Kashmir Confusion: now and then

Kashmir has been penned down in the pages of history as one the most disputed territories. This dispute is decades old and dates back to the year 1947 when the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir signed an agreement with both India and Pakistan to remain neutral and independent.

India honored that agreement but Pakistan did not. Pakistani raiders and soldiers attacked the state in 1947 forcing the Maharaja to flee to India. The Maharaja asked India to help his people who were being killed and looted by the Pakistani raiders. He also agreed to make Jammu & Kashmir a part of India.

India accepted Kashmir’s annexation and Indian troops were immediately flown to the valley. They were able to rescue a large part of the Kashmiri territory but Pakistan too managed to retain control of a large part of the state, which is now known as the ‘Pakistan occupied Kashmir’.

Not wanting to drag the issue further, India went to the UN with this issue. India said that Pakistan had attacked a neutral State and that State had now become part of India. Therefore, Pakistan should withdraw its soldiers from the State. The United Nations agreed with the Indian demand and asked Pakistan to withdraw its forces from Jammu & Kashmir and called for a plebiscite. But because Pakistan never agreed, plebiscite could never be held and Kashmir was declared a ‘disputed territory’.

Several wars and failed bilateral negotiations later, an important question started doing the rounds of the table. ‘Why doesn’t India simply give up Kashmir to Pakistan and put and end to this ongoing war for ever?’

The answer had more underlying layers to it, than one could have ever imagined not only from the legal point of view but also from the strategic point of view. Firstly, the mountains in Kashmir provide a natural barrier to India. With its natural barrier gone, Pakistani army has an easy run into the Indian Territory.

Secondly comes the issue of the control of the Indus River. The headwaters of the Indus River are located in Kashmir. Whoever controls the headwaters, controls the river. Neither of the states wants to give up on that.

Next, Kashmir, rightly known as the ‘Paradise of Earth’, minus the terrorism, has great potential for tourism. Also, the issue has become a matter of political importance for both the states.

Many attempts have been made so far but none has ever been even close to successful.

When questioned about an option to stay or leave India, most people from the Kashmiri community believe that they would rather stay with India or have their own independent state but not join Pakistan. According to a survey that appeared in Times of India, only 2% people living in J&K want to join Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans of re-establishing Kashmiri Pandits back in Kashmir have received some stark reactions.

Some believe there is no undoing to what has been done while some believe that a separate area should be allocated. There are voices that still hope for the co-existence of the two communities, on the other hand there are others who believe that community has out grown what was done to it, and there is only moving forward from here.

68 years of struggle with still no viable solution visible.

Is the paradise lost or is there more to it?

         






Heights of Hypocrisy!

I love my country but I can’t remain silent towards the high level of political drama going on. The happenings and the turn of events is such that I feel sorry and disheartened. Everything and everyone is judged on parameters that no one knows. We make extraordinary claims but in reality we are no different. And this apparently is not only true for our political system but also for our social system.

Our sanctimonious political system claims that our minds are getting corrupted by the ‘western ideas and ideals’. It says that we are getting ‘influenced’ by the glimmer of the life there. It says that our own ideals are the highest and therefore most accurate. But is it really true? Or are we simply living in an alternate reality where we discard everything that opposes our own beliefs?

The instances to cite this hypocritical side our society are plenty.

To begin with, we talk of freedom and personal liberty. We claim that that everyone has equal rights and gets to decide what they want and what they don’t but in reality this concept is as vague as the meaning of truth.

Recently, our honorable Supreme Court flatly refused to directly block any pornographic websites on the grounds that it’s a violation of Article 21 (personal freedom). SC agreed that some steps need to be taken but those may not necessarily involve blocking these sites.

Alternate scenario: Supreme Court on Dec 11, 2013 gave a verdict that criminalized homosexuality in India on the grounds that it is ‘against the order of nature’.

My question here is that who gets to decide what is against the ‘order of nature’ and what’s not? As far as I know, nature is full of anomalies and to say that we are even close to understanding it is vanity.

Where did this concept of ‘personal freedom’ go when it came to giving verdict about choosing partners? Porn is personal freedom and partner is not? When will our system and society stand against these dual standards?

The second instance that I would like to cite here is the case of Maggi Vs. Tobacco products.

Our food regulatory authority banned Maggi on the grounds that it has excess lead content and MSG in it, which indeed is harmful for health. Good to see that our authorities are so concerned about our health that they basically banned noodles from all brands in most parts of the country.

Alternate scenario: If these authorities are so concerned about our health, why don’t they start banning tobacco products and alcohol based beverages? Or are they saying that by printing a “statuary warning” on the product label their job is done?

If that is the case, then I would request Nestlé to print lead levels and MSG content on the wrapper of Maggi noodles and end this fiasco for good. I guess that should work for FSSAI as well. It sure does in case of cigarettes.

Also, for those who say that ‘Maggi is toxic’, honestly after eating Maggi for so many years do you really have any actual complaints to file? People do actual drugs and practically drown themselves in natural and artificial narcotics and surprisingly that never raised any questions? Marijuana, Weed, etc.

And why do you think that a multi-million dollar international brand that has been given a green signal by at least seven countries sitting quietly?

What no one is noticing is that this may just as easily be a political ploy to drive out ‘western brands’ and promote Indianization aka the RSS agenda.

First Maggi, then baby power and finally milk powder, too big and synchronized to be a coincidence. Similarly, Maggi, Knorr, Top Ramen and finally Yuppiee, the timing is too impeccable to ignore.

Had they been a Ramdev product or Asaram manufacturing or perhaps even had blessings of RSS or any other political party, any of the banned products would have never met this fate.

I strongly protest against having such dual standards in our governing system and our society. Hope that we soon wake up to see the truth, whatever it might be!