[Reader-list] Book Review and Interview: Wahajat Habibullah -MyKashmir: Conflict and Prospects of Enduring Peace; USIP, 2008
Prabhakar Singh
prabhakardelhi at yahoo.com
Tue Jul 22 23:46:33 IST 2008
But we have make beginning somewhere.Mere discussions,which we have been doing for decades, will not lead us anywhere.Yes,India will have to take a lead and generate confidence in this part of world.
Regards,
Prabhakar
----- Original Message ----
From: "radhikarajen at vsnl.net" <radhikarajen at vsnl.net>
To: kashaffairs at yahoo.co.uk
Cc: reader-list at sarai.net
Sent: Tuesday, 22 July, 2008 4:26:02 AM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Book Review and Interview: Wahajat Habibullah -MyKashmir: Conflict and Prospects of Enduring Peace; USIP, 2008
Onus is on all of us, to make this reality, as free India is secular country where all religions and faiths are co-habiting and but for occassional games of fanacism to gain votes, the oldest party which taught the game of vote bank appeasements for castes, faiths and regions, let us stop at the vistims of blame game, as all of us equally responsible for responding to this blame game, we shall take responsiblity to unite as united India, where all faiths are respected, all citizens are governed well without discrepencies and discrimination based on caste, faith region and language, all are equal in just rule of laws in democratic life.
Once we accept this then all will be clear in their life as citizens in united India, none favoured for faith, caste and region. Pakistan being an islamic state has failed state in governance with zero tolerence for any good governance, India in its present form of governance has bad and lopsided governance because of vote bank politics, once th e entire cotozens are under one rule of laws as democratic nation, each group of citizens will respect the integrity of their federal structure and good leaders will emerge out of this democratic life, to give good rule of laws, without fear or favour to any set of sections of society, based on caste, faith and region as entire resources are of this entity, united India, the leaders with vision need not cater to sections of the citizens, but to all citizens as otherwise the responsible citizens would throw them out of power equations for bad governance as is happening now for the oldest party.
Regards.
----- Original Message -----
From: Kashmir Affairs <kashaffairs at yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 2:02 pm
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Book Review and Interview: Wahajat Habibullah -MyKashmir: Conflict and Prospects of Enduring Peace; USIP, 2008
To: reader-list at sarai.net
> I agree too. But in my view the onus is on India. And Kashmir
> could demystify the borders of nation states that were created in
> 1947.
> There is merit in 'Joint Control' - This will allow India and
> Pakistan to merge their identities in Kashmir - a place that has
> become cause and symbol of fighting both for land as well as their
> respective identities. Joint Control will neutralise both - the
> puritans of Pakistan who believe in Muslim identity and the
> Hindutva forces - both feed on each other. Kashmir could alter
> political landscape between india and pakistan.
> As far as Bangladesh is concerned - I feel that migration of
> Bengalis to India attests that they can't live without India and
> hence a future within India might be something to explore. Again,
> India being bigger and 'mother country', it could set the process
> in motion. Bengalis should be allowed to migrate into mainland
> India and slowly it should be integrated into India. That could
> perhaps reassure Pakistanis of their safety if they join back to
> India following Joint Control on Kashmir and Bangladeshi example.
>
> Murtaza
>
> -----
> Murtaza Shibli
> www.kashmiraffairs.org
>
> --- On Tue, 22/7/08, Prabhakar Singh <prabhakardelhi at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> From: Prabhakar Singh <prabhakardelhi at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Book Review and Interview: Wahajat
> Habibullah - MyKashmir: Conflict and Prospects of Enduring Peace;
> USIP, 2008
> To: radhikarajen at vsnl.net, kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com
> Cc: reader-list at sarai.net
> Date: Tuesday, 22 July, 2008, 8:40 AM
>
> I agree with this solution but politicians of all these countries,
> to further
> their own interests,will see to it that merger does not take place
> at any
> cost.We,therefore, will have to take initiative separately or jump
> intopolitics now to solve this problem.
