The Core Issue -- KASHMIR

Columnist ALI ASHRAF KHAN discusses the core of all the problems between Pakistan and India

We welcome the Indian Parliamentarians Delegation with faith in their sincerity to tackle the Indo-Pakistan problems. We welcome the Bus Diplomacy of the Indian Prime Minister Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his visit to Pakistan with utmost sincerity and honesty of purpose. Any problem approached with sincerity of purpose and honesty delivers positive results, this is the law of God and the law of nature, and it is hoped that the Indian and Pakistani approach on both sides is positive and sincere and in the interest of the nation and the country bereft of any political expediency, then and only then the two Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif will go down in history in letters of gold, otherwise Pakistan has seen fifty years of war with its neighbour and may have to see hundred years of war or more.

There is no problem on earth which cannot be solved, so far as Kashmir beyond the Line of Control is concerned the matter is quite simple, it was at India's request to the United Nations that the famous Kashmir Resolution was passed and it was a resolve that a plebiscite should be held there under the auspices of United Nations to determine the choice of the people and actually a plebiscite administrator Admiral Chester Nimitz was appointed, but before the resolution could be put into affect India consolidated its hold on Kashmir by landing their armed forces on a flimsy authority of an instrument of annexation signed by the Hindu Maharaja. The instrument of annexation signed by the Muslim Nawab of Junagargh could not hold well in the choice of the Hindu population, simply because Pakistan could not land their troops there. United Nations only watched as an impotent spectator the series of events taking place in the two states. Even historians and biographers of Mr. Jawahar Lal Nehru, Frank Morasse could not justify his stand on Kashmir and he cursorily passed it over to say that Kashmir has become an emotional issue and an article of faith for Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru.

So far as the holding of plebiscite in Kashmir is concerned the matter is quite simple, the Indian and Pakistani troops could be replaced by the contingent from the Armed Forces drawn from the United Nations. But it all requires a sincerity of purpose and honesty and not political expediency that has been the order of the day since the dispute arose.

It is a fact of history that no peoples movement can be crushed by the armed might, this has been proved in Bangladesh, Korea, Vietnam and Germany. The Indian leaders will be well advised that while they make history they should also take a lesson from history, the nuclear detonation can get a vociferous Shabash and Wahwah from the Parliament

and the Nation but it cannot subjugate a will of the people, the real power does not lie in nuclear energy, it lies in the economic strength of a nation. Germany and Japan are not nuclear powers but they are much stronger than the so-called nuclear powers.

Much stress is being laid supported by the United States of America that set aside the core issues and normalize relations with neighbours, little do the politicians and economic wizards realize that economic issues are always subservient to political issues, not only this but the military issues are also subservient to political issues, the decision is taken by the Prime Minister which is obeyed by the Commander-in-Chief, it is therefore all the more necessary that the core issue of Kashmir between India and Pakistan be grappled with a determination and will to solve and not with an intention of surviving the electoral term of office. Let us not forget here that time and again Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru Prime Minister of India had affirmed that the Kashmir issue will be resolved in accordance with the will of the people of Kashmir. United Nations also resolved that the choice of the people of Kashmir will determine through a plebiscite and actually they had appointed a plebiscite Administrator also, it is therefore the requirement of history, that the will of the people of Kashmir should be honoured in totality. The core issue is always like a volcano, which can erupt any moment and destroy the economic survivors and then we will be repenting on why and how this was not realized well in time, so that there was no threat to any future hold-up in our unity and prosperity.

Coming to our side of the borders, the nation hangs its head in shame as it sees the Northern Areas on the map of Pakistan which even today after Golden Jubilee of our history, this area is still being ruled under the draconian laws with no place in the Constitution and laws prevalent in Pakistan, simply because of a fallacy that this is a disputed territory, India has consolidated its position by holding elections in Kashmir and we still consider Northern Areas to be a disputed territory, which God forbid may have to be transferred to India some time some day, historically, culturally, politically and socially Northern Area comprises of Baltistan, Gilgit and Chitral which have never been part of the domain of His Highness the Maharaja of Jummu and Kashmir.

Northern Areas despite being on the margin of the Pakistani nation state, the pace of cultural change in what the Mughals once called Tibet-e-Khurd (Little Tibet) is quickening. In recent decades, Balti identity has been re-shaped by ties with the Iranian Revolution and Pakistan's Punjabi-dominated culture. But as the new generation enters the information age, in Baltistan's de facto capital, Skardu, more and more Baltis are dreaming of the day when the ceasefire lines will no longer separate them from their Himalayan kins in Kargil and Ladakh.

The agrarian communities that inhabit the valleys of the Indus, the Shyok, and their tributaries, have cultural affinities that stretch from Lhasa to Tehran. Linguists say that Balti may be one of the most archaic forms of spoken Tibetan. Its closest relatives are Purig ( spoken across

the ceasefire line in Kargil ), Ladakhi and the Amdo dialect of Eastern Tibet. Over the centuries, Balti has become mixed with Persian, Urdu and Arabic, for here in the arid valleys of the Karakorum lie the historic junction of the Buddhist and Islamic worlds. Since 1948, the region has been under Pakistani control, and is now part of its federally administered Northern Areas, a region yearning for recognition and political and constitutional rights. Although it had been under (titular) Tibetan, and later Ladakhi rule, the five main valleys of Baltistan i.e. Skardu, Shigar, Khaplu, Rongdu and Kharmang were more often principalities left to the rule of Maqpons, or 'dukes'. Baltis are proud of Ali Sher Khan Anchan (1590-1625) of the Maqpon dynasty as the King who unified Baltistan and briefly expanded its frontiers up to Ladakh and Western Tibet in the east, and Chitral in the west.

