jammu. Krishnamurthy argues; the party legislators simply presented the popular opinion prevailing in the region. Krishnamurthy added that it is not only in Jammu where a popular opinion for a separate State has emerged. The same sentiments can be witnessed in the Telengana and Vidarbha regions and parts of UP.

Support in Kashmir;

This solution is also welcomed by Sajjad Gani Lone chairman of the Kashmir based Peoples Conference: “The geographical or political unions are not the word of God that they cannot be changed”. Sajjad Lone in his book ‘Achieveable Nationhood’ has promoted the idea of ‘opt out’ option for the Hindu dominated Jammu province. However Rightwing hardliners like Syed Ali shah Geelani are against the division of the state on the religious lines.  

Support in Ladakh;

On November 9, 2010, Central government appointed interlocutors during their visit to Leh and Ladakh were told by the public representatives in Leh that they want leh-Ladakh to be separated from J&K and given a union territory status.

Support in Pakistan;

On June 19, 2001, The Gulf News newspaper published an outline of a formula that had gained Musharraf's (the then President of Pakistan) endorsement. The Gulf News' Islamabad correspondent, Aslam Khan, said that Islamabad would push for an arrangement where the six Muslim-dominated districts of the Kashmir Valley - Srinagar, Budgam, Baramulla, Kupwara, Anantnag and Pulwama - will be granted sovereignty.

However if this solution is implemented, Kashmir will be annexed by Pakistan sooner than Later.

Option C; Classified.

India can ill afford continued death of its citizens and continued expenditure on Kashmir which is taking away meager resources of Indian Public. The same money can be spent on providing clean drinking water and electricity to every home and high school, health center in every village, college, University made available for every Child every few kilometers in India.