> Regards,
> Prabhakar Singh
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: "radhikarajen at vsnl.net" <radhikarajen at vsnl.net>
> To: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com
> Cc: reader-list at sarai.net
> Sent: Tuesday, 22 July, 2008 12:22:14 AM
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Book Review and Interview: Wahajat
> Habibullah -
> MyKashmir: Conflict and Prospects of Enduring Peace; USIP, 2008
>
> Only solution to Kashmir is mergers of Pakistan, Bangladesh along
> with Kashmir
> into secular India, which has been formed by merger of over 357
> kingdoms of the
> yester years, in good governance make states out of these
> territories also with
> elections to throw up good leaders of each region, and in
> democracy, with just
> rule of laws, without fear or favour to any faith, caste. The national
> exchequer used only for good governance of all citizens without any
> discrimination of region, caste, faith and language. United India
> with all
> faiths is more a reality and solution to all misadventures of
> armies and
> fanatics of faiths.
>
> Regards.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
> Date: Sunday, July 20, 2008 4:29 pm
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Book Review and Interview: Wahajat
> Habibullah - MyKashmir: Conflict and Prospects of Enduring
> Peace; USIP, 2008
> To: reader-list at sarai.net, kashaffairs at yahoo.co.uk
>
> > Murtaza Shibli asked Wajahat Habibullah about the possibilities
> > (with regard to Kashmir) of borders becoming irrelevant and of
> > Joint Management (by India and Pakistan). WH dismissed the Joint
> > Management idea.
> >
> > This reminded me of a conversation with Murtaza Shibli a few
> weeks
> > back (in another forum). The context (hopefully) will be clear
> in
> > the extracted portion of my mail.
> >
> > QUOTE
> :"""""""""""""""""
> All of the above does not negate the fact
> > that there is a 'human' aspect of families who were cleaved
> apart
> > in 1947-48, whatever be their percentage. Recognising this, I
> had
> > spoken about " other facilitations designed for such families
> > rather than a 'open border' system". You insist however that
> "The
> > free movement is definitely possible". I continue to disagree on
> that.
> >
> > You say "There is a real need for open borders, as majority of
> > people in the border areas have suffered massively". I am not
> > arguing against the "need" but against the
> "possibility".
> >
> > If there ever comes a time of 'open borders' between the SAARC
> > then 'Disputed Kashmir' automatically falls under it's
> umbrella.
> > Till then a "Kashmir" specific arrangement of "open
> borders" would
> > be nothing short of a fantasy:
> >
> > - How will the rest of India and the rest of Pakistan be
> > insulated from 'illegal ingress' of "Pakistanis" and
> "Indians"
> > respectively?
> > - Where would the Indian and Pakistani border controls start?
> >
> > - Would there be Pakistani controls on India's border with
> > "Kashmir" and Indian controls on Pakistan's border with
> "Kashmir"?
> > How would that be different from " joint control?
> >
> > I could go on, but the critical factor on which any arrangement
> > would hinge would be what you yourself called the "the mutual
> > biases or suspicions".
> >
> > It would be naive of anyone to believe that those "mutual biases
> > and suspicions" will go away in any hurry. Impacting that is not
> > only the past history between the two countries but other much
> > more disturbing trends and threats too which I will not go into
> > for now.
> >
> > That is why I spoke about " other facilitations designed for
> such
> > families rather than a 'open border'
> >
> system". """""""""""""""""""""""""
> UNQUOTE
> >
> > Kshmendra
> >
> >
> > --- On Sun, 7/20/08, Kashmir Affairs <kashaffairs at yahoo.co.uk>
> wrote:
> >
> > From: Kashmir Affairs <kashaffairs at yahoo.co.uk>
> > Subject: [Reader-list] Book Review and Interview: Wahajat
> > Habibullah - My Kashmir: Conflict and Prospects of Enduring
> Peace;
> > USIP, 2008
> > To: reader-list at sarai.net
> > Date: Sunday, July 20, 2008, 2:36 PM
> >
> > My Kashmir: Conflict and Prospects of
> > Enduring Peace
> >
> > By Wajahat Habibullah
> >
> > United States Institute of Peace,
> > Washington, 2008
> >
> >
> >
> > Murtaza Shibli
> >
> > [www.kashmiraffairs.org]
> >
> > One of India’s finest and best known
> > Muslim civil servants, Wajahat Habibullah has remained
> associated
> > with Kashmir
> > through his appointments to various bureaucratic posts for
> nearly
> > threedecades.
