ISLAMABAD, Sept 9: Ved Bhasin, a prominent newspaper editor from Indian-held Kashmir, on Thursday said it was the armed struggle which made India realise that Kashmir was a dispute - a major gain for the Kashmiris.
Speaking to reporters and intellectuals at a programme organized by the South Asian Free Media Association (Safma), Mr Bhasin, who is the Editor of Kashmir Times (Jammu), said though armed struggle played a major role in the freedom movement, dialogue was the only way out to resolve the issue. He was of the view that only armed struggle could not force India to leave the valley.
Responding to questions, he said no cross-border terrorism was taking place from Pakistan and Indian allegations in this regard were "misplaced". He said the freedom movement in Kashmir was indigenous.
It is true that some foreign elements had also joined the Kashmiris in their struggle but it could not change the character of the whole struggle which had a "popular support."
Mr Bhasin said everyone knew that it was India which had supported the Mukti Bahni without which Bangladesh could not get independence. "If that was not cross-border terrorism, how can they call it a cross-border terrorism," he maintained.
He said the joint statement issued after the meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries on Wednesday was totally "disappointing" as far as the Kashmiris were concerned. He said no breakthrough had been made in the talks.
The Indian journalist said Kashmiris were the real party in the whole affair as both India and Pakistan had occupied parts of Kashmir. He regretted that Pakistan and India were treating it as a territorial dispute and not taking into account the aspirations of the Kashmiris who, according to him, wanted a right to self-determination.
He said the issue could not be resolved without including the "true representatives" of the Kashmiris in the ongoing peace process. To a question as to who were the "true representatives", he said holding of free, fair and impartial elections in Kashmir was the only way to find the true and genuine representatives. He said each time elections were "rigged" and the people of Kashmir had never been allowed to elect their true representatives.
He claimed that a majority of the people of Kashmir wanted an independent, sovereign and democratic Kashmir" as they believed that partition was no solution. He said Kashmiris had been suffering for the last many years due to Indian state terrorism.
He said Kashmiris were being ruled by "draconian laws" under which the security forces had the powers to "kill and detain" any person and they could not be prosecuted. "They are suppressing the wishes and urges of the people of Kashmir with guns," he added.
Responding to a question about the status of the UN resolutions, Mr Bhasin said there were some flaws in it but he agreed with the spirit of the resolution which called for keeping the wishes of the people of Kashmir in mind while taking steps for the resolution of the issue.
Mr Bhasin said independent Kashmir would become a bridge between India and Pakistan instead of a dividing line. Moreover, he said, this was the only way to satisfy the egos of both the countries.
In reply to another question, he said Kashmiris had generally welcomed the dialogue process between India and Pakistan as they believed that these would help reduce hostilities between the two countries.
However, he said, they got disappointed when both the countries stated that the issue should be resolved to the satisfaction of both India and Pakistan and not the Kashmiris.
He said the people of Kashmir wanted that troops should be withdrawn, bunkers removed from civilian areas and people be allowed to move freely. He said a large number of people were languishing in jails for no reason.
The Indian government, he said, itself claimed that some 600 to 700 people were behind the bars. He said a tribunal should be set up to find out the whereabouts of missing people.
To a question that how would he differentiate the Kashmir freedom movement from similar movements in other parts of India, he said the people of Kashmir should not be made hostages for the sake of Indian unity and secularism.
He said Kashmir was not constitutionally and legally a part of India and its future was yet to be decided. "Therefore, it cannot be related to any other state or province of India," he said.
