Part 5;Afghanistan has similar numbers of American and NATO forces. But in Kashmir, the number of troops is around seven hundred thousand in a small area. The concentration of troops is very high. That is what makes it difficult for Kashmiris to use nonviolence and protestsas a means to overthrow or push the government of India out of Kashmir. It’s not easy. It’s more difficult than any other place. YOU SUGGESTED one of the reasons that the international community,for want of a better term,ignores the struggle in Kashmir is that it is majority Muslim. But Bosnia is also majority Muslim. It drew a lot of attention. How do you explain the difference? ITS PROXIMITY with Europe was the reason for their involvement in Bosnia. Because it was happening in their backyard and they didn’t want to have a conflict sonear which could affect them. Kashmir they feel isfar from Europe, very far from the United States. It will not have much of an impact on them. Again, playing into this isthe image of India. Many Europeans and Americanssee India as a spiritual place. “India is incredible” as the tourist slogan goes. Another factor is that the Western governments feel an affinity with India. India is their “strategic partner.” That’s what Obama says. But Indians would tell them that they are their “natural partner,” which is one step higher than a strategic partner. They are getting closer. One ofthe reasons why America and Europe do not feel connected to Kashmir is because there are officialand corporate interests in India. The corporations are making efforts to promote India’simage as incredible India. This image is sold to the whole world, that India’s economy is doing so great. Obama recently said that India’s economyis one of the most stable. But I don’t know whether Obama and Americans know that seven thousand Indians die every day because of hunger. This is incredibleIndia. There are 160 districts of India where there is armed conflict going on. This is incredible India. There are 700,000 troops in Kashmir. This is incredible India. This sideof India is not presented to Americans or Europeans because of thecorporate and strategic interests of their governments with India. They see India as a partner in this region, as a competitor against China. They want to promote India against China. WHAT KEEPS New Delhi here with that huge military force occupying a population that doesn’twant to be occupied? Is itjust about power, or is there some urgent economic interest? THE ARGUMENT India makes every time is, howcan you live as a free country? You need India. You need support from India. But I would argue that it is India that needs Kashmir more than Kashmir needs India. India says What will happen to the Muslims ofIndia if Kashmir secedes? There is a large, 15 to 16 percent, population of India which is Muslim. So they feel threatened that they would become insecure and Hindu groups would lash back and retaliate on the Muslims in India. And then the other thing is Kashmir’s economic potential. The hydroelectric power which Kashmir produces, almost 80 percent of our electricity goes to India. And it contributes 30 to 40 percent of the electricity for all of northern India. Their growth would be directlyaffected if Kashmir were not part of India. AND KASHMIR is also the source of great rivers. WE HAVE water resources in abundance; we have many glaciers. Also, the strategic location of Kashmir is important. It isa gateway to Central Asia.This gives a territorial advantage to India vis-à-vis Pakistan. That’s the other reason why India wants to keep Kashmir. KASHMIR WAS divided between India and Pakistan at the time of partition in 1947. What do you know about what’s happening in thatpart of Kashmir occupied by Pakistan, which the Pakistanis call Azad Kashmir, Free Kashmir. WE DON’T know much about what is happeningbecause the government of India does not allow us to make calls there, so the connections are not that good. Pakistan allows them to make callshere. But what we know is the situation is not thatgood on that side also. The good thing there is that there is no state violence. There are no killings, abductions, and disappearances. But there is discontent on thePakistan-administered side. People are not happy with how Pakistanhas dealt with their rights. There is one part of the Pakistan side of Kashmir which Pakistan calls its northern areas, but is basically Gilgit-Baltistan. People did not have voting rights in thatarea until last year. I’m sure the human rights situation in Pakistan-administered Kashmir can’t be very good, because all across Pakistan it’s bad. ARE THERE elements in Kashmir that see Pakistanas a model to emulate? PEOPLE HERE do not look up to Pakistan or want tointegrate with it. People like Pakistan only because of its support, not because of what it is. There is respect for Pakistan in Kashmir because it is the only country which supports the struggle here. There is no respect for Pakistan for what it is doing to its own people. HOW DOES a resistance movement morally isolate its oppressor? IT’S VERY difficult and it’s something with which we are struggling. What we have tried to do is to highlight the contradictions of the Indian state, between what they say and what they do. We may not have succeeded to a large extent, but we’re trying nevertheless to make people here and internationally aware of the lies the Indian government propagates about Kashmir. Because what it says to us in Kashmir is that you have to be with us no matter what. We will keep you with us. The situation is “under control” is exactly what the Indian prime ministersaid recently. Internationally India saysit is willing to negotiate, it has offered talks to the people of Kashmir, but locally it says the situation is under control. They will keep on controlling our lives, they will keep on controlling our future, they will keep on controlling our present. That’s what it says to us locally here in Kashmir. Internationally they say we are ready to talk withPakistan, we are ready totalk with the Kashmiri leadership. But they are willing to talk to the people of Kashmir only totalk, because talk in itselfis the end. They do not want to negotiate. These talks are not meant for negotiations. One of the conditions from the Kashmiri side is that India must concede that Kashmir is disputed. At the moment India does not publicly say that. Instead it says loudly, clearly, and repeatedly that Kashmir is an integral part of India. They don’t really care about Kashmiris. They have been saying Kashmir is an integral part, not Kashmiris are an integral part. That’s their official line so far. I REMEMBER the first time when I came here in 1966, I was surprised when I was asked, “Did you come from India?” There is a strong sense ofKashmiri identity. WE FEEL different. There have been attempts fromIndia to integrate us violently with the Indian mainstream, and we have always refused to integrate. We like to watch Indian cinema, welike to listen to Indian music. But that’s it. No further integration is possible. It’s not only India. Even Pakistan. If Pakistan says that Kashmiris and Pakistanis are the same because of Islam, we reject that. We believe strongly in our Kashmiri identity. We areMuslims, we are proud ofbeing Muslims, but that’s not who we only are. We are Muslims, but we are also Kashmiris. And we are very careful in being clubbed with Indian identity.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 15:30:18 +0000
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