> > This has given him a certain vantage point from which to watch the
> > socio-political developments as they unfolded. However, his
> > relationship is
> > formed not only from his professional involvement but also
> emerges
> > from a
> > personal commitment that is evident in his book. In Srinagar, he
> > is remembered
> > as a pro-Kashmiri Indian bureaucrat who believed in dialogue and
> > accommodation;in the tumultuous decade of the 1990s, he was
> > considered the only human face of
> > the Indian state, at a time when there was a total breakdown of
> > the social
> > contract and trust between the latter and the Kashmiri people.
> > Habibullahworked tirelessly, even risking his life, to repair
> and
> > restore some semblance
> > of engagement through his efforts at various levels.
> >
> >
> >
> > My Kashmir: Conflict and the Prospects
> > of Enduring Peace
> > is a perceptive memoir peppered with anecdotes that offer
> personal
> > and mostly
> > honest insights into the tensions and distrust between Kashmir
> and
> > India that
> > marked the formative years of their relationship and how such
> > mutual suspicion
> > led to the emergence of one of the deadliest insurgencies in the
> > region that
> > still claims a heavy toll of lives. The book tries to offer a
> > sympathetic view
> > of the Kashmir problem – not from an academic angle or political
> > standpoint,but from a humanitarian perspective. The author draws
> > extensively from his
> > experiences of working both as an administrator under various
> > local Kashmiri
> > governments and in the offices of two Indian prime ministers. In his
> > introduction, Habibullah asserts that although not a Kashmiri
> > himself, he has
> > tried to see the situation through the eyes of one committed
> both
> > to India and
> > to serving the people of Kashmir.
> >
> >
> >
> > He points out that the government of
> > India’s constant fear that Kashmiris might gravitate towards
> > Pakistan has
> > meant
> > that ‘national security interests’ have taken precedence over
> > everythingelse,
> > including the rights of people. Giving examples from his
> personal
> > experience,he tells us how Indian paramilitary forces
> > ‘accosted…and humiliated
> > [Kashmiris]
> > as they returned home late from work’ [p.26] in early 1970 or
> how
> > a top
> > Border
> > Security Force (BSF) officer, Brigadier General Randhawa,
> > threatened to
> > enter the homes of Kashmiris and ‘shoot anyone they suspected of
> > intendingmischief’. [p.25] This privileging of the ‘national
> > security interest’
> > affected
> > the author as well as his civilian authority was often bypassed
> by
> > the Army and
> > police and on one occasion earned him a serious reprimand from
> the
> > ChiefSecretary, the senior-most bureaucrat in the state, for not
> > being quick enough
> > in issuing warrants for the arrest of the workers of an
> opposition
> > politicalparty. When in 1990, he requested the notoriously anti-
> > Muslim governor Jagmohan
> > to issue an appeal to Pandits (Kashmiri Hindus) not to leave the
> > Kashmir valley
> > and offer them protection, instead, Jagmohan did the opposite,
> thereby> triggering their exodus. It also prompted the widely held
> belief
> > that the
> > Pandit migration was initiated to clear the field for the Indian
> > Army and
> > paramilitary forces to target Kashmiri Muslims more freely and
> > without any
> > collateral damage to Hindu interests.
> >
> >
> >
> > Habibullah offers several examples of
> > how the Indian government and its officials continue to see
> > Kashmir through the
> > prism solely of ‘national security’ concerns, enabling all
> manner of
> > malpractices that have further fuelled feelings of alienation
> > among Kashmiris.
> > He himself became a victim of the same mindset when Governor
> > Girish Saxena
> > selectively edited his report on the notorious Kunan Poshpora
> rape
> > of 1992 by
> > the Indian Army, giving a clean chit to the personnel involved.
