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OPINION

Is Pakistan really changing?
J. N. RAINA

It is ‘official’, but unexpected. Pakistan Government has issued an unusual order that there should be “no mention of Muzaffarabad (capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) or Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) in the official maps” of that country. Instead, the May 16 order about the “proper map of Pakistan” says that “Kashmir region should be shown as a disputed territory”, with Srinagar (the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir) as its capital”.

It is somewhat ravishing. Has the proverbial ‘Berlin Wall’ started crumbling down in the erstwhile undivided state of Jammu and Kashmir? Has Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf really ‘changed his heart’, as he once said while in India---‘ I have come with a new heart’ --- or is it just a ploy to hoodwink India? The South Block mandarins in New Delhi are yet to react to Pakistan’s major ‘shift’ in its policy.

A Pakistani daily has quoted an unnamed senior bureaucrat as saying: “It is not by mistake that the name of Muzaffarabad is missing on the official map of Pakistan, but a policy shift of Pakistan, in the wake of improving friendly ties, after recent measures between the two countries” (India and Pakistan).

Subsequently, on the heels of the issuance of this order, a controversy started raging in Islamabad over an official advertisement in Pakistani dailies, showing the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir not as disputed, but as part of India. That includes even the Northern Areas, which Pakistan had forcibly annexed in November 1947. It is interesting to note that just after a week, following the publication of the order, General Musharraf, in a wide-ranging interaction with corporate leaders, disclosed to CNBC TV on June 23 that “demilitarization” is his “final resolution” of the ‘dispute’.

“I have proposed demilitarization as a final resolution. Demilitarize Kashmir, give self-governance to the people of Kashmir, with joint management arrangement on top. This is an idea I am proposing”, he told the midnight gathering. Not that he is talking about ‘demilitarization’ for the first time. What he wants is that it should now be the ‘final resolution’.

However, it is quite discernible that he is very much keen for “joint management arrangement”. He explains: “We could debate and modify the idea of final settlement of the dispute, to the acceptance of India, Pakistan and people of Kashmir”.

But what kind of ‘joint management’ it should be; or does he want ‘joint control’ of the entire undivided state; he has left it vague.

The May order has instructed the provincial Governments that this (proper map of Pakistan) should be reflected in all Pakistani websites by the autonomous, semi-autonomous, attached and sub-ordinate bodies. Though the new map does not refer to ‘Azad Jammu Kashmir, or Muzaffarabad, it continues to show Gilgit and Skardu as separate administrative units. AJK is being shown as part of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It shows international boundary between India and the disputed territory in the south. The administrative boundary is shown between Islamabad-Skardu and the ‘disputed’ territory in the west and north, and Frontier undefined in the east with China.

Ipso facto, Pakistan, it seems, has now come to agree that PoK or ‘Azad Jammu Kashmir’ is part of Jammu and Kashmir (in Indian possession). It is India’s contention that Pakistan has forcibly grabbed the territory under its control.

Musharraf has welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s interaction with the mainstream politicians at a roundtable conference in Srinagar, which was intriguingly boycotted by the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

Inescapable conclusion is that General Musharraf, under domestic and international pressure, wants to do away with the ‘problem’, which has hugely affected Pakistan, which is being dubbed as the ‘epicentre of terrorism’, and treated as a ‘failed state’ by certain international agencies. What about his claim that he has introduced “sustainable democracy” and has changed the “political culture in Pakistan”. Well, who took these claims seriously in the first place!

Be as it may, Pakistan President has to make it clear as to what he means by ‘self-governance’. Does he mean ‘Azadi’, in which Pakistan is not interested? Jammu and Kashmir has been enjoying self-rule since it became part of India in October 1947.Almost free and fair elections have been held in the state. However, sometimes, elections were rigged. Kashmiris have faced terrorists’ bullets to preserve democracy. But nothing of this sort is visible in Pakistan-held Kashmir.

On again off-again, he has been talking about the ‘people of Kashmir.’ As he did the other day, while speaking about his demilitarization idea. Said he, “It is for the people of Kashmir now to generate the kind of ideas and put pressure on the Government of India on some form of a resolution”.

Who are the people of Kashmir?
Jammu and Kashmir comprises of three distinct regions--- Hindu-dominated Jammu province, Buddhist-dominated sprawling Ladakh region and Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley. In 1947, the population of Hindus was over 15 per cent in the valley. But it has now been reduced to almost zero, following militancy.

Raising the bogey about the people of Kashmir is meaningless. No problem can be resolved by resorting to ethnic cleansing. Separately, no community can represent the entire people of the state. The future of the state is well defined under the Indian Constitution. Jammu and Kashmir is also governed by its own Constitution.

Musharraf has failed to address the issue of terrorism—his own baby—in Kashmir. Pakistan’s internal problems are growing day by day. Scores of Talibans are killed daily in encounters. Naturally, Americans are not happy with him. Pakistan is aware about India’s growing influence in Afghanistan. Its Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao has told an Arab TV channel that Indian influence in Afghanistan was ‘damaging Pakistan’s interests’. Time, needless to say, is ripe for Pakistan to bury the hatchet forever and compromise with India for the good.


Courtesy : Syndicate Features

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