Isolation, the ceasefire line, and the subsequent wars between Pakistan and India (1965 & 1971) have ensured Baltistan's absorption into the Pakistani nation state. Regular Boeing 737 flights and completion of an all-weather highway connecting Baltistan to Karakorum Highway have made integration into Pakistan more of a reality both economically and politically. Out-migration by Balti men due to the regions high birth rate and small land holdings are also contributing to the integration.

Baltistan has seen some development projects in recent years, but most locals believe that these have been provided more due to the regions strategic importance than because of Islamabad's concern for the welfare of Baltis. But for the ongoing conflict with India on the Siachin Glacier, they believe there would be minimal infrastructure. It is also a fact that the presence of the Pakistan Army in Baltistan provides a major boost to the local economy, particularly in winter when trekkers and tourist are scarce. Indeed, the Army is the largest employer in Baltistan.

When the British left India, they handed control of Gilgit over to the Hindu Maharaja of Kashmir two weeks before the partitioning of the Subcontinent. The Muslim majority of Gilgit & Baltistan favoured joining Pakistan, and when it became known that Maharaja of Kashmir had declared accession to India against the agreed charter of Independence, Gilgit saw an insurrection on 1st November 1947. The Dogra Governor Brigadier Ghansara Singh was imprisoned and the Residency was burnt, and the Gilgit Scouts under the command of Captain Babar Khan and Captain Hassan Khan together with a Muslim company of the State Troops, took over the local garrison. An Independent Government was established in Gilgit under the Presidentship of Raja Shah Rais Khan, a member of a former local ruling dynasty.

The fighting was on, and the local troops, hastily enforced, continued their advance. Soon the news reached Skardu that Pakistan has become Independent and Gilgit has been liberated that the local populace became eager to force the Dogras out of Baltistan. Balti irregulars armed with matchlock rifles helped lay siege to the Dogra soldiers in the Skardu Cantonment. Others were trained as guerillas and sent ahead to capture Laddakh. Despite having little by way of rations, they fought through the winter of 1948, seizing Kargil, Dras and the strategic Zoji-la Pass. One group reached within 16 Kilometers of Leh before being called back by the Officers of Pakistan Army. Another occupied Padam in Zangskar for six months after the cease-fire of 1949, unaware that a truce had been signed between India and Pakistan under the United Nations Resolution.

Pakistan's chunk of the erstwhile Maharaja's domain which were not technically termed 'Jammu and Kashmir' include Baltistan and Gilgit. In 1949, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Government officially delegated powers to Islamabad to take control over Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral, as historically this area was always administered from Ladakh, now through the Pakistani Political Agent. Baltistan and Gilgit were then governed under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). The arrangement was remarkably similar to the one that existed in colonial times, with the local Rajas and Mirs allowed to maintain their power and continue to tax their subjects. Little had changed even after their fight for self-liberation and love for Pakistan.

The hold of Islam on Balti consciousness cannot be doubted. But there is also another identity that Baltis cling to Ñ the pre-Islamic one that looks to Tibet and Ladakh. European historians claim that the original inhabitants of Western Tibet, Ladakh and Baltistan were the so-called Aryan 'Dards', and have suggested that Bolor (the name of Gilgit and Baltistan) was once a centre of Bon 'shamanism', the indigenous religion of the High Himalaya.

Buddhism came into Baltistan with the advent of the Mons, an Indo-Aryan tribe which arrived with Buddhist missionaries in the second century. Mons today are 'low-caste musicians and carpenters in Baltistan. Later, as the Indus Valley began to feature as an important artery of the 'Silk Route', Baltistan served as the conduit for the diffusion of Mahayana Buddhism from India into Central Asia and China.

The spread of Islam in the area can be traced to Gyalbu Rinchen (or Rinchana Bhoti), a Tibetan prince who ruled Kashmir from 1319-1323, inspired by the example of a Muslim sage, Bulbul Shah, Gyalbu Rinchen embraced Islam and he changed his name to Sadaruddin. By the late 1300s, Sufi preachers had begun to arrive from Persia, ushering in the Islamic era in Kashmir and Baltistan. But despite the Islamisation of Baltistan, inter marriages between the royal families of Ladakh and Baltistan were common. Buddhist Kings took Muslim wives and raised some of their sons as Muslims. Even Baltistan's legendary Ali Sher Khan Anchan is said to have given his daughter Gul Khatoon (Aka Mindoq Gyalmo Ñ Princess Flower rGyalmo) to the Ladakhi King Jamyang Namgyal (1560-1590).

Let us preserve this rich domain of tourist paradise and mineral and glaciers wealth by sitting together sincerely, honestly and purposefully for the benefit of the Hindus and the Musalmans irrespective of any western interference or interest. The solution of the Kashmir issue should not lose sight of Siachen Glacier where Indian troops have got an illegal hold. The sub-continents of India and Pakistan will then emerge as a region full of mineral wealth, agricultural wealth, power and science and technology and rise in the comity of nations as a super power. This is no wishful thinking, this can be achieved provided we sit and talk honestly, sincerely and bereft of International political expediency. This idea is very well supported by the Government of India that the Commerce Minister of Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in his press conference on a brief stop over at London while returning from Jamaica said that Asian countries should move fast to have their own Asian single Currency on the same pattern of Euro Currency, which view is also reflected in the Pakistani leaderships urge for establishment of a strong Asian Union, as the need of the hour, we should therefore try to solve our problems ourselves instead of inviting the western powers to intervene in our problems and dictate to us. Than Asia will emerge as a Continent superior to the other Continents.