The purpose of this research article is to investigate the
key issues, problems and the new change in Kashmir issue. Kashmir issue plays
the role of disturbance in the sub continent. If this conflict resolved it can
improve and promotes the economic, social, political and cultural life of the
Pakistan and Indian nations. Until now the role of Kashmir conflict in Pakistan
has been simply drastic.
Contents
Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4
Regions of Jammu and Kashmir....................................................................................................................................... 6
Unsecure the south Asian................................................................................................................................................... 6
Enhancing peace building
capacity................................................................................................................................ 6
Why is Kashmir disputed?................................................................................................................................................. 6
What should be our aim?.................................................................................................................................................... 7
The difference we make...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Can
Kashmir dispute resolved?....................................................................................................................................... 8
SRINAGAR, (SANA):.............................................................................................................................................................. 9
General view in Pakistan.................................................................................................................................................. 11
THE KASHMIR CONFLICT
The conflict in and around the disputed regions of
Jammu and Kashmir has its roots in independence in 1947, when British India was
divided between India and Pakistan. Outbreaks of war occurred between the two
countries in 1947, 1965 and 1971. A militant insurgency, which displayed
increased levels of violence from 1989, has led to tens of thousands of deaths.
In the context of ongoing insecurity in Afghanistan,
and with both India and Pakistan possessing nuclear weapons, the persistence of
instability in Kashmir poses a real threat to regional security in South Asia.
Conciliation Resources supports civil society to
play a more dynamic and proactive role in peace building in the region. Our
goal is to enhance the prospects for a non-violent and just transformation of
the conflict over the disputed territories of Jammu and Kashmir.
There are few avenues for the diverse population of
Jammu and Kashmiri to be included in peace building processes. We believe that
greater participation by the people of Jammu and Kashmir will create a more
productive India-Pakistan peace process to resolve the Kashmir conflict,
recognizing that in order to achieve any sustainable settlement it must be
acceptable to all sides.
Conciliation Resources promotes ownership of and
participation by Kashmir is in the India–Pakistan peace process. We work in all
of the regions of the disputed area including Pakistan-administered Jammu and
Kashmir and Gilgit - Baltistan, and in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
We also work with the Diasporas.
The territory of Kashmir was hotly contested even
before India and Pakistan won their independence from Britain in August 1947.
Under the partition plan provided by the Indian
Independence Act of 1947, Kashmir was free to accede to India or Pakistan.
The Maharaja, Hari Singh, wanted to stay independent
but eventually decided to accede to India, signing over key powers to the
Indian government - in return for military aid and a promised referendum.
Since then, the territory has been the flashpoint
for two of the three India-Pakistan wars: the first in 1947-8, the second in
1965.
In 1999, India fought a brief but bitter conflict
with Pakistani-backed forces that had infiltrated Indian-controlled territory
in the Kargil area.
In addition to the rival claims of Delhi and
Islamabad to the territory, there has been a growing and often violent
separatist movement against Indian rule in Kashmir since 1989.
What should be our aim?
Our aim is to develop the peace building capacities
of people on both sides of the Line of Control and contribute to informal peace
building processes, by facilitating shared analysis, dialogue and practical
engagement at regional and cross-Line of control levels.
We work to:
• Strengthen
confidence across the Line of control particularly in the realms of trade and
higher education
• Increase
the peace building skills and influence of a number of NGOs
• Increase
the engagement of women and youth in peace building
The difference we make
Using our experience of peace building from other
conflict contexts, and our knowledge of the conflict over Jammu and Kashmir, we
are able to work with partners to strengthen their organizational capacities.
Critically we have been able to play a bridging role in facilitating
connections across the Line of control that otherwise are difficult to initiate
and sustain.
Over the past two years
we have brought members of civil society from across the Line of control
together on a number of occasions and in addition over 400 people have taken
part in conflict transformation workshops within their own societies. Through
building relationships, facilitating workshops and supporting research, we are
also able to investigate previously under-explored areas that hold potential
for peace building such as cross- Line of control trade and education.
