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| BJP would have allowed Pak to share sovereignty in J&K in 2004, but… | | Musharraf formula | | Early Times Report
jammu, Aug 27: The BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would have allowed Pakistan to share sovereignty with India in Jammu & Kashmir way back in 2004, but he failed because the outraged nation booted out his government in the general elections, held that year. This is what a leading Pakistani journalist Zahid Hussain suggested in his article "Kashmir issue: The story of a lost opportunity", published in the leading Pakistani paper, Dawn, on August 26.
In his lead article, Zahid wrote: "Former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, in his recently published book, reveals how the backchannel negotiations from 2004-07 helped the two sides to reach an understanding on a draft formula on the future of Kashmir. Many in the two countries believe the same framework could still provide the basis for a sustainable peace process. For sure, most of the features of the proposed peace formula are known, but perhaps not the entire framework and the details of the diplomatic efforts that went into the draft agreement. These could have changed the entire regional security paradigm. It is arguably the most authentic account of the secret negotiations to which the author was a witness. What made the secret backchannel negotiations more useful was that they allowed the two sides to revisit their respective positions away from the media glare and to explore out-of-the-box solutions for the tricky issue that had been the cause of three wars. It was the first sustained backchannel negotiations between India and Pakistan that lasted for three years despite the huge trust deficit that existed between them. More importantly, the numerous exchanges of non-papers remained strictly confidential, something that could not have been possible in official-level talks".
He further wrote: "According to Mr Kasuri, the two sides had fundamentally agreed on a four-point formula that envisaged demilitarization and joint control of the disputed territory. While avoiding the redrawing of the border, it suggested making the Line of Control irrelevant allowing Kashmiris on both sides to move freely. It was supposed to be the first step leading up to a permanent solution to the long-festering problem. Undoubtedly, it could have been a viable and acceptable proposition had the agreement been formally signed. But, unfortunately, that did not happen because of the 2007 political crisis in Pakistan and India's own internal political problems. A great historical opportunity was lost. Interestingly, that peace process, perhaps the most substantive ever to take place between the two South Asian rivals, was initiated by the very leaders who had almost led their countries to a catastrophic war just two years ago in 2002".
As for Vajpayee, Zahid, among other things, wrote: "Not to forget that it was the same Gen Musharraf who was the architect of the Kargil conflict that aborted the earlier peace initiative taken by Nawaz Sharif and Atal Behari Vajpayee. It was Vajpayee's visit to Islamabad in January 2004 for the SAARC summit conference that led to the second peace process. The impact was immediate and immense. The tour of the Indian cricket team to Pakistan after a long hiatus changed the atmosphere, opening up the borders for Indian spectators. The guns at the LoC went silent with a ceasefire agreement in place. The opening up of trade between the two Kashmirs and the inauguration of a bus service helped reunite divided families. That was also the beginning of backchannel talks. While Musharraf nominated his most trusted aide and friend Tariq Aziz, the Indian Prime Minister chose his national security adviser Brajesh Mishra as his emissary for the delicate and complicated negotiations".
Asserting that Vajpayee's successor and Sonia Gandhi's right hand man Manmohan Singh started from where his predecessor left, Zahid wrote: "Most importantly, the process continued even after the fall of the Vajpayee government and the installation of the new Congress administration led by Manmohan Singh. The new Prime Minister appointed his National Security Adviser and veteran diplomat J.N. Dixit. This continuity indicated cross-party commitment to the process".
Zahid had also much to say about the then Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf. He wrote thus: "Surely, it was Gen Musharraf who showed greater flexibility stepping back from Pakistan's long-standing demand for a plebiscite under the 1948 UN resolutions. Mr Kasuri has quoted from Musharraf's famous speech in October 2006 in which he declared: 'They say that the borders will not be drawn a second time. We say that the LoC is not acceptable as a permanent border'. He stressed on finding a middle ground 'between these two positions which will mean self-governance with a joint management system at the top for both sides and you make the LoC irrelevant'. I (Zahid) was there at the Safma conference in Islamabad in 2006 where the General made these comments in the presence of some Indian Members of Parliament. They were all surprised by his candour. Perhaps being a military leader gave him the licence which a civilian leader would not have".
What does all this show? It shows it was the BJP, and not the Congress, which thought of diluting India's age-old stand on Jammu & Kashmir. Had the alert and watchful Indian nation not voted the BJP out of power in 2004, the political status of Jammu & Kashmir today would have been totally different and Pakistan would have been exercising equal sovereign powers in the Indian State of Jammu & Kashmir with India. Significantly, the attitude of the present Modi-led dispensation towards Pakistan and Jammu & Kashmir is almost identical, but its problem is that the mood of the nation doesn't permit it do what Vajpayee wanted to do under evil international pressure. It was because of the pressure from below that the Modi government created a situation that left Pakistan with no other option but to call off the National Security Advisor-level talks, which were scheduled to be held on August 24 at New Delhi. Indeed, the BJP disappointed the nation when Vajpayee was at the helm and the general view in the country is that the Modi government is no different.
In any case, it is time for the patriotic sections of society in Jammu & Kashmir to remain watchful so that the BJP failed to play any foul with India. |
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