> > This report
> > deeply angered Kashmiris and cost Habibullah his credibility
> among
> > them – so
> > much so that a militant group tried to assassinate him.
> >
> >
> >
> > This security-related concern has fed
> > a distrust of Kashmiris in general and pervades the highest
> > levels; the prime
> > minister Indira Gandhi ‘not only rejected the proposal [to
> upgrade
> > Srinagarairport as an International one] outright but called in
> > her joint secretary,
> > who had recommended acceptance, to admonish him that an ulterior
> > motive must
> > always be suspected in any such proposal received from that
> > state’. [p55].
> > This
> > deep distrust of Kashmiris was shared by the Indian prime
> minister
> > MorarjiDesai who stated during a meeting in Srinagar that “one
> > doesn’t know whom
> > to
> > trust in Kashmir”. On another occasion, when Indira Gandhi was
> > touring the
> > valley
> > during an election campaign in 1983, she said to Habibullah that
> > her public
> > gatherings ‘looked entirely fake’. The author’s own observation
> > about the
> > Indian Independence Day celebrations is that the Kashmiris never
> felt> enthusiastic and ‘not even the parade or loudly played
> national
> > anthem could
> > attract an audience’. [p.29]
> >
> >
> >
> > He makes some insightful observations
> > about the characteristics of the Kashmiri people and calls their
> > dexterity in
> > weaving conspiracy theories legendary. However, his explanation
> of the
> > Hazratbal siege in 1993 is a no less skilful conspiracy theory
> > when he claims
> > that the police made false assumptions based on the word of a
> head
> > constablewho was a Jama’at-i-Islami sympathiser, thus
> effectively
> > placing the blame on
> > the Jama’at. He forgets, in the process, that according to the
> initial> intelligence reports quoted by the official media at the
> time, one
> > of the
> > reasons for the siege was the presence inside the shrine of Syed
> > Salahudin,chief of the Hizbul Mujahideen, and foreign militants,
> > which was eventually
> > proved wrong. If the police constable was a Jama’at sympathiser
> > who raised a
> > false alarm, his information should have been implausible given
> > the official
> > assessments about the presence of Syed Salahudin, himself a
> former
> > Jama’atactivist.
> > However, apart from this seemingly strange explanation for the
> > genesis of the
> > Hazratbal seige, Habibullah’s role in mitigating the crisis was
> > phenomenal as
> > he conducted negotiations with the holed-up militants at great
> > risk to his own
> > safety. His well known opposition to any hard-line military
> action
> > angered the
> > Indian army high command who allegedly tried to kill him when
> his
> > car was hit
> > by an army vehicle, severely injuring him.
> >
> >
> >
> > The incident did not deter Habibullah
> > who continued his efforts to seek dialogue with the pro-
> > independence Kashmiri
> > separatists – both militants and the political leadership. He
> has held
> > various
> > meetings and discussions with these leaders over the past two
> > decades, opening
> > and sustaining various channels of communications. However, he
> is
> > too modest
> > and does not give himself enough credit, despite the fact that
> it
> > is his
> > efforts that have been central to keeping alive the dialogue
> > process between
> > the Indian government and Kashmiri separatists. His assessment
> of
> > Kashmiriseparatists
> > is that they lack leadership and vision and finds them devoid of
> > clarity of
> > thought or goal. He narrates an interesting anecdote about 1977
> > state elections
> > as to how the Mirwaiz Moulvi Mohammad Farooq (father of current
> > Mirwaiz Umar
> > Farooq) tried to blackmail him by threatening to ‘set Srinagar
> on
> > fire’ if
> > Habibullah stopped him from taking a procession in support of
> the
> > Janata Party
> > headed by then Indian Prime Minister Morari Desai to which
> Mirwaiz
> > was aligned
> > at that time. He characterizes Sheikh Abdullah’s government a
> > ‘sheikhdom’and
> > observes that ‘in his last years in power, Abdullah was more
> > concerned with
> > securing an orderly succession than with running the
> government’.
> > He also
> > claims that a Western based JKLF leader came to meet him in 2004
> > in Washington
> > and offered to work for the peace process.
