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| J&K: US President Obama just can't be trusted | | | RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Nov 10: It is clear from the Farooq Kathwari's "Kashmir - A Way Forward" or from what the Kashmir Study Group has been advocating, particularly since January 2003 that this America-based Kashmiri separatist has been seeking an independent status for Jammu and Kashmir with the rider that his proposed "sovereign entity will be without an "international personality" (it is a cunning ploy designed to hoodwink India and international community) and that the "sovereignty of the new entity would be guaranteed by India, Pakistan and appropriate international bodies." The most notable aspect of his whole game plan is that both India and Pakistan would have equal say as far as the defence of the proposed new entity is concerned.
What Kathwari has been advocating is what has become the cornerstone of the People's Democratic Party's political programme. There is no fundamental difference between what Kathwari has been suggesting as a solution to the Kashmir issue and what the People's Democratic Party has been advocating, particularly since November 2, 2005, when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed abdicated power in favour of the Congress much against his wishes. Significantly, the five-point Kashmir solution as was advocated by former Pakistan President general Pervez Musharraf was almost similar to the one worked out by Kathwari.
It is important to note that almost all the Kashmir-based outfits, barring the one led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, had expressed themselves in favour of the Kathwari formula. Geelani rejected it on the ground that it was not consistent with the ideology on the basis of which Pakistan came into being. Equally important is the fact that a number of so-called conflict managers in India, including former Vice-Chancellor of Jammu University Amitabh Mattoo, Radha Kumar (presently one of the interlocutors), Madhu Kishwar and others of their ilk have also from time to expressed views that are similar to the ones Musharraf advocated and Kathwari and the People's Democratic Party leaders have been consistently advocating.
The truth, in short, is that Farooq Kathwari is one Kashmiri separatist in the United States who has been working day and night to influence the American opinion, creating an anti-India lobby in the US House of Representatives and Senate and cultivating mercenaries in India with a view to putting pressure on India so that the country is again partitioned on communal lines and Jammu and Kashmir become almost independent of India. It has to be conceded that he has been successful to an extent. The composition and complexion of his Kashmir Study Group, the views as expressed by mercenaries like Amitabh Mattoo and former RAW chief AS Dulat, the Musharraf formula and the People's Democratic Party's unstinted support for the same do suggest that Kathwari do indicate his success.
However, what is more significant is his close relations with the US President Barack Husein Obama. That just about six weeks ago, Obama put Kathwari as member on the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, despite the fact that the dreaded mujahideen have unleashed a "holy crusade" against the Americans in Afghanistan and on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, is a proof that Kathwari has connections at right places in Washington D. C. In other words, the appointment of Kathwari as member of the President's Advisory Commission does indicate that an insidious influence is at work to dismember India and accord legitimacy to the politics of separatism, based on religious fanaticism or the pernicious two-nation theory as being indulged in by the Kashmiri leadership.
The November 7 Mumbai statement of President Obama that "Pakistan is an enormous country"; that "Pakistan will ever remain friend and partner"; that "Pakistan is strategically important not only for the United States, but for the world"; that "India must talk to Pakistan and resolve all the contentious issues"; that "stable and prosperous Pakistan is in the interest of India" and Unstable Pakistan bad for India"; and that "the onus of stable and prosperous Pakistan is on India" should leave none in India in doubt that he is an ally and friend of Pakistan. Remember, in Mumbai, he had clearly de-linked Pakistani support to terror groups based in Pakistan; he had expressed sympathy with the victims of 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, but refused to hold Islamabad responsible for the attack despite the fact that whole world knew the Pakistan's knee deep involvement in that barbaric act that consumed hundreds of innocent lives.
People may say that a day later Obama took a different stand and asked Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attacks to justice and destroy the terrorist training camps. But the fact remains that in Mumbai he took a line that left the whole nation aghast. Remember, first reaction is always noteworthy and his first reaction was what it was and it cannot be ignored. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did talk tough during the joint press conference at the Hyderabad House on November 8 saying that India was not afraid of discussing the Kashmir issue and that terror and dialogue could not go hand-in-hand, but it was just not enough. He should have told him then and there that India would not tolerate any interference from any country in the internal affairs of the country, that India was quite capable of defending and promoting further its geo-political interests and that it was the United States that needed India more and not the vice-versa. Such an assertion would have sent a right signal across the world.
The moral of the story is that it would be suicidal to depend on Obama. India is a sovereign country. It is emerging as a global power at a rapid pace. Its economy is also growing at a rapid pace. The only thing it needs is assertion on the part of the Indian leadership. It has everything to win by following a courageous policy. China is one example and the United States another. (Concluded) |
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