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| What if not terrorists? | | | | Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari may have landed himself in hot waters back home but his admission that militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir are terrorists has broken down a jinx of two decades. His statement comes in a sharp contrast to his predecessors. In reply to such a question the outgoing President Pervez Musharraf would have described them as freedom fighters. Analysts believe had Benazir Bhutto been alive she may have called them our boys struggling in Jammu and Kashmir. While Zardari’s statement marks a departure from the long held well established policy of Pakistan, it also substantiates Indian stand that what all is happening in Kashmir is far from being a movement for rights or whatever of the kind. Zardari told Wall Street Journal in an interview that India is not a threat to Pakistan and militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir are terrorists. He also said that Pakistan does not have any objecting in Indo-US nuclear deal and that Islamabad should do trade with New Delhi to survive in the fast changing competitive world. Cutting across all party lines, Zardari’s statement has been widely welcomed in India except in Kashmir. Two main political parties of the country –the Congress and the BJP –have hailed the statement and described it reaslisation of the ground realities. In Kashmir there has been a strong of reaction to the state. From the mainstream parties, the Peoples Democratic Party has condemned with strongest possible words. Though most of the separatists are under house arrest since yesterday those who could be reached to by the media taken strong exception to Zadari’s understanding of Kashmir. In Pakistan, all parties are ready to dig his grave. Such reaction was but natural as parties and persons had to respond in such a manner. But what Zardari has pointed is key to India-Pakistan cooperation and the fight against terrorism, of which both are victims. Zardari has done a great deal of justice to truth by his statement. There has always been an element of wide conflict on understanding of militancy and terrorism. Different people have different perceptions but calling militants those people who unleash a reign of terror is not a correct definition by any means. Reacting to Zardari’s statement, a senior Hurriyat leader was heard saying on television channel that terrorism has no role in Kashmir and there is no issue which can not be resolved by dialogue. This is what all saner people have been suggesting for years that gun –which unleashes terror –has no role and can never resolve any issue which otherwise can not be resolved through dialogue. And certainly there is no such issue which cant be resolved through dialogue. If the Hurriyat leader’s reaction to Zardari’s statement was from the heart, the conglomerate should openly denounce the use of gun and describe all those as terrorists who kill innocent people and unleash terrorism. Time has come when voices of sanity unite to identity and condemn and elements of terror, in whatever form it comes, and work towards creating an atmosphere of peace and brotherhood. |
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