Time to resolve core issue of Kashmir

The Pakistan-India foreign secretaries talks, postponed in the wake of last July’s Mumbai bombings, are to be held in New Delhi next week, followed by a foreign ministers’ meeting. Commenting on Pakistan’s expectations of the talks at her weekly briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam iterated President General Pervez Musharraf’s assertion a few days earlier that the two sides had made progress within the context of confidence-building measures and “now is the time to move towards the resolution of outstanding issues and disputes, particularly the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir.” Indeed, the two sides have covered substantial ground regarding CBMs, especially in promoting people-to-people contacts. Various bus and train services have facilitated travel not only across the international border but the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service has also been running across the LoC.
So far as ordinary Pakistanis and Indians are concerned they have responded warmly to one another, overcoming the past bitterness caused by the bloodbath that accompanied the partition of the Subcontinent as well as two major wars and some smaller ones. The Pakistan-India cricket matches, held in Pakistan soon after the initiation of the peace process, elicited a hugely positive welcome from ordinary Pakistanis, compelling a number of opinion leaders in India to express surprise at the lack of prejudice they routinely associated with this country and its people.
The truth of the matter is that the people on both sides have amply demonstrated that they do not view one another anymore with hostility and suspicion. Indeed, they have a lot to share in terms of cultural experiences and a common history that spans more than five centuries. Unfortunately, however, this history has also been casting a dark shadow over the peace process. Some of those dominating the New Delhi establishment still find it difficult to rise above real/perceived injustices of the past, and would rather get even with history than resolve issues that have kept the two South Asian neighbours in a constant state of confrontation and conflict.
While history may give some a reason to remain belligerent, geography demands conflict-resolution. It opens up immense opportunities for trade and commerce between Pakistan and India in a bilateral context as well as within the regional framework of SAARC. It also presents India extremely attractive opportunities to expand its trade and commerce and acquire energy for its fast growing industrial sector from the resource-rich Central Asian states via energy and transport corridors that Pakistan promises to offer.
These possibilities, in fact, are expected to impel India to overcome its hesitation in making a meaningful progress on the Kashmir issue. New Delhi may have trouble in openly accepting Kashmir as the core issue, but the undeniable reality is that the two countries have fought wars over it. All the other disputes stem from the distrust these wars and the non-resolution of Kashmir have generated.
For its part, Pakistan has shown that it is willing to adopt flexibility in its traditional stance; India too has been indicating an inclination to change its old stance. More recently, the joint statement issued at the end of their meeting last September in Havana between President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh mentioned “useful discussions on Kashmir” while stressing “there is need to build on convergences and narrow down divergences.” The meeting had been encouraging enough for General Musharraf to express the hope in his comments earlier this month that the forthcoming foreign-secretary level peace dialogue would reflect the spirit of the talks held in Havana. Going by that spirit, the third round of the composite dialogue process should result in significant progress on Kashmir.

Murder most foul

WHAT words can sum up the tragedy of Gaza? They say pictures are more eloquent than words. But both words and pictures fail to convey the true magnitude of the pain and suffering of the Palestinian people. How could a so-called civilised country that calls itself the Middle East’s only democracy bring itself to target sleeping women and children, many of them toddlers, in the dead of the night?
The Tuesday night attack on Beit Hunun wiped out entire families. The pictures of children dying in the lap of their young mother are too disturbing to put on newspaper front pages. While editors think long and hard before splashing such pictures on their front pages, the Jewish state has no qualms about executing such cold-blooded killings. Of course, Ehud Olmert ‘regrets’ the killing of women and children. And of course, he will do it again — and again without batting an eye.
And why should Israel do otherwise? Who is going to stop its brave soldiers? After all, Israel has got away with murder for the past half a century. And it will continue to get away in the time to come. Unless the so-called international community stirs out of its cocoon of indifference to stop Israel’s murderous campaign in the Occupied Territories against a totally defenceless people. Bishop Tutu’s lone voice must develop into a loud chorus across the world to condemn Israel’s crimes against humanity. However, words alone cannot halt the Jewish state’s continuing barbarity. President Mahmoud Abbas has called for emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. But such emergency sessions of the world body have been unable to stop Israel, thanks to the veto protection offered by the United States.
Which is why rather than passing those perfunctory and completely pointless UN resolutions, persuading the US to rein in Israel may be much more useful. Arab and Muslim members of the UN and other permanent members of the Security Council such as Russia, China and European states must convince Washington that Israel’s ruthless campaign against Palestinian people is unacceptable and must be stopped right away. Arab League’s call for sending international peacekeeping troops to Palestinian territories to protect its helpless people is not a new proposal. Nevertheless, it must be pursued seriously by Arab and Muslim countries convincing the global movers and shakers about the viability and pressing nature of such a move. This may be the only way to protect the Palestinian people.

—Arab News