Once the instrument of accession was signed by the then Maharaja of Kashmir in 1947, the whole State of J&K automatically became a legitimate part of the Indian Nation. Thereafter there was no need for allowing the provisions of the now famous Article 370 to be incorporated in the Constitution of India; in order to provide the people of Kashmir with the so called absurd security of cultural ethos.
The United States of America is also a leading Democratic country that has a pluralistic society with multi-lingual, multi–cultural, multi–religious, multi-facial and multi-social elements embedded in it. And they are a successful Society because in the eye of Law there are no reservations for any section of the society over there; there aren’t any separate provisions for any particular region because they hold each and every citizen as an equal resident national of the American Nation. Every rightful Citizen in USA is allowed to take maximum advantage of the potential probabilities offered in the land of opportunities.
Unfortunately, for India because of the inexperienced and immature leaders who occupied the positions of power at the time of independence in our country, they fell into the trap of the vested interests and allowed for the separatist provisions to be incorporated in the constitution of India. These provisions have created a huge wedge between the citizens of the State of J&k with the Rest of the country. The citizens of the state of Jammu & Kashmir are not being treated at par with the nationals of the rest of the nation, in fact they have always attracted extra attention from the centre in providing aid and grants to the state, as compared to its contemporaries. Still the state is one of the most undeveloped regions in the country with zero industrialization and negligible commercial development.
If the state had not been given the extra cover under the provisions of Article 370, then probably the story of the development of the state would have been different as on today. It would have been more industrialized, better commercially developed, economically more self sufficient and may be at par with states of Gujarat and Maharashtra; that would have left them with negligible rate of unemployment and the tourism Industry would have grown tremendously in the wake of Economic boom due to liberalization of Economy in the Nineties, that has accelerated a catalytic reaction for economic prosperity in the whole country except the state of J&K.
The high rate of un-employment in the state of J&K, greased by the illegal money of the drug traffickers’ and also the vested interests across the border attracted the potential youthful energy to visit the training camps of the terrorist activities like Jihad operated by the ISI and the terrorist groups across the border with the help of Gulf money. These comrades’ became a part of the global mission of Jihad and innocently became the platform for conducting disruptive activities in the State, only to further weaken the peaceful cultural ethos and economic viabilities of the State.
This strategy was exposed openly by the active role played by these sleeper cells of the ISI in the State in 1990 when they victimized the minorities and enforced complete ethnic cleansing of the community of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley in the presence of the huge military of the Indian nation and all the strongmen of the Central Government right from the Governor.
One fact that needs to be highlighted over here is that possibly the Governor was stopped from taking any strong measures parallel to the Blue star Operation in the Valley by the then Central Government, because of the absurd concerns of immature personnel of the Media, who have time and again denounced the actions of Emergency and the Blue Star Operation ignoring the wider ramifications of the security of the country and not understanding the interest of the nation in broader perspective.
The country has now to pay a heavy price for the Wolf…! Wolf…! Approach adopted by the juvenile and adolescent media who have never understood the importance of the use of selective force to tame the disruptive and separatist forces at critical junctures in the larger interest of the nation as a whole..!!
The above historical account has complete relevance with respect to the ground realities prevailing in the State of Jammu & Kashmir and is of very much pragmatic and practical importance in today’s perspective.
The attitude of the authorities of Pakistan, all along has been in tune with the policy adopted by Muhammad Ghori towards Prithvi Raj Chouhan. They have taken the Indians for granted in line with that of the repeated magnanimity shown by the latter towards Mohammed Ghori. Hence, it is very imperative if we let loose our legitimate hold over the state of Jammu & Kashmir the authorities in Pakistan will not sit quite. They will thereafter raise similar issues in the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, as they are taught in their Madarasas to continue to create a state of turmoil and conversion in all the neighboring non-Islamic States. This is not only their global mission to encourage Jihad but also to live and prosper on the loot of Jihad as per their faith.
I would like to point out here in addition , to the fact that we have not yet properly measured the international and national dimensions related to the case of Kashmir whereby, when the Maharaja actually signed the accord of succession which meant that if Pakistan had attacked and tried to conquer Indian Territory in 1947, then India was well within its rights to defend itself and recapture its territory lost as a result of the Pakistani Military operations under the garb of tribal infiltration.
Accordingly when Pakistan had accepted the defeat then why did the Government of India accept the Cease Fire at all? This was the second mistake committed by the Government of India.
The first and the prime mistake on our part was that we should not have approached the UNO before having annexed the complete state of Kashmir militarily, a complete hold on the region which was illegally occupied by Pakistan as a result of unwarranted infiltration committed in 1947. This has made the authorities of Pakistan rake up the so called false dispute of Jammu & Kashmir repeatedly to be live issue at all international forums. The whole credit for this goes to the cunning diplomacy played by Pakistan in International forums...
If the whole state of illegally occupied Kashmir had been militarily occupied by us as a formal reply to their illegal attempt of infiltration in the valley, which was our legitimate right then the whole problem would have been settled once for all, just like that we did for the State of Hyderabad.