> >
> >
> >
> > The author contends that ‘Islam has
> > been pivotal to the evolving politics of Kashmir, but more as a
> > symbol of
> > people fighting for identity rather than its religious
> > ramifications’ and
> > discounts any relationship between the Kashmiri militant groups
> > and Al Qaeda as
> > ‘insinuations ostensibly made to curry US favor’. He questions
> > comparisonsbetween Kashmir and Northern Ireland adding that
> while
> > there was a demographic
> > change in Northern Ireland , there was no such thing in Kashmir
> –
> > an argument
> > hotly contested by Kashmiris. The systematic reduction of the
> > Muslim population
> > in Jammu and Kashmir since 1947, as evident from successive
> > official census
> > reports, is seen as a clear proof of demographic engineering, a
> > fact that was
> > raised by the Kashmiri leader Saifudin Soz, now the Indian
> > Minister of Water
> > Resources and head of the Congress party in Jammu and Kashmir.
> > Also, fears of
> > demographic change were the main reason for recent mass protests
> > in Srinagar
> > triggered
> > by the illegal land transfer by the local state government to a
> > semi-government
> > Hindu body, the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).
> >
> >
> >
> > Habibullah stresses the symbolic
> > importance of Kashmir to both India and Pakistan and calls for
> any
> > settlementto keep in mind the question of national pride in both
> > countries so that no
> > ‘substantial compromise on territory can or should be expected –
> > or even
> > hoped
> > for’. He accepts that freedom is the ‘dream of every Kashmiri’
> but
> > tendsto
> > differentiate between freedom and independence, a term Kashmiris
> > usually use
> > interchangeably. He contends that the Indian constitution
> > guarantees that
> > freedom which ‘can be achieved while retaining the territorial
> > integrity of
> > both India and Pakistan with the present boundaries becoming
> soft
> > borders’,and
> > advocates against an independent Kashmir saying that ‘true
> freedom
> > cannot be
> > won by independence, which would bring even more suffering and
> > would be
> > unacceptable to both India and Pakistan’. His argument is that ‘an
> > independent
> > state of 5.44 million people occupying 85,00 mostly mountainous
> > square miles,
> > located in one of the world’s most volatile regions amid rival
> > nuclear powers
> > and a number of smaller states in conflict, with potential oil
> > wealth, is
> > hardly likely to be left free’.
> >
> >
> >
> > Wajahat Habibullah lives up to his
> > reputation of being sympathetic to Kashmiris as he repeatedly
> > refers to the
> > pain and agony they have suffered ‘as a result of confrontations
> > betweenIndia
> > and Pakistan during the intervening half century’. He laments
> > strongly the
> > oppressive treatment of Kashmiris by the Indian state at various
> > levels, a
> > treatment that could be easily classified as structural
> violence.
> > He observes
> > that personal relations between political leaders of India and
> Kashmir> ‘played
> > a marked role in the trajectory of Jammu and Kashmir’s history’
> > effectivelysuggesting that they were overwhelmingly elite
> > arrangements that lacked popular
> > consent or appeal. He places the need for the restoration of
> > Kashmiri dignity
> > and self respect at the heart of his argument. Expressing
> sympathy
> > with the
> > Kashmiri perception of a long history of continuous humiliation
> > since accession
> > to India in 1947, he calls upon India to concede those rights
> and
> > libertiesthat are the entitlement of ‘every Indian citizen’ and
> > prophesies that
> > otherwise ‘simmering resentments in Kashmir will render any
> > abiding peace
> > elusive’. He is greatly perturbed about Kashmiris being held in
> > contempt by
> > both India and Pakistan as a people that can be ‘bought and
> sold’, and
> > argues
> > that such an attitude has added to the complexities in the
> > relationship between
> > India and Kashmir.