In the years prior to the Mumbai (Bombay) attacks of
November 2008 - in which gunmen killed 165 people - relations between India and
Pakistan saw a big thaw.
The Mumbai attacks were blamed by India on militants
based in Pakistan and led India to suspend further negotiations until February
2010, when the first formal discussions between the two countries since the
attacks were held in Delhi.
Before those attacks the two countries agreed on
several Kashmir-specific confidence building measures. A bus service between
the two parts of Kashmir was resumed in 2005.
In October 2008 an old trade road was reopened after
60 years across the Line of Control that divides Indian and
Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Earlier in the same month a rail service was
introduced.
The two governments have huge international backing
to continue the peace process and make their negotiations succeed.
An end to the violence and uncertainty in Kashmir
would also be widely welcomed in India and Pakistan - and not only by those
weary of the fighting or those who see it as a hindrance to the economic
development of the South Asia region.
However, a diplomatic solution has escaped both
sides for more than 60 years, and there are no signs of any new proposals yet.
Furthermore,
both governments face powerful hard line groups within their own countries who
will be carefully monitoring the talks to make sure concessions they deem to be
unacceptable are not offered to the other side. The senior-most
Cabinet Minister in Jammu and Kashmir government, Abdul Rahim Rather, has
lauded the efforts of Conciliation Resources in bringing out a publication on
Cross-Line of Control Trade, which is a key confidence building measure in the
state… [He] found the collection of highly researched discussion papers useful
and said that publication would help the policymakers in understanding various
view points from both sides of the Line of Control.
State Observer, March 2011
Global media again raises Kashmir issue
South Asian News Agency (SANA) ⋅
July 14, 2012 ⋅
SRINAGAR, (SANA):
The Kashmir issue has presently finding space in reputable global media
institutions amid peaceful situation in the Valley.
Over the past few weeks, international media
organizations like New York Times, Time Magazine, Guardian, Christian Science
Monitor, British-based Channel 4 and other well known global publications have
turned their attention towards the Kashmir conflict.
The opinion pieces and programmed on Kashmir are
touching a number of issues including mass graves, torture, disappearance, fake
encounters and other human tragedies with a common theme: “apathy of world
towards human rights abuses.”
On July 10, Channel 4 broadcast documentary –
Kashmir’s Torture Trail – highlighting the issue of unmarked graves discovered
in Kashmir a few years ago. The trailer of the documentary read: “Now from
Kashmir, more dark secrets are emerging.”
Channel 4 said it had decided to air the programmed
because the issue of Kashmir, one of the world’s oldest running but neglected
disputes, “is in danger of being overshadowed by Syria and the euro-zone debt
crisis.” On July 7, Mirza Waheed, Kashmiri born BBC editor, wrote an article
titled “India’s blood stained democracy” in the New York Times.
Waheed castigated west for being “indifferent
towards human rights issues in Kashmir.” “Had the graves been found under Col.
Muammar Qaddafi’s compound in Libya or in the rubble of Homs in Syria, there
surely would have been uproar. But when over 2,000 skeletons appear in the
conflict-ridden backyard of the world’s largest democracy, no one bats an eye.
While the West proselytizes democracy and respect
for human rights, sometimes going so far as to cheerlead cavalier military
interventions to remove repressive regimes, how can it reconcile its
humanitarianism with such brazen disregard for the right to life in Kashmir?
Have we come to accept that there are different benchmarks for justice in
democracies and autocracies? Are mass graves unearthed in democratic India
somehow less offensive?” Waheed wrote.
Two days ago, news story titled “Kashmir’s Fragile
Calm: Tensions Take Backseat to Tourism” appeared in renowned news magazine of
the world, TIME.
