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Kashmir : Musharraf revives self-governance plan: India cool

	December 11, 2006

With the Pakistan President, General Prevez Musharraf again speaking of self-governance and joint management to solve the long-outstanding Kashmir issue, India has made it clear that while there can be no redrawing of borders, it is keen to smoke the peace pipe with Islamabad. Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said in New Delhi on December 5, “as for as the Indian position on Kashmir is concerned, it is clear, unambiguous, unchanged. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had clearly stated that borders cannot be redrawn, but we should make efforts to make the borders irrelevant.”



Former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran spelt out India’s approach at a function held in New Delhi recently. He said India favours consultations between democratic institutions on either side of the line of control rather than Pervez Musharraf’s self-governance plan. India’s approach, he said, is people-centric as opposed to Pakistan’s territory-centric stand.



Shyam Saran, who led India’s talks with Pakistan on Kashmir in the past couple of years, said if Islamabad is serious about self-governance, it should create truly representative institutions on its side of the line of control. This includes not only Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, but also Gilgit and Baltistan. He said New Delhi is in favour of cross LoC consultations between truly representative and self-governing institutions to address shared challenges such as water management, safeguarding the environment and promotion of culture.



Outlining India’s stand on Pakistan’s suggestions, Shyam Saran said self-governance has been interpreted by Islamabad to imply dividing Jammu and Kashmir along ethnic and religious lines. Islamabad had even suggested that if India cannot accept division based on religion, it could consider ethnicity and kinship.



Observers say that Gen. Musharraf’s latest enunciation of his four-point solution to the Kashmir issue and Shyam Saran’s comments have brought to the surface back channel activity between New Delhi and Islamabad on Kashmir. Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan, who was in New Delhi in Nov. 2006 for talks with his Indian counterpart, Shiv Shankar Menon, acknowledged the exchanges when he said that never in the history of Indo-Pak relations has Kashmir been discussed so extensively as in the past two years.





Musharraf’s latest proposal



Official sources in New Delhi say that Gen. Pervez Musharraf has said nothing new in the four-point solution for Kashmir he spelt out during an interview with an Indian television news channel. The four points spelt out by General Musharraf are as follows :



*1. Kashmir will have the same borders, but people will be allowed to move freely back and forth in the region.



*2. The region will have self-governance or autonomy, but not independence.



*3. Troops will be withdrawn from the region in a staggered manner.



*4. A joint supervision mechanism will be set up with India, Pakistan and Kashmir represented.



Gen. Musharraf said in the interview that Pakistan is prepared to give up its claim on Kashmir if the two countries work out a solution based on self-governance for Jammu and Kashmir. He also indicated that Pakistan is willing to give up its old demand for plebiscite in Kashmir and prepared to forget UN resolutions on Kashmir.



The General reiterated his country’s rejection of independence as an option for the Kashmiris. He pointed out that India too had a similar position on this matter.





Mixed reaction to Pervez formula



Leaders of parties like the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party and the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference have welcomed Gen. Musharraf’s latest proposals, but the hardline Hurriyat faction has rejected them outright.



National Conference President Omar Abdullah said it is a rare opportunity and should not be allowed to lapse. He said the proposal deserves serious consideration by the Government of India. People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said, Musharraf’s four-point plan is feasible. She said the joint mechanism set up by India and Pakistan to fight terrorism can be extended to the management of Jammu and Kashmir. She said, “Pakistan can have a stake in maintaining peace and in the development of Kashmir. Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Indian-adminisered Kashmir have a lot of common features. We can begin joint management through NGOs in areas like water management and agriculture and take it forward from there.” Hurriyat moderate faction chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said it had the best interest of Kashmiris in mind. The hardline Hurriyat faction leader Syed Ali Shah Gilani, however, stuck to the group’s old stand that the people of Jammu and Kashmir should be given the right of self-determination. He alleged that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had floated the new proposal as he was scared of India’s growing economy and the strength of its armed forces.



In Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the United Jihad Council, a coalition of terrorist groups operating in Kashmir, opposed Gen. Musharraf’s new proposal, describing it as a unilateral concession. It said the plan can be accepted only if it is a stepping stone for the right to self-determination.



Meanwhile, there are reports that the Centre and the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference may be moving towards another round of talks. The Centre’s official interlocutor on Kashmir N.N. Vohra is expected to meet the Chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on December 12.





The first meeting of the working group set up to go into the constitutional relationship between the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir is also expected to be held under the chairmanship of former Supreme Court Judge Saghir Ahmed.