It is a well-known fact—though lying dormant—that Pakistan does not claim Kashmir as its territory. The reality has remained shelved; may be for public consumption in Pakistan, which has not even laid any claim on Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).There is no mention about it in that country’s constitution. On the contrary, India regards the undivided State of Jammu and Kashmir, including Northern Areas, as its integral part. It is enshrined in the Indian constitution, as well as in the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, which has a separate constitution under Article 370.

There is nothing new what Pakistan foreign spokesperson Tasnim Aslam had said about Kashmir, on the heels of General Pervez Musharraf’s statement that “ Pakistan would give up its claim to Kashmir, if India accepts its four-point solution”, to resolve the Kashmir issue.

Some media persons were taken aback in Islamabad when Ms Aslam revealed that Pakistan does not claim Kashmir, and that Kashmir ‘dispute’ is just “about the aspirations of Kashmiris”. Her remarks drew brusque reaction from Pakistani journalists, who asked her on what basis Pakistan could say it has no claim over Kashmir, and what had happened to slogans like “Kashmir banega Pakistan “(Kashmir will become a part of Pakistan).

Ms Aslam cleverly told the journalists that the slogan was coined by Kashmiris, and that Pakistan since 1947 had never wanted “any forced union with that territory”. She little knew that the same Kashmiris had also raised slogans like “yi kare, ti kare, bab kare lolo” (whatever will be done, will be done by Sheikh Abdullah.)

How fantastic. If it is not change in Pakistan’s stand, then what else? If that was the position, why Kashmiri youth were brainwashed by ISI and recruited for jihad? When late Sheikh had decided, as a sole leader, about Kashmiris’ fate—which should have been the be-all and the end-all of the dispute—what compelled Pakistan to resort to ethnic cleansing in Jammu and Kashmir, which led to the out-migration of five lakh Kashmiri Hindus?

“Roots in Kashmir”, a new organization, launched by Kashmiri Hindu youth, staged protest demonstrations across India on December 10, on the occasion of Human Rights Day. They submitted memoranda to various Human Rights Organizations, and the Amnesty International, to highlight their cause. They are the worst sufferers. A spokesman for the organization has said “As far as the Indian government’s internal policy priorities are concerned, human rights issues of Kashmiri Pandits have not just taken a back seat, but have been locked away in the boot”

Pak establishment and its military rulers have been hoodwinking the people about the real status of Kashmir. People are being misled and lured into believing that Islam is in danger in Kashmir, so that they join the ‘mujahideen’ force and participate in the ‘liberation struggle’.

In the first place, when Pakistan says “It has no claim over Kashmir”, General Musharraf’s assertion is out of place. What is he going to give up when Kashmir does not belong to Pakistan? Ms Aslam has in fact outwitted the General by telling the truth about Kashmir.

“Pakistan never claimed Kashmir to be an integral part of it. What we said is that Kashmiris should be able to decide their future. We hope they would opt for Pakistan”, she told the journalists. To quote her: “This was the reason why Pakistan-held Kashmir has a President and Prime Minister. Had it been part of Pakistan, it should have had a chief minister and a governor”. She even referred to a provision in Pakistan’s constitution, dealing with Kashmir, saying the article has remained unchanged.

Musharraf has said Pakistan would give up its claim to Kashmir if India accepts his four- point solution. These are: Make no changes in the boundaries of Kashmir. Make borders and LoC irrelevant. Have staggered demilitarization and autonomy or self-governance.

We need to study his points carefully. He wants India to give up its claim on Kashmir, which it cannot. A resolution has been passed in Parliament, envisaging retrieving PoK, as it is an integral part of the country, by virtue of the instrument of accession. Musharraf wants India to demilitarize Kashmir. The aim is to send in infiltrators in large numbers and even Pakistani Army in civilian dress, to capture Jammu and Kashmir. It is just a trap.

People in Pakistan need to know that Kashmiris under the towering leadership of Sheikh Abdullah had opted for India. They had spurned Pakistan’s hand of friendship on the eve of partition, when Mohammad Ali Jinnah visited the valley to brow-beat Abdullah. The tragedy is that Pakistan is still hoping against hope that people of Kashmir will change their opinion at the point of gun. People cannot be forced to change their opinion, on-again, off-again. Agreements cannot be made and remade just if someone squawks. Kashmiris have rejected Pakistan for ever, for its narrow-mindedness. Had it not been so, Bangladesh would not have emerged.

When the Jammu and Kashmir constitution was framed after the state’s accession with India, the State Legislature had reserved 25 seats for the people of PoK. The seats have been increased proportionately since then. Kashmiris have decided their future through the battle of the ballot under a democratic set up. Common people, fed up with militancy, faced terrorists’ bullets when elections were held in 2002 A section of people, owing allegiance to Hurriyat Conference, cannot claim to represent the entire people of the Hindu-dominated Jammu region, Buddhist-dominated Ladakh region and the Muslim-majority valley.

Ms Aslam, while maintaining that there was no shift in Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir, has said in case of a plebiscite, (if) Kashmiris chose to accede to Pakistan, even then the government of Pakistan would negotiate with the Kashmiri leaders about the ‘future status of relationship’.

Plebiscite is a dead issue. It was buried several fathoms deep in the Bay of Bengal, the day Bangladesh was created. Both the Sheikh and his close associate Mirza Afzal Beg had discarded plebiscite and disbanded the then “Plebiscite Front” after 23 years and revived old National Conference when Sheikh-Indira Gandhi accord was signed. Pakistanis are being misled to keep the Kashmir pot boiling. If Pakistan over the years has not amended a word in its constitution pertaining to Kashmir, how does it expect a section of Kashmiri Muslims to change their opinion and open up their heart for Pakistan? That too after Pakistan’s bifurcation.

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