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| Omar calls the Pakistani bluff, overrules plebiscite | | Resolving J&K | | Rustam
JAMMU, Nov 9: NC leader and J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, who has been working overtime to prepare ground for the revocation of the AFSPA from certain areas in the state and questioned the state's accession a number of times saying "Kashmir is a political problem that needs to be tackled politically", has called the Pakistani bluff and overruled the possibility of plebiscite in the state. He called the Pakistani bluff and rejected out-of-hand Islamabad's demand seeking plebiscite in the state in an interview to Newsweek Pakistan's Shehrbano Taseer.
Reflecting on the Pakistani insistence on plebiscite or right to self-determination, Omar Abdullah said, "it's all very well to demand a plebiscite while conveniently forgetting that it has not made it easy for that to be the case. It was Pakistan that invaded Kashmir in 1947 and then refused to vacate the territories. Pakistan has done nothing to retain the character of the parts of Jammu and Kashmir that it controls. It's taken out the Northern Areas (read Gilgit-Baltistan region) and made them a part of a centrally-controlled territory and then gifted parts of Jammu and Kashmir to China. Unless Pakistan is willing to admit its own failings, it's not fair to demand action from our side".
What Omar Abdullah told Newsweek was a stark reality. It's true that Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had dumb-founded the nation by committing on his own a plebiscite in the state to ascertain the people's views (read views of Kashmiri Muslims) on Maharaja Hari Singh's lawful decision on the state's accession to India. It's also true the United Nations had also talked of right to self-determination in response to the Indian complaint overlooking the rules governing accession of the princely states to India and Pakistan. But it's equally true that it was for Pakistan to create conditions conducive for organizing plebiscite in the state as it existed on August 15, 1947 --- conditions Omar Abdullah reflected on. The United Nations resolutions had clearly told Pakistan to vacate the aggression and allow the Indian troops to reoccupy the areas and maintain law and order there. The UN resolutions had nowhere suggested province-wise or district-wise plebiscite. They had suggested a plebiscite in the entire state, an exercise which would be undertaken after Pakistan fulfilled all the conditions, including the vacation of the aggression and re-occupation of the occupied areas by the Indian troops.
It's a different story that Islamabad, which considers Jammu and Kashmir an unfinished agenda of the partition, continues to put forth a demand which just cannot be conceded. It's New Delhi's failure. New Delhi has seldom taken on Islamabad. On the contrary, it has been found yielding and kneeling, thus creating serious doubts in the minds of the people of the country about its intentions.
New Delhi did adopt a resolution in 1994 on the Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan creating an impression that it would take on Islamabad and reintegrate the occupied areas into India, but it has never taken any action on the national resolve. It would not be an exaggeration if someone says that New Delhi has forgotten the 1994 resolution and that the authorities in New Delhi are toying with the idea of pleasing Pakistan and its agents in Kashmir by diluting its sovereign authority in the state. It's Pakistan that sets the agenda. New Delhi only reacts and that, too, under public pressure. This is not the way the aggressors are dealt with.
To say all this is not to suggest that there should be no talks with Pakistan. There is no harm in talking to Islamabad, but there is no place for unilateral concessions. Pakistan interprets these concessions as signs of our weakness. In other words, the policy of unilateral concessions has only proved counterproductive. Besides, continually announcing concessions unilaterally indicates a confused policy with regard to Islamabad. Those in New Delhi who expect Islamabad to dismantle or shutdown the 40-odd terrorist training camps, located in POJK and Pakistan, are living in a fool's paradise. Pakistan would not shutdown the training camps. Nor would it stop training jihadis against and exporting terror to India. They should recognize these realities and refashion their policy accordingly. Equally important it is to note that there are elements in the Pakistani civil and military establishments, especially in the military establishment, who do not really want to resolve the so-called Kashmir issue. They see in the resolution of the Kashmir issue their own downfall and destruction. These are some of other realities which also need to be appreciated by the Indian Foreign Office. It should not only call the Pakistani bluff as Omar Abdullah did but also tell Islamabad in clear terms that New Delhi would not tolerate any interference in the internal affairs of the country and that the only issue that still remains to be resolved between the two countries is the political future of the occupied areas. It has everything to gain by pursuing a pro-active policy towards Pakistan, as India's position vis-a-vis Pakistan is very strong. Pakistan is an aggressor and India aggressed upon. |
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