> >
> >
> >
> > He describes the autonomy report
> > prepared by the Farooq Abdullah government in 2000 as flawed,
> but
> > calls its
> > rejection by the central Indian government as an opportunity
> > squandered. Habibullah constantly points out the confusions and
> > contradictions in New
> > Delhi’s Kashmir policy as a result of competing and confusing
> > views across
> > various government departments. In his view, the dialogue
> between
> > the Hurriyat
> > leaders and New Delhi’s interlocutor NN Vohra (currently the
> > governor of
> > Jammu
> > and Kashmir ) failed due to this sort of confusion, which eroded the
> > credibility of the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
> among
> > the Hurriyat
> > leaders. He assesses the deep-rooted suspicion of Kashmiris as
> the
> > mainbottleneck for future negotiations and argues that the
> > credibility of Indian
> > institutions in Kashmir remains fragile. He calls for a ‘balance
> > betweenimmediate security concerns and long-term good will and
> > cooperation’, tacitly
> > admitting that the current peace process remains inconclusive
> due
> > to the slow
> > or absence of responses from the Indian side. He observes that
> the US
> > government also shares the view that Pakistan has been more
> > forthcoming with
> > compromises than India in the present peace process and quotes
> > Pakistan’sHigh
> > Commissioner in India, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, who told him in
> early
> > 2002 that
> > ‘officially Pakistan was willing to compromise on the issue of
> > Jammu and
> > Kashmir ...however, a settlement along the LoC (Line of Control)
> > would be seen
> > by the Pakistani people as surrender unless the settlement was
> > accompanied by
> > some accommodation on India’s part”.
> >
> >
> >
> > Despite its valuable insights and
> > richness in anecdotal detail, Habibullah’s claim that principal
> > reasons for
> > militant groups to find new recruits for insurgency are more
> > linked to economic
> > incentives of greed rather than the grievance, grossly
> > underestimates the
> > effects of massive human rights violations, humiliation felt by
> > Kashmiris on
> > multiple accounts including increasing marginalisation. The
> > recently held
> > massive public protests in the streets of Srinagar that was
> > spearheaded and
> > sustained by the common people should be an eye opener about the
> > frustrationsand anger of the Kashmiri population. There are also
> > some glaring omissions in
> > the author’s references to certain historical events. While
> > discussing the
> > problem of communalism [p23] he briefly mentions that Muslims in
> Jammu> ‘migrated to Pakistan to avoid bloodbath’, conveniently
> forgetting
> > aboutthe
> > massacre precipitated by the Maharaja that killed thousands of
> > Muslims and
> > forced hundreds of thousands to migrate to Pakistan. Similarly
> in
> > the beginning
> > of the chapter two, he briefly mentions the attacks on Jamaa’t-i-
> > islamisupporters following the death of Zulfiqar Bhutto in 1979,
> > but omits the
> > details about widespread loot, plunder and arson that was
> > engineered with the
> > tacit support of the National Conference led government headed
> by
> > SheikhAbdullah. Several people were killed while hundreds were
> > rendered homeless, but
> > this does not find mention in the book. Habibullah also tends
> to
> > read the
> > history of Partition one-sidedly and places the onus on Sir Syed
> > Ahmad Khan for
> > the ultimate division, but fails to recognise the role of Hindu
> > fundamentalists, or Gandhi’s responsibility in his choice of
> > leadership of
> > the
> > Congress, his distrust of Muslims as well as his invocation of
> > Hindu symbols
> > and mythology to cultivate mass political support. And, lastly,
> > the time
> > line provided at the end of the book needs expanding to include
> > events like 11
> > February 1984 – the hanging of Maqbool Bhat and other such
> > important events
> > that
> > have shaped the recent history of the beleaguered region.
> >
> >
> >
> > The merit of the book lies in the
> > clarity of its arguments and the modest approach of the author. My
> > Kashmir: Conflict and the Prospects of Enduring Peace is a wonderful
> > contributionto understanding Kashmir and the efforts at peace-
> > building there.
> > It is hoped that the USIP will further broaden its commendable
> > efforts to
> > promote the peace in the region by expanding its work and
> > resources, engaging
> > more scholars from the area, in order to help the ongoing peace
> > process and
> > offer specific insights into the problem that Wajahat Habibullah
> > stronglybelieves is ‘tractable’.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Interview- Wajahat Habibullah
> >
> > Chief Information Commissioner, India
> > Murtaza
> > Shibli
> >
> >
> >
> > There is a strong lament in your book
> > about the destruction of Kashmir. Yet you sound so hopeful of a
> > solution. Why?
