Kashmir; Can the Indian state fight a protracted war?
Kashmir state was a part of the empire of Maharajah of Punjab, Ranjit Singh. Earlier it was a part of the Mughal empire and Jahangir the emperor loved the place and compared it to paradise on earth. Thus Kashmir was a part of India for many centuries. When we say India, we refer to the composite India which consisted from Baluchistan to Assam.
During the days of the Raj, Kashmir was a semi-autonomous region but defense and foreign affairs were exercised by the Raj and overall suzerainty was with the English. In 1947 with the lapse of British power as per the terms of the transfer of power as incorporated in the Government of India act, passed by the British parliament, the Indian semi-independent states were given the option to either join India or Pakistan. This was in 1947, but Maharajah Hari Singh decided that he wanted total independence and thus did not accede to either India or the newly created state of Pakistan. He signed a "standstill agreement", with both nations. Pakistan, however, invaded Kashmir and a panic-stricken Maharajah signed the instrument of accession to India.
One point that must be mentioned is that Kashmir had a Hindu ruler, but the majority of the subjects were Muslim. In addition in Indian Kashmir, the valley was 90% Muslim.
The rise of the insurrection
The roots of this insurrection in Kashmir lie in 1971 when the liberation of Bangladesh took place.There is no doubt the Punjabi elite that ruled Pakistan treated Bangladesh unfairly, but the Indian leadership led by Indira Gandhi decided that India could exploit the dissatisfaction in East Pakistan and break the nation into two. A plan was hatched to infiltrate special forces into East Pakistan and stir up local sentiment as well as align with the Mukti Bahini a Bengali outfit demanding secession from Pakistan.
Indian special forces operated inside East Pakistan for almost 2 years. The result is known as a war took place and the Pakistan army outnumbered 4-1 was defeated. Pakistan just cannot forget the Indian role in the creation of Bangladesh and that is the reason it has embarked on a policy to avenge the breakup of Pakistan.
The man who gave effect to this policy was General Zia-ul-Haq, the dictator of Pakistan after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (he had got him executed after a farcical trial). Zia decided that tribal Mujahedin from the NW frontier should enter Kashmir and instigate the local Kashmiri youth to take up arms against the Indian state. In a way, it was a shrewd move and the Indians failed to grasp the full impact of the move of Zia.
The Indian government at that time did not take the threat seriously and matters were compounded by rigged elections by Farouk Abdullah and Rajiv Gandhi. The Kashmiri youth, in particular, began to feel alienated as there was no development in Kashmir and no jobs for the youth. They also saw the crores of rupees were being siphoned away by corrupt politicians. Another big factor was religion as the Mujahedin who entered the valley played on the sentiments of the Muslims by invoking Islam and Jehad against the infidels( Hindus).
Islam has tremendous appeal and even many who were erudite and as well as the intellectuals began to support Pakistan. The Indian government was caught napping as the Hindu minority in the valley was terrorized. Loudspeakers from mosques warned Hindus of dire consequences and also announced that they would allow the men to leave but the women and girls should stay back and become wives of the Kashmiri Muslims.
Thus an ethnic cleansing started and almost 200,000 Hindus had to leave the valley. Indian government led by Narasimha Rao, Vajpayee and Man Mohan Singh failed to stop the killing of Hindus and the resultant exodus. Thus, Pakistan gained a vantage point in Kashmir and began a free supply of arms and money to disaffected Kashmiri youth. In short, the Indian government by a policy of appeasement signed its own warrant of disaster.
The Insurrection
Pakistan invoked the name of Islam and openly supported the activities of various groups inimical to India. it set up over a 100 training camps in Punjab and Kashmir for imparting military training. In addition, die hard tribals from the so called Azad Kashmir entered the valley to engage the Indian security forces. The result is that not a day passes without some soldiers being killed. The gun culture was allowed to be set up in Kashmir and I am afraid it has a lot to do with the weak-kneed policy of the central government.
There is supposed to be a government in Kashmir, but it appears powerless as Muslim separatists at will call for strikes and many times indefinite curfew is imposed.
No Indian citizen can walk in the valley alone or travel in peace. This is a severe indictment of India and one wonders how long this situation will carry on. The Indian army is thought of as an occupying force and also the local Kashmir youth are donning the garb of freedom fighters and joining the terror movement.
It's about time the Indian government realized that you can't run with the hare and hunt with the hound. There has to be a decisive step and the first casualty is the removal of the Kashmir government of PDP and BJP. This conglomeration has compounded the adverse situation. I do not visualize any solution to the Kashmir problem until Pakistan is defeated or itself breaks into smaller countries. Easier said than done as India is now on the horns of a dilemma.
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