“Even on uneventful days, security at the local
airport is worryingly tight, and, with hundreds of thousands of Indian security
forces still stationed around the region, camouflage trucks are ubiquitous on
Stinger’s clogged streets,” writes Hong Kong based Krista Mahr who has been
reporting for TIME Asia and Time.com since 2007
On July 9, award winning British journalist, Catthy
Scott Clark penned an article titled “The Mass Graves of Kashmir”. She narrates
how “Once picture-perfect, a place of pilgrimage for backpackers and mystics of
all religions, Kashmir had become one of the most beautiful and dangerous
frontlines in the world.”
Catthy, who has co-authored book “The Meadow” begins
her write-up by Machil fake encounter and then talks of unmarked graves and
struggle of Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society patron , Parvez Imroz,
who, according to her, is “ discovering the unmarked graves and challenging
rights abuses.”
Catthy and Adrain in the book claimed that four of
the six western tourists were actually killed by “renegades” working for the
army, not militant organization Al Faran as has been believed so far.
On July 11, Christian Monitor Science (CSM), carried
a story titled “In Kashmir, old torture centers get makeover.” The write-up was
contributed by journalist Zahid Rafiq who is presently pursuing fellowship in
USA.
Even the New Delhi-based media is not lagging behind
in giving space to opinion pieces on Kashmir. Former chief of Research and
Analysis Wing (RAW) chief AS Dulat penned evocative write up on Kashmir.
A group of 18 participants from Azad Kashmir
attending the 3-day Cross- Line of control Trade Conference met Mr. N. N.
Vohra, Governor Jammu and Kashmir, at Raj Bhavan.
“Cross Line of control Tade, Regional Development:
Opportunities and Challenges” is the title of conference organized by a New
Delhi-Based NGO “Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation”. The objective of this
conference was to explore the future possibilities and opportunities of the
trade between India and Pakistan.
The general view in Pakistan is that the
normalization of relations with India is not possible without a resolution of
the core issue of Kashmir but India’s stance is that the relations can be
normalized by promoting trade and cultural ties.
As Pakistan is a member of WTO (World Trade
Organization) and granting of MFN is an automatic step by a member of WTO to
another member but Pakistan has been withholding this grant as a reaction
against the non-resolution of the Kashmir issue.
Even if you have to trade with your enemies
according to trends round the world, it should be done on mutual gains. Like
China’s trade with Taiwan, China’s Trade with India, China’s Trade with US, but
this trade is done with mutual benefits. US import cheap goods from China to
reduce its cost of living and China export its material to US to strengthen its
economy. India-China trade is also similar, India will exports its raw material
to China and Import cheap machinery from China for its Industry.
India – Pakistan Trade
In case of India-Pakistan trade, Pakistan exports to
India in 2004-2005 was US$ 288 million and US$264 million in 2010-2011 with
decline of 8% with MFN status, while India’s exports to Pakistan was US$ 547
million in 2004-2005, and US$1743 million in 2010-2011 with increase of 218%
without MFN status.
Pakistani markets will be flooded with Indian goods
resulting in the danger of much of the local industries being knocked out by
Indian Imports; this will increase unemployment and antipathy against the
initiative in Pakistan.
Pakistan can only benefit from this trade, if
Pakistani exporters are allowed to freely export their goods that are produced
or manufactured in Pakistan to India, but because of India’s restrictive import
policies Pakistan is unable to do this despite of having MFN Status from India
in 1996. According to WTO, “India is one of the highest users of anti-dumping
and frequent user of safeguard measures against imports from other countries”.
By starting trade with India and by
giving MFN Status we will not only give them access to our market but we will
also facilitate India’s access to Afghanistan and Central Asian markets through
Pakistan, thus fulfilling its dream of monopolizing the economics of South Asia
and Central Asia. So it’s at most important that government of Pakistan should
balance the trade at the time of finalizing a negative list and make sure that
trade with India and India’s MFN status will move Pakistan towards prosperity
and both countries will get mutual benefits from this trade, but measures
should also be taken to link this India-Pakistan trade and MFN status with the
resolution of core issue of Kashmir.
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