Jammu & Kashmir has been in perpetual turmoil since the partition of India. Back then, its status was left undecided by UN resolutions and commitments of the Indo-Pak leadership, suggesting that the future of the state will be decided by a plebiscite through a vote. Since then, India & Pakistan have fought multiple wars and proxy wars leading the state into present day economic distress and anarchy.
During the past 70 years different governments that came to power looked at the state through their respective prisms. National Conference and its leadership put all their trust on Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru. When Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah objected to government of India’s blatant interference in Article 370 and sovereignty of the state, his government was overthrown on August 9, 1953. Sheikh Abdullah was arrested and sent to Kud jail for 22 long years.
Thereafter, half a dozen governments changed hands. Interestingly, neither India nor Pakistan withdrew from the UN forum on their stated commitments of holding a plebiscite, nor did the UN dismiss the Kashmir issue from its agenda on the basis that the topic had become outdated or redundant to implement. In the meantime, the Indian government and Plebiscite Front leadership in J&K (on this side of cease fire line) thought of relooking at the Kashmir issue afresh. This resulted in Kashmir Accord of 1974. Thereby Maharaja Hari Singh’s accession was once again endorsed, giving the state legal and constitutional guarantees to enjoy an exceptional autonomous status.
The release of Sheikh Abdullah and other detainees, in addition to the withdrawal of the Kashmir Conspiracy Case was part of the deal. This change of thoughts led to an NC-Congress coalition government to bring some semblance to J&K politics. Unfortunately, that exercise also failed when once again, the Congress leadership at the time resorted to its dirty tricks and a vote of no-confidence by its legislators resulted in the fall of the coalition headed by Sheikh Abdullah. National Conference returned to power in the following elections, and J&K legislators unanimously formed a committee. The committee was initially headed by Mirza Afzal Beg and later by Mr.D.D Thakur to look into the post 1953 laws imposed on the state. Unfortunately, after the exit of Mr. Beg from the cabinet, the process was torpedoed by leading the resolution to gather dust in the archives of J&K legislative assembly.
Where do we go from here?
The last 30 years have seen tremendous changes in the psyche of the people of the subcontinent. India and Pakistan have become extremely hostile to each other, resulting in bloodshed in J&K –the battleground of their choice. Governments in power ignoring its political dimensions thought the unrest in J&K was just a law and order problem. And now, the present generation is resilient, eager to see the dispute come its logical end – now, or never. That is why we see unending demonstrations with full participation of men and women in our colleges, schools and on our streets. Security forces respond with pellet guns and random shootings, leading to blindness, death and destruction. This psychological metamorphosis has resulted in an imminent nuclear threat in the subcontinent.
Tragically the coalition government in power suggests that its score of killings does not match with that of the previous government –as if governance is a game of cricket or Twitter taunting between the two. Turning a blind eye to the miseries, the central government is only pumping in more bullets and cannons, and ignoring the shocking human rights violations by its security forces. Looking back at historical events that have been manipulated time and again, one needs to critically think about if there is a way other than ‘dialogue’ to solve this vexed problem of the state.
All said and done-the unending turmoil in Kashmir and the bloodshed on the borders, in addition to the sufferings of our people on the ceasefire line, need all the relevant stakeholders in J&K, India and Pakistan to revisit the resolutions. They must give peace a chance.
The author can be mailed at drashrafbeg@gmail.com
