India-Pakistan - New Solution?

Pakistan, officially known as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, declares itself to be a sovereign state in South Asia.  Geographically speaking it is located in a strategic position between South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. The two South Asian Giants viz. China and India borders the landmass of Pakistan, though its relationship with the latter is often disputed. 

India was partitioned on religious lines because of the widespread resentment created in the minds of Muslims by the Muslim League leading to the formation of Pakistan on August 14^th, 1947 after gaining Independence from the British rule. The basic notion behind Pakistan was to create a pure land free from the infidels only for the Muslim populace. 

Thus, by accepting the demand of Pakistan the Indian leaders and the British anarchy accepted the demand of a separate land only for the Muslims. This led to a false impression that the new independent India thus chalked off will be a Hindu dominion state. 

Mohammad Ali Jinnah soon after the formation of Pakistan surprised everyone when he declared Pakistan open for all religious beliefs and won’t propagate any state religion, thus following the path of secularism. If secularism had to be preached in Pakistan than their was no need of asking for Direct Action Day which caused a homicide on the streets of Calcutta and elsewhere. Dramatic twists and turns in the political arena in Pakistan resulted in a declaration which finally made Pakistan an Islamic State. 

So, India was divided into religious lines in two different states, or rather three if Bangladesh is also taken into account. The declaration proposed by the Muslim league laid down norms for the partition of the country and subsequent population exchange. Pakistan kept no stone upturn to kill its religious minorities. Literally speaking, population exchange only occurred from one side of the border i.e. from Pakistan. 

Pakistan government not only created havoc in their country against the religious minorities but also incited tribals and Muslim’s from Kashmir region to kill their Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist counterparts living from centuries in the province. This led to new population geometry in the valley. Also, due to Indian government sluggish foreign policy for years, the number of Muslim refugees from Bangladesh route increased manifold which again led to change in population geometry in the eastern states.

India has the world’s second largest population to feed, still many of its citizens are illiterate and many others sleep under the open sky because they can't even afford a hut. Yet, India spends half of its GDP for defense related purposes seeking an excuse of troubled borders. 

There’s something very interesting in all these. India was partitioned on religious lines to make two separate nations viz. the Hindu and the related religions like Sikh, Buddhism, and Jainism dominant Hindustan and the Muslim dominant Pakistan. But the Indian Constitution called it a secular state thus going against the norms laid down in the partition which subsequently deems to be un-recognition of the partition itself. 

So, instead of having talks with Pakistan on Kashmir and other issues Indian government should un-recognize the independent state of Pakistan itself. It should proclaim whole of the Pakistan and the Bangladesh as the Indian Territory and should look into the matter not within the limits of foreign policy but under the acts of Home Ministry. 

Think it Over…!

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Kashmir: The Troubled Frontier

Yesterday, I read a news article about the ongoing debate whether the Kashmir is an integral part of India or not. A noted novelist had made a comment saying Kashmir was never a part of India and now it’s the right time for Indian government to liberate it. This post contains mine observation regarding the mention topic.

Britishers brought in with them a centralized form of governance. They united all big and small princely states under one umbrella; in simple language they unified the great Indian Subcontinent. But, Britishers unlike Mughals never invaded India with a motive of being a part of it; instead they only wanted to loot its immense wealth. They can be compared with modern day Taliban. Only difference was that the Britishers were an organized army of robbers.

So, after World War 2 when the world power scenario changed and it became difficult (almost impossible) to rule India, Britishers came up with a new ideology. They could have transformed the power as was vested in the hands of Britishers. But, they went ahead with a new idea of handing over the power to group of people from each community or religion. It was not just the Britishers but also the Allied forces who never wanted to leave the great Indian Subcontinent. They knew that this land had all the elements to become world power again, which could be a trouble for them in future. As a matter of fact, they still control the politics of some countries of the region like Afghanistan and Pakistan. So, they coined the theory of partitioning the country on religious lines. It was left over to rulers of princely states whether to remain with free India or go with the new state of Pakistan.

Sardar Vallabhai Patel with his group of loyal administrators did a commendable job by making most of the princely states to remain with free India either by using political pressure or by force. But, the Maharaja of Kashmir was an ambitious and very arrogant man. He neither wanted to be a part of free India or the new state of Pakistan. In-fact, he wanted to divide India further by making Kashmir a third country to be formed beside Pakistan. But, soon he realized his mistake when the Mujahedeen backed by the Pakistani army attacked the princely state of Kashmir. He realized that it was better to be a part of a secular India rather than to be a part of a country like Pakistan which was formed on religious grounds. He signed the annexation papers and formally the state of Kashmir became an integral part of the Union of India. Later on, acting like a fatherly figure India gave few chunks of Kashmir to Pakistan in order to calm it down. As it is said, the greediness never goes away, so was the case here; Pakistan from the very moment of its formation wanted Kashmir to be an integral part of it. When it became clear that India has a better military then that of the Pakistan, they went ahead with the new setup. And that was building, supporting and providing logistics for cross border terrorism into the territory of India.

Two points should be made very clear: Firstly, as hyped, if the Kashmir is set free as an Independent country, sooner or later the state of Pakistan back by the China would attack it and would enslave them. In that case only one country, the Union of India, can come to their rescue. Secondly, Kashmir will have to depend on India for its resources and daily needs. They will have to import it from the Indian government. In both the scenario, India can never be detached from Kashmir.

In recent media reports I heard some of the Huriyat leaders crying about the double standard of Indian government for the Kashmir. Indian Government never treated Kashmir as an integral part of India and seen it as an outsider, they said. But, they kept mum on the special privileges and autonomy which only the state of Kashmir gets. They cry about the army Special Power Act but never for once they condemned the militancy. Also, the people who think that partition is only way for a permanent solution of the Kashmir problem must for once look at the state of Pakistan.

Lastly, Kashmir was, is and will always be an integral part of the Union of India.

Image Source: Google
Read more about KASHMIR and INDIA at: Wikipedia