After having had such a bad experience of having lost such a huge part of the most strategic territory to Pakistan, who further has shared a part of it with China, our policy should have been to create a mass awareness in the international forums against the illegal occupation of Pakistan on our legitimate territories of the State of Jammu & Kashmir. Our Diplomacy should have been to continuously harp on the subject of demanding the release of our territory illegally occupied by Pakistan in all International gatherings as well as our one to one meetings with Pakistan.
We needed to assert our authority on the subject and put this as a pre-condition for any kind of talks or development of relations with Pakistan with a blunt approach to force Pakistan to release the territory otherwise face the consequences.
Further, we were again provided two chances by the Almighty; one in 1965 and then in 1971 to make up for the blunders committed in the past. First in the 1965 war
Indo-Pak War 1965: Right from October 1947, when it engineered the so claimed tribal infiltration of the state of Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan has constantly followed the policy of confrontation with India on all accounts. The Indo-Pak War in 1965 was a result of a well planned strategy and well rehearsed “Hate India” campaign launched by Pakistan Government. Pakistan sought to achieve by aggression what it could not achieve by diplomacy. India responded to this act of aggression positively.
But again unfortunately, cease-fire was accepted when India
was still capable of continuing the fight with the sworn enemy. And that too when the enemy was showing considerable signs of total exhaustion in the war. So the aggressor was let off lightly without having to pay for the penalty of its misadventure. Pakistan would have suffered a crushing defeat if the GOI wouldnot have accepted the proposal of the UNO.
Following a UN brokered ceasefire and the posting of a UN observer group in Punjab, a bilateral agreement was arrived at Tashkent in Russia under which India gave up some of the areas captured by it, the most important being the strategic Hajipir Pass in Jammu and Kashmir, while Pakistan managed to retain captured territory at Chhamb .
In any case, the Government of India and the Military leadership accepted a stalemate and refrained from humbling Pakistan, with the sole idea that this moderation would lead to less of bitterness and more friendly relations. One wonders whether the correct assessment had been made by the concerned authorities at that time…!!
Indo-Pak War 1971 :
In 1971 Indo Pak War, we returned 93000 soldiers as a goodwill gesture. Since the last World War this was the largest surrender of any Army. Initially India wanted to try them for war crimes and brutality in East Pakistan but ultimately decided otherwise. Well it was fine and human of course and as usual the thankless neighbor did not remember our kind gesture.
If we would have tried them for War Crimes in India then the wounds of the nationals of Bangla Desh would have remained alive till date and they would not have forgotten the sacrifice made by India to liberate them from the atrocities of the authorities in West Pakistan. Probably Bangla Desh would not have humbled to the cunning diplomacy of Pakistan and Bangla Desh would have continued to behave with a more friendly approach towards India even today.
But regarding the land of West Pakistan, which we had won through the sacrifice of blood and sweat of our soldiers, around 13000 sq. Kms. all along the western border, should not have been released to Pakistan for cheese...! We should have first asked Pakistan to release the land of “Western Kashmir”, illegally occupied by Pakistan in 1947, and made them agree for settlement of the Kashmir Dispute once for all.
Had we traded and exchanged that land of Pakistan with our territory of Western Kashmir in 1971, THE MATTER of KASHMIR DISPUTE WOULD HAVE ENDED THERE AND THEN. But, again as part of the hand-shaking mood and foolish desire for lasting peace, through the Simla Agreement about 13000 square kilometers of territory was returned to Pakistan.
Basically the Kashmiris have an inert feeling of the LOSS of the land of Western Kashmir TO Pakistan in 1947.Come what may they want it back….!!! Similarly the people of Bengal feel the loss of the land of Eastern Bengal to Pakistan…!
If Pakistan has managed to keep the land of Western Kashmir illegally under its occupation for more than 60 years with them without paying a single penny, then who on earth could have stopped us from retaining that land of Pakistan which we had won justifiably in the 1971 war by defeating them…?
Indo-Pak War 1999 :
Again the nature provide us with a last moment chance to regain our lost prestige and the territories lost to Pakistan, before the end of that century itself when again Pakistan made a folly of crossing the LOC in 1999. Again the same mistake was committed by us when we stopped the war with Pakistan during the Kargil conflict, just after reaching the LOC.
The military objectives of Pakistan were to:
Occupy approximately 700 sq km area on the Indian side of the LoC in Kargil-Turtuk Sector.
Interdict Srinagar-Kargil-Leh Road.
Capture Turtuk and cut off Southern and Central parts of Siachin Glacier Sector, and
Intensify militants’ activities in J&K, which had received a setback after the State Assembly and National Parliament elections in 1997-98.
About 1,700 men of the Northern Light Infantry (four battalions) supported by Special Forces, artillery, engineers and other combat support personnel, in the garb of militants and under a well executed cover plan, infiltrated through gaps into Indian Territory and occupied mountain tops between the LoC and the Highway at several locations.
