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Musharraf’s four-point plan on Kashmir : Old wine in new bottle |
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Harjit Singh
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s four-point formula for settling the Kashmir issue is nothing but old wine in a new bottle. The plan, which disfavours independence and calls for the introduction of self-government along with joint management by India and Pakistan has been made in the past as well and every time this was done, it was cold-shouldered by India. Gen. Musharraf is perhaps looking forward to concessions from India after an observation by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in an interview that “short of secession, short of redrawing boundaries, the Indian Establishment can live with anything. Meanwhile, we need soft borders, the borders are not so important”. What he meant by this was that there should be greater people-to-people contacts in Jammu and Kashmir, more road openings for travel by the people as well as for carriage of goods. His predecessor, A.B. Vajpayee too encouraged Gen. Musharraf in repeatedly rehashing his so-called formula to resolve Kashmir when he said in his famous musings that there was need to break out of the beaten track of the past on the issue.
Gen. Musharraf is seen to be improving upon his formula short of independence or plebiscite ever since he first spoke of it at his famous Agra breakfast meeting with Indian newsmen in July 2001 which was one of the reasons that the summit failed. And far from being discouraged by the Indian response, he went on to articulate from time to time the idea for public debate.
Political analysts have noted that Gen. Musharraf has elaborated his idea in as many as nine major pronouncements since the Agra summit. The highlights of these formulae are: Identify seven regions; demilitarize them and change their status; LoC cannot be made permanent but should be made “irrelevant; self-government must be allowed to the people of Kashmir.” He ruled out independence, and said he was ready to settle for something between autonomy and independence. And in this respect “self-government fits in well”, he said. In his scheme of things, Pakistan and India will jointly guarantee self-governance and oversee it, with each “having a stake in guaranteeing the situation in the other half of Kashmir,” much to the consternation of the jihadi and separatist groups so much so that the hardline Kashmiri separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani said, Gen. Musharraf was suffering from mental depression as his ideas were not backed by a majority of the Kashmiris on both sides of the border. Except for the moderate Hurriyat Conference leaders, almost every group that matters in Kashmir, condemned Musharraf’s four-point formula, that he mentioned in his interview with an Indian TV cannel.
The Indian reaction to General Musharraf’s latest formula came through a statement by Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma that it did not fit in the Indian parameters for a solution.
There are many interpretations about the timing of Gen. Musharraf’s latest musings: the coming visit of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to Islamabad next month; the insistence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that he will not go to Pakistan in response to an invitation from Gen. Musharraf unless he is sure that something substantive will emerge from the visit, the coming meeting between the Hurriyat Conference leaders and Dr. Singh’s pointsman on Kashmir, N.N. Vohra, and of course, the growing international view of Pakistan pursuing a policy of intervention in its neighbouring countries by encouraging militancy. Gen. Musharraf’s past record, for instance, his betrayal in Kargil and not standing by the January 2004 undertaking not to allow Pakistani territory to be used for terrorist activities against India, do not encourage India to take him seriously. The latest status report on internal security by the Home Ministry confirms that there is no reduction in infiltration from Pakistan occupied Kashmir. India’s pre-requisite for any serious talks on Kashmir is that Pakistan should first give evidence of its sincerity by dismantling the terrorist infrastructure, winding up the terrorist training camps and stopping acts of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere. Instead of honouring its commitments, Pakistan is now sending terrorists through Nepal and Bangladesh, according to the intelligence agencies. Gen. Musharraf must understand that such arm-twisting of India cannot succeed.
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