> >
> > Because
> > there is a very strong yearning and will for peace and people
> want
> > to live with
> > dignity and peace. I think most of the people are sick of
> violence
> > and they
> > want to seek a solution through the constitutional and legal
> > mechanism.
> >
> > It
> > is now the duty of India, Pakistan and primarily the Kashmiri
> > leadership to
> > afford a sense of dignity and participation to the people of
> Jammu
> > and Kashmir
> > to ensure a longterm solution. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s
> > idea of Round
> > Table Conference was part of extending that hope and translating
> > it into
> > action.
> >
> >
> >
> > Whenever there is some hope of a
> > solution it is punctured by some untoward incidents. The recent
> > controversy of
> > land transfer to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) is
> exactly
> > the kind of
> > setback that reverses such hopes.
> >
> > A.
> > The controversies like SASB is a cause
> > for great pain and apprehension. It is a major setback which has
> > killed a part
> > of me. We can’t shut our eyes to issues like this.
> Unfortunately,
> > Governor SK
> > Sinha failed to gauge the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. He
> > equated the
> > problems with what he had seen in the rest of the country, but
> > Kashmir is
> > different. Thankfully, the new governor NN Vohra has a great
> > understanding of
> > Kashmir unlike his predecessors and hopefully this will prove
> > beneficial to the
> > people of Kashmir and rest of the country.
> >
> >
> >
> > You mention about the Indian policy
> > being always guided by its perception of security and national
> > interest. And
> > now it seems to me that this ‘national interest’ is being
> extended to
> > religion
> > as well. Giving land to SASB is seen as a legitimate function
> and
> > role of the
> > Indian government for ensuring Indian presence in Kashmir. Is
> > religion now
> > being securitised?
> >
> > It
> > has been by some, but not by the government. As you know, the
> land
> > was never
> > actually transferred, and when government became aware of the public
> > resentment, the order was revoked.
> >
> >
> >
> > Despite progress in the India-Pakistan
> > peace process, the Kashmiris are very sceptical of a solution
> > emerging. What do
> > you think is the reason?
> >
> > There
> > is frustration because the Kashmiris are feeling left out of the
> > peace building
> > process between India and Pakistan. Their skepticism can be
> > mitigated by their
> > being made part of the process. This can be achieved through
> > different means,
> > but basically it should flow from an effort to build trust.
> >
> >
> >
> > There is a general belief that India’s
> > slow or non-response to President Musharraf’s proposals killed
> the
> > initialoptimism about the peace process and now the new
> political
> > challenges in both
> > countries have nearly stalled the process.
> >
> > The
> > General’s proposals were responded to in positive manner by no
> > less than the
> > Prime Minister of India. It is true however that there are those
> > within our
> > establishment that were averse to them. At any rate, it is my
> firm
> > belief that
> > democratic governments will be able to come to a more enduring
> > settlementacceptable to their people and therefore such
> solutions
> > will be stronger.
> >
> >
> >
> > You make an observation in your book
> > about the Kashmiris’ penchant for cooking up conspiracy
> theories.
> > But your
> > explanation about the Hazratbal Siege, blaming a Jama’at-i-
> Islami
> > sympathiserpolice constable sounds like a conspiracy as well?
> >
> > Well,
> > that is my suspicion, based on having been hands on in the
> > negotiation. And the
> > constable was the one who had delivered the highly exaggerated
> > misinformationthat provoked the siege of the shrine.
> >
> >
> >
> > You seem to discount the massive human
> > rights violations and its impact on fuelling insurgency and
> > winning new
> > recruits to it. Is there any particular reason you see the main
> > motivation for
> > insurgency as money rather than human rights violations and the
> > anger that it
> > generates?