As already stated, the Indian military was mandated to get the intrusion vacated without crossing the LoC any further. However, it had to maintain a strategic balance and a deterrent posture all along the Indo Pak front, on the ground, air and sea, should there be a sudden escalation. A deliberate decision was taken to continue the political and military level dialogue. The politico military strategy made it clear that although India was a victim of intrusion, and exercising maximum restraint, it was determined only to get the intrusion vacated.
The War ended on 26 July 1999 when all Pakistani troops were finally evicted from our side of the LOC. During the War, 473 Indian soldiers were killed: Pakistani casualties were estimated to be over 700.
In fact when the LOC had been infiltrated by the Pakistan Army then the very sanctity of the LOC had been diluted and there was no International law that could have stopped our army to stop the WAR, that was initiated by the infiltrators of Pakistani army in Kargil, before winning back our own land of Western Kashmir, (which is illegally occupied by them), from Pakistan.
We should have allowed our Army and Air force to cross the LOC and stop only after crossing the International Border when Pakistan would have cried and promised in writing that it won’t ever wage any kind of war against India OR settle the matter of fake claim on the Valley once for all, if it wanted the name of Pakistan to exist on this Planet.
The state of Jammu & Kashmir (United) has always been a very strategic territory at international level, as per British strategists even in the pre-independence era, which can’t be left for the inexperienced and foolish people to look after. The fact has been repeatedly acknowledged even by the British before they left India. We have already made blunders by ignoring the security of Tibet, Arunachal Pradesh and Nepal. We have not been able to handle the affairs of Shri Lanka and Bangla Desh properly where our immature diplomacy has been exposed outright….!
On the other hand Pakistan has been making use of the land of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, as the buffer zone where it has exploited the citizens of the region with complete knowledge of the fact that one day or the other Pakistan will have to relinquish the territory to the Pressure of India, so why to invest in any kind of development in the region.
It is misusing the territory to establish mega terrorist training camps, official and un-official in that region and arranging to recruit youth with the unholy mission to spread Jihad in the Valley of Kashmir and worldwide. They have been successful to recruit the boys through their contacts in the Valley who could manage to send the boys from Kashmir and elsewhere to the camps in POK which act as breeding grounds for the training of the Muslim Youth in those breeding grounds that propagate the ideology of Jihad in the name of Islam…!
We don’t know when the authorities in the corridors of power in Delhi, will understand the basics of International Diplomacy, dynamics of making efficient use of military might, the sentiments and sensitivities of the Kashmiris and Bengalis and of course the moral of the Indian Army and the sentiments of Indians in general..!!
Many times in the recent past, Israel has time and again shown India, the way to handle such matters (an ideal DEMO exercise for Indians only to learn), but we are unfortunate that we have spineless leaders at the helm of affairs who don’t understand even the fundamentals of Chankya Neeti and Gita Gyaan, nor do they want to learn from the Principles of International Diplomacy adopted by the USA, China and Israel.
Common man is paying heavily, while India bleeds profusely, for the insensitivities and Blunders of magnanimous proportions are being committed by our Politicians. The future generations of India will never forgive the present generation of our weak leadership for these silly diplomatic blunders committed by them….!!!
How long will we allow our cream of warriors to lay down their lives on the streets of our country fighting the external enemies within our territory, because of the failure of Intelligence, failure of diplomacy, bureaucracy, Police, BSF, coast guard e.t.c…!! Instead they deserve to be a martyr, fighting bravely in field of WAR on International border for which they are professionally trained and had left their home, near and dear ones..?
Countries become great only through the adoption of pragmatic ideologies and great jobs done by its leaders….!! Carrying out surgical operations against the biggest ever International liar, inside Pakistan is the need of the hour. They have always spoken blatant lie..! If we take steps only to root out the breeding grounds of TERROISM in the territory of Pakistan by taking meaningful Military Action in the right spirit only to teach our neighbors how to behave with their neighbors, the World will respect us…!
The economics of waging the war is also very simple. We have lost more than Rs.50, 000 Crores due to the recent strikes in Bombay. We have lost more than Rs.2, 00,000 Crores in as many similar strikes carried by the ISI in Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Akshardham, Twice in Delhi, Meerut, U.P. and so on…! The pecuniary loss is besides the heavy loss incurred on account of the loss of thousands of innocent lives, during these attacks. The biggest loss has been suffered by the state of J&K in terms of Men, money and materials. One full fledged war may cost us around 15,000 to 20,000 Crores but it will help us solve the problem for eternity.
Israel doesn’t ever wait for America to come and fight on its behalf for its sovereignty…! Nor do they ask anybody to appeal on their behalf….! They only believe in rapid constructive action …! That doesn’t mean they are inhuman or they don’t believe in God and Spirituality…!!! Because even God helps those who help themselves…! That’s why they are a respected community all over the world….!!!
Concluding, we safely arrive at a critical junction where we need to take a decision regarding the settlement of Kashmir Dispute in light of above circumstances and a host of alternate solutions provided in between the lines…!!
It is well said that you can't cross a Sea
by merely staring into water..!
