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| Trifurcation of J&K the only durable solution, says APHC leader Bhat | | Acceptable With A Condition -- II | | RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, May 26: The former APHC chairman, Abdul Ghani Bhat, is absolutely right when he says that trifurcation of the state is the only honourable and durable solution to the “Kashmir problem.” He also hits the nail on the head when he says that the people of Jammu province and the Ladakhis are not part of the ongoing separatist movement in Kashmir and that they are part of the national mainstream. He also doesn’t mince words when he says that it is for the United Nations to implement or not to implement its resolutions on Kashmir and that the UN resolutions could not be implemented without the concurrence of India and Pakistan. Besides, he does make a point when he says that it would be suicidal to ignore the realities in the state and insist on a solution that is not acceptable to Jammu and Ladakh. He, in addition, deserves appreciation when he says that the trifurcation of the state has to be on regional basis and that it would be dangerous to divide the state on religious lines.
What Bhat said needs to be endorsed and the state be trifurcated forthwith. For, in the trifurcation lies a lasing solution to the Kashmir issue. Trifurcation will limit the area of contention and strife to the small Valley and enable the people of Jammu and Ladakh to seek their empowerment under the Indian Constitution. Not only this, trifurcation will harmonize inter-regional relations and enable New Delhi to hold parleys with Kashmiri leaders of all shades of opinion, including those representing the displaced Kashmiri Hindus, to find what could satisfy them and their constituencies. Former President of India and the Congress veteran R Venkataraman had also suggested that trifurcation of the state could be a solution to the problem. However, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not accept the suggestion. Former Union Home Minister Inderjit Gupta, academic and commentator Bhabani Sengupta and Ram Jethmalani, who now heads the Kashmir Committee, too, had also suggested from time to time that trifurcation of the state could be a durable solution to the issues afflicting the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
Now that the former APHC chairman has also expressed similar views, it is time for the policy planners in New Delhi to sit down and work out a strategy designed to de-link Jammu and Ladakh from Kashmir and engage with Kashmiri leaders of all hues. Bhat has shown the path and it is appropriate time for the authorities in New Delhi to tread it. Bhat has rightly said that Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh are three distinct geo-political entities and these should be treated as such.
However, to say all this is not to suggest that whatever Bhat has suggested is acceptable. For example, no one can accept his suggestion that Kashmir be declared as a free economic zone and it should be converted into Switzerland of India and Pakistan. For, to accept his suggestion would mean another partition of India on purely religious grounds. It would also mean widespread disturbances, coupled with bloodshed. Similarly, no one can accept his suggestion that the Musharraf’s four-point formula should be accepted if the authorities in New Delhi refuse to trifurcate the state. For, acceptance of the Musharraf formula would automatically mean joint control of India and Pakistan over the Indian Jammu and Kashmir. In other words, it would mean the rise of a situation under which Islamabad would share sovereignty with New Delhi in the Indian Jammu and Kashmir. This is utterly unacceptable. How could New Delhi share sovereignty with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir? Jammu and Kashmir is neither Trieste nor Aaland Islands. Nor is Jammu and Kashmir Ireland. Besides, no one would ever accept the suggestion of Bhat that “the Valley has a unique identity, history and culture and its people are having a collective political personality, which in no way identifies itself with neither India nor Pakistan.” Kashmir has been part of the Indian civilization since ages and it is a fact of history.
The moral of the story is that there should be trifurcation of the state and it should be coupled with an unambiguous condition that Kashmir shall ever remain part of the democratic and liberal India. (Concluded)
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