> >
> > I
> > do not discount the cost in human rights, and have spoken of my
> direct> experience of such incidents. But I cannot claim to have
> covered those
> > incidents of which I had no direct experience. And I don’t see
> > money as the
> > reason at all. The outbreak was
> > precipitated by a genuine anger. That became a reason for its
> > persistence into
> > the mid ‘90s. After that however, money has begun to play an
> ever
> > largerrole.
> > I have known several young men who have or whose parents have
> > admitted to me as
> > much. And this very susceptibility to take to violence for money
> > does indeed
> > stem from anger
> >
> >
> >
> > You mention that freedom is the choice
> > of every Kashmiri but then claim that this freedom is guaranteed
> > by the Indian
> > Constitution. How do you reconcile the two ideas? Surely the
> > majority of
> > Kashmiri separatists don’t want to operate within the ambit of
> the
> > IndianConstitution?
> >
> > Freedom
> > in my view is freedom-and freedom is guaranteed by India’s
> > Constitution. My
> > argument is that the Kashmiris be allowed to enjoy that freedom.
> >
> >
> >
> > What is your position on Article 370
> > and how do you see certain Indian political groups like BJP who
> > lobby for its
> > abrogation?
> >
> > Article 370 allows Jammu and Kashmir to be the
> > only state in India to have a constitution of its own, something
> > that is the
> > right of every State in a federal structure like the US. Its
> > abrogation would
> > be regressive. But it should not be used to perpetuate the
> > dominance of a
> > ruling elite within J&K, as it has in the past. It must allow
> the
> > people of
> > the state as much, if not more freedom than guaranteed to the
> > people of India
> > by India’s constitution.
> >
> >
> >
> > There is this greater talk about south
> > Asia as a reference point where borders can become irrelevant. Can’t
> > President Musharraf’s
> > ‘Joint management’ plan for Kashmir be the beginning of a post-
> > WestphalianSouth Asia?
> >
> > A
> > counter-question. Why should the people of Jammu and Kashmir
> > submit to
> > management by another or worse still by joint management of more
> > than one? Are
> > any of India’s
> > other States “managed” by the Centre?
> >
> >
> >
> > You discount any link between Kashmiri
> > militants and Al Qaeda, yet in many official Indian accounts a
> > large stress is
> > placed on the claims of International jihadism including links
> > between the Al
> > Qaeda and Kashmiri insurgency.
> >
> > I
> > have seen no links, and I have seen the insurgency from close
> > quarters.
> >
> >
> > How would you compare freedom of
> > information regime in south Asia? And could this be useful in
> ways
> > to promote
> > peace and cooperation in the region?
> >
> > India
> > in its Right to Information Act 2005 has among the world’s most
> > enlightenedlegislations of this nature. Certainly I have been
> > working with the Jammu and
> > Kashmir (J&K) State government to adopt this legislation for the
> > State, if
> > not taking advantage of Article 379 to have an even stronger law
> > of this
> > nature. The J&K law passed originally in 2004 is totally without
> >substance,and as a result has hardly been used at all. Bangladesh
> > has in May 2008 adopted
> > a Right to Information Ordnance based in great measure on India’s
> > legislation;
> > Nepal had done so earlier. Pakistan’s Freedom of Information
> > Ordnance 2002
> > has
> > some weaknesses which will need strengthening.
> >
> >
> >
> > How do you see the current situation
> > in Pakistan and the struggle for democracy?
> >
> > I
> > have never been to Pakistan, but I have always been an ardent
> > supporter of
> > democracy. Unfortunately, Pakistan like many Third World
> countries
> > has been
> > experimenting with short bouts of democracy alongside dictatorship.
> > Dictatorships succeed in the short term, but they bring ruin in
> > the long term
> > without much in the form of infrastructure that could
> effectively
> > govern a
> > modern state.
> >
> > The
> > current situation is Pakistan is interesting and I see it as
> first
> > falteringsteps to bring a democracy and I wish them well. But
> the
> > onus is on the newly
> > elected government to build credible institutions and
> > infrastructure to which
> > people can identify with and feel a part of. It is a difficult
> > road ahead, but
> > I strongly hope the democracy in Pakistan flourishes.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________________
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