The Indian sub-continent including the State of Jammu & Kashmir have almost faced the same situation for last 62 years as was faced by the countries of Europe. There have been three major wars, and we came almost close to the fourth one and that too a nuclear one sometime back. There have been many rebellions in the State of Jammu & Kashmir, and the last one is still continuing. People on all sides have seen tremendous amount of violence. Hundreds of thousands have been killed during last 62 years. Instead of moving ahead with the developed world, the sub-continent has not been even able to take care of the teeming millions living under the poverty line! It seems that at long last every one is fed up with senseless violence and is aspiring for peace. In fact, the struggle for freedom in Kashmir has also undergone a transformation and the common people are adopting peaceful and non-violent means to put forth their views. During the autocratic Dogra rule the state had introduced the concept of twin capitals. Srinagar for summer and Jammu for winter. This was for the convenience of the rulers who wanted to enjoy the salubrious climate of both the regions. However, after the end of the autocratic rule, the concept of twin capitals was continued and the movement of people which was earlier limited to Maharaja’s Durbaris was greatly expanded. The numbers of people moving increased substantially and over a period of time not only people connected with the government but others too started moving to Jammu in winter. The people of two provinces developed trade relations and economic interdependence started slowly taking shape. During last two decades not only traders and government officials came close to each other but even people from some of the rural areas in Kashmir constructed houses in different areas of Jammu city especially in newer colonies. In fact, in some colonies the majority of houses are owned by Kashmiris. The movement of the people from the valley in winter both because of climatic and political conditions to Jammu increased substantially in last decade or so. People preferred going to Jammu rather than to the areas beyond because the stay here seemed like being in a second home. The last 62 years and especially the last 20 had brought the people of the two regions quite close. This unity had been more or less sustained in spite of many inter-regional disputes. However, it received a big set back during the unfortunate events of the last year. Especially, the economic blockade of the valley created some bad blood between the two regions. However, within the Jammu region itself sub-regional problems have arisen. In spite of the worst ever scenes of last year, the economic considerations have had the upper hand! Things had improved to a great extent. But the lobby interested in creating dissensions between the regions has again become active on the question of location of the Central University.

Similarly, the people of Ladakh who were considered natives of a God forsaken place came closer to the valley as well as Jammu. This was made possible due to the opening of the forbidden land for Tourism which necessitated improved communications including air services. Thus the three regions of Jammu & Kashmir State on the Indian side have come to be interdependent economically. By and large, the majority of the population in the three regions would like to maintain the integrity of the state. The fissiparous tendencies of a separate state of Jammu and Union Territory for Leh, though continuing to simmer do not command majority support. Then we have another important ethnic minority which is out of Kashmir. These are the Kashmiri Pandits. Notwithstanding the claims of genocide, their mass migration for whatever reasons was an unfortunate and tragic event. They are now scattered all over the world. They have to be brought back to the valley with dignity and honour to complete its social, cultural, and historical existence. Valley without Kashmiri Pandits is incomplete and looks like an unfinished canvas of an artist! Their return seems uncertain unless we have a ruler like the great King, Budshah who went to great lengths including enactment of special legislation to ensure the return of the Pandits of those days who had left during the reign of his father, Sikander!

The situation is not so rosy on the other side of the divide. The Northern Areas continue to be like a colony of Islamabad. There is lot of resentment among the local people against the rulers from Pakistan. Local people are not still fully empowered even about their day to day administrative matters. The Chief Secretary, a Civil Service of Pakistan officer continues to be Chief Executive of the local Council and the locally elected person is only the Deputy Chief Executive! In fact, there is lot of sectarian violence between the Sunni Pathans who were settled in the area by the federal government and the local Shias. In the final analysis, the people of Northern Areas may not like to go out of Pakistan as they had joined it in 1947 of their own volition but they would definitely fight for a full fledged provincial status. In contrast to this, the people living in the Pakistan Administered Kashmir also called “Azad” Kashmir may prefer to join the United J & K if it gets total independence. The bulk of the population in that area is not valley centric but more akin to Jammu area. They would be more comfortable with Jammu areas of Poonch and Rajouri than with the Kashmiri speaking valley dwellers. The Kashmiri speaking population in Pakistan Administered Kashmir is a miniscule minority.

Keeping in view the divergent aspirations as well as apprehensions of the people against each other it is difficult to imagine a solution of the vexed problem of Kashmir which can carry along every one. The only scenario which may be able to keep unity in diversity is an Independent State of Jammu & Kashmir with a guarantee to all ethnic minorities for self-rule. The dispensation would have to be recognised by the UN and would have to be acceptable to not only India and Pakistan but to China also. The state will have to be completely secular and democratic. All the ethnic groups and regions will have to adjust to each other with some give and take. The state would need to have free access to all the countries in the region with ease of movement as Nepal has with India and should also be designated as an “Economic Free Zone”. Kashmir could be in the sub-continent what Dubai is in the Persian Gulf! It could be the real start for the realisation of the full potential of the countries of the SAARC. These ideas may seem far fetched, utopian, and a sort of day dream but it is the loud thinking of this type which can possibly show a way towards the final solution of the problem.

However, to concretise these ideas it is essential to allow people of different regions regardless of their ethnic background to travel and meet freely within the borders of the erstwhile princely state. It is only after people separated for over 62 years meet each other freely and exchange notes about their experiences that a consensus can develop. Confidence can build up after the trust is restored. This cannot be done by symbolic measures of a supposedly cross LOC bus taking a group of 30 odd people like “Prisoners on parole” after every fortnight or a week. The bus does not even cross the LOC in Kashmir! People have to cross the bridge on foot. Similarly, the “Blind Barter Trade” without even knowing or speaking to the actual sellers and buyers cannot replace the real trade which had been going on for centuries across the present artificial divide. One has to go beyond the diplomatic gestures made for international consumption. If the Jammu & Kashmir State has to remain united and maintain its integrity the people have to develop a stake in that unity. This stake has to develop among the common people who have been facing the brunt of upheavals during last 62 years or so. Conferences, seminars, and interactions at five star levels cannot develop the consensus and the consequent stake in the unity of the state among the common masses. It has to come up from the grass roots. The elite civil society should pave the way on both the sides for this common man’s interaction. The barriers have to be lifted like the demolition of the Berlin Wall. In the given circumstances of mistrust and suspicion, it may seem a tall order. However, given the political will on all sides it is not difficult to take such a historic step. Such momentous decisions change the history of nations and nature has its own ways of creating conducive circumstances for these revolutionary events! The rapidly developing situation in the region gives hopes that God willing, such an event may happen sooner than later notwithstanding the recent blatantly hard-line postures of some of the leaders!

(Concluded)