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| 12 October 2004 | Tuesday | 26 Shaban 1425 |
Kashmiris sceptical about peace talks
ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: The tentative impression one gets from the