The Kashmir Issue has been an unsolvable problem for Pakistan, India and the international community for a very long time. Apart from the pressing problem of Palestine and Israel that has reached no solution either, the Kashmir issue drags on, stalemated, begging for a solution. There have been numerous debates and articles suggesting solutions and roles of different countries. The following article is my attempt at the role of Pakistan. Your feedback is appreciated.
The Kashmir Issue & Role of Pakistan
Kashmir is an 86,000 square miles area surrounded by Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and India located in central Asia. It has an approximate population of 13 million Kashmiris and is larger than 87 sovereign countries. However, despite its size it has still been a dependent state ruled by others for centuries; firstly the Mauryas, then the Mughals, the Maharajahs and so on.
Unfortunately with the independence of two of its neighboring countries, Pakistan and India, from the British colonial rule, Kashmir became a disputed territory under the rule of its neighbors. Though the Kashmir Liberation Army overthrew its Hindu ruler shortly after the subcontinent’s partition; thereby setting a provisional government for Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian army did not let it enjoy their freedom for long. India invaded and occupied two-thirds of Kashmir, leaving one-third as Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The situation has been the same ever since. Except now it is worse.
Sadly, the plebiscite, given by the United Nations, allowing the people of Kashmir to choose which country to join was never held. The reason Kashmir issue still has not be resolved is the hostility between Pakistan and India; where India still considers Kashmir an integral part of its own territory and so refuses to give it up while Pakistan does not want India’s control and insists the dispute be determined on the basis of plebiscite. Moreover, Indian forces residing in Kashmir are constantly captivated in a continuous movement of extreme violence causing thousands of deaths each day.
Truly, no nation can survive in perpetual slavery for long and the people of Kashmir, sooner or later, will inevitably need to take an action to resolve their fate. However, for Kashmir to obtain complete independence is an unlikely idea because of its strategic position in the region which makes its independence a destabilizing factor. Nevertheless, clearly, both India and Pakistan do not favor the total independence of Kashmir anyway.
Kashmir is a Muslim state like Pakistan and Kashmir’s association with the State of Pakistan seems more ideal than with India. This is due to the rampant activity of brutality Indian forces have engaged in Jammu and Kashmir that falls under their rule now. However, at the moment, Pakistan’s standing in the international world is poorer than that of India’s; the other option Kashmir has. Pakistan is faced with numberless problems of its own within its own territory as well as with the rest of the world. These include terrorism, religious extremism, political instability, unchecked corruption at all levels, poverty, unemployment and so on. Pakistan’s role in the Kashmir conflict is simply to improve itself in all aspects and become a stable country that can self-sufficiently stand on its own. Only in such a state of affairs will the people of Kashmir want to associate themselves with our country.
Kashmir, by and large constituting a population of Muslims, would more likely annex with the state of Pakistan provided the country can ensure its security. We have many examples from world history showing weak nations that joined stronger ones in search for security and dependence. Alaska, for instance, joined America in 1959 because of America’s more established and stable governance and security in economic and political aspects for its citizens. Pakistan needs to offer that to its citizens and rid itself of all its cultural, religious and even provincial differences. Unfortunately, on the other hand, Pakistan’s own province, Balochistan, which is the largest, wants to detach itself from the country. This uncertainty in Balochistan is clearly due to the negligence of the Pakistani government to the basic needs of the Balochis; their literacy problem, health issues, lack of infrastructure, jobs, law, order and security in such a vast undeveloped mountainous region. Similarly, Pakistan has been unable to resolve the depreciating situation of law and order in FATA and NWFP. Any country whose own provinces desire to separate from its sovereignty would only more repel any other nations that want to adjoin with it.
Owing to such a dilapidated image, Pakistan’s chances of getting more foreign investment like China and other investor-friendly countries, has suffered and this inability adds to the instability of Pakistan’s economic growth. Pakistan direly needs to end corruption within the nation and develop itself socially, politically and economically so Kashmir can find security and confidence in it. Pakistan, unfortunately, is considered the land of terrorist in the global media especially due to unfortunate events in the last decade. Despite holding some of the most beautiful and scenic areas in the world, its tourist industry is hardly attracting any foreigners because they are frightened to visit Pakistan. This adds to the poor economic situation of the country.
Another example is that of Soviet Union that collapsed in 1991 giving independence to five central Asian states namely; Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. This collapse was expected due to the repression of their local cultures, negligence to the increasing ethnic tensions and environment troubles of the minor states in the Soviet Union. Seeing this, Pakistan’s role in the Kashmir issue is to become the appealing option that Kashmir would readily want to opt for. Then the people of Kashmir would press for a plebiscite themselves. On the other hand, Kashmir, seeing Pakistan’s current conditions, rather wants to have nothing to do with it despite it being the ideal option. India, which comprises of mostly Hindu population and one which has practiced major violence in parts of Kashmir falling under their control, seems a more attractive option for Kashmir to associate with according to the rest of the world. This is due to India’s better standing in the global world and India’s more established political and economical state of affairs.
Pakistan’s recent crises not only involve extreme political upheaval, socio-economic issues, security threats, foreign drone attacks but also energy crises, food and electricity shortages, inflation, overpopulation etc which have very much weakened Pakistan’s position in the global world. Pakistan needs to become self-reliant by stabilizing its industry and economic institution in order to improve its image in the world. Pakistan is capable of it all as our land is naturally gifted with all that it takes to be developed; the people of Pakistan just need to vote for the right leaders that can lead the enthusiastic people of Pakistan in the right direction to develop this country economically and resolve its minor differences at all levels. Pakistan is rich in minerals and has a land capable of yielding better produce for the entire nation’s basic needs and this should be done in a sustainable way. Pakistan can easily develop itself faster because it holds resources and a lot of capacity. When comparing it to India, which has a huge population and as many problems to handle, Pakistan just needs to prioritize its economic growth to succeed in
the world as India has been doing. The people of Pakistan should focus less on the religious turmoil rising around the Muslim world and especially within Pakistan and realize what is best for them at this point to improve their position in the world to hold up a valued image. All this can be attained with more economic growth, self-sufficiency, technological advancement, improved education, and less time wastage on non-productive activities or maximizing differences. Pakistan needs to bring absolute literacy so social awareness will address the problem of wrong leadership, cultural conflicts, justice, corruption and sectarianism.
India is continually considered an enemy to Pakistan. If Pakistan and India enter into a friendly relationship like Canada and USA and help each other, Pakistan will not need to go on with its proxy war politics with India and be able to reduce its participation in the US war on terrorism. With a peaceful relationship with its neighbors, Pakistan can then use its resources to focus more on its own people’s welfare and work on more useful goals. Hence, Pakistan needs to address its dilemmas from within and establish itself well economically, socially and politically so that the people of Kashmir would want to join hands with it.
