A new era is dawning on South Asia, and it owes a great deal to the growing relationship between India and Pakistan. The two are the most important countries in the region, and because of their tense relationship the entire region was suffering. South Asia is rightly called a subcontinent, and if not because of anything else, its huge population alone has the potential to become a viable economic asset. Fortunately for the region, our countries are rich in mineral resources, and also they are strategically located, hence they have all the ingredients of becoming an economic giant.
The recent summit meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Parvez Musharraf has been most successful in that it has opened the gate of opportunities for trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. The K word is still important in Pakistani leadership’s rhetoric's which is understandable. But the shifting of focus from political to economic issues is too patent to be missed.
Understandably the hard liners have reacted sharply saying that Kashmir is no longer the core issue for Pakistan under Musharraf. The Pakistani hard liners have gone a step further and have condemned Musharraf’s policy as a sellout. On the contrary Manmohan Singh is a happy man today because the hard liners here are not hitting him below the belt.
The problem with the Kashmiri and Pakistani hard liners is their having become a prisoner of ideology which has created a sort of rigidity in their thinking whereas practical politics always demands flexibility, and only in this sense it is regarded as the art of the possible. We concede that commitment to an ideology binds its upholder to certain moral values and, therefore, he can not behave like a practical politician.
Another problem with the Kashmiri hard liners is that on their call the Kashmiri people have given, what they call, a lot of sacrifice. We also concede that our security forces, despite being very disciplined, sometimes failed in their duties and violated their basic human rights. The dignity of many a Kashmiri has been hurt beyond imagination. It would be difficult for any leadership to effect a “radical” shift in their long-held policy, especially in an emotionally charged atmosphere. But such difficult conditions also provide opportunities that a wiser leadership must capitalize upon for the eternal benefit of their people. The Kashmiri leadership is standing at such a crossroad today. In such a situation it is the mind, and mind alone, that should be allowed to reign supreme. Letting emotions to dictate one’s mind would be utterly disastrous which the Kashmiri leadership, committed as they are to the welfare of their people, should not allow to happen.
We might be wrong but what we are seeing from a distance is that a considerable section of the Kashmiri people is in favour of peace, and wants it to prevail. There are surely people who perhaps genuinely and sincerely feel that their interests would be best served only when Kashmir becomes independent or a part of Pakistan. May be, most Kashmiris harbour just either of the two feelings mentioned above, but surely a growing number of these people has also started realizing that none of the two options is feasible or possible to achieve in the given circumstance. This feeling has not developed out of any frustration but it is based on their objective analysis of ground realities and the prevalent international climate. The hard liners would be well-advised to gauge the mood of the people, for it would help them in convincing their hardcore supporters about the need for a policy shift. One way to assess public opinion is to objectively conduct one’s own internal survey. Surely such a time has come, and the Kashmiri leadership now must listen to the voice of their people if they really care for them. The present time is one of real politics – the art of the possible. We hope the Kashmiri leadership would wake up, come out of its ideological prison and deliver to their people what today they need the most, and an enduring peace is what they really need the most.
The Kashmiris in general and the hard line Kashmiri leadership in particular must realize that the world we are living in has changed drastically. Soon the subcontinent is going to become like the European Union. If such a scenario is destined to emerge, then why should one be too concerned about visas and borders. Let us give them only the importance they deserve.
[April, 2005]
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