Some final comments on the Kashmir dispute

This is my final article on the Kashmir dispute. Links to my previous two articles are given below:

A Long Term Solution to the Kashmir dispute

Another Viewpoint on Kashmir

In this article I would like to answer to the points made by my uncle who had objected to many of my suggestions. To read my uncle’s comments please visit the second of the two links above.

The objections were:

1. Solving Kashmir will not end terror
2. There are terror attacks in countries like Europe and USA which do not have territorial disputes
3. Educated terrorists are not uncommon
4. The Indian government should attempt to force Pakistan to renounce its support for militancy using financial pressure

My response is as under

1. Yes, I agree that it is possible that terrorism will continue even if the Kashmir dispute is resolved to the satisfaction of all parties involved.
2. Regarding terror attacks in the USA and Europe I can only say that it is necessary to know the point of view of the militants. There are many excesses of capitalism and many people die as a result of action taken by recognised governments.
3. There may be educated youngsters who take to militancy but if people are educated and have a decent standard of living then it is possible that popular support for terrorists will decline.
4. The Indian government has succeeded in bringing financial pressure on Pakistan and it is producing some results. Just the other day there were newspaper reports that Hafiz Sayeed has been convicted of terror related crimes. But this is a risky strategy and may result in Pakistan being driven into the hands of China or Saudi Arabia. Pakistan may even be reduced to a colony due to financial pressures. The Indian government needs to take this risk into account.

I would like to end this article by strongly emphasizing that no matter what grievances the Muslims may have against India and other countries, they are in no way justified in taking the law into their own hands and waging wars against other nations and governments. Al through history wars have not been uncommon and there have been many disputes between nations and governments. The difference between these conflicts and what the militants are doing is that they (the militants) are not the heads of a recognised government.

Civilization may survive wars and bloodshed; it may even survive a nuclear war between recognised governments of different nations. But it cannot survive people taking the law into their own hands and waging war against established governments. If everybody starts to do that then there will be anarchy. Then civilization itself will cease to exist.

For this reason, terrorism needs to be dealt with sternly and if necessary, with an iron hand. That is not an issue. The problem is that the militancy in Kashmir has the support of the Pakistani government and also popular support on the ground in the valley. These are the complicating factors. Otherwise militancy itself is simply a law and order problem which can be left to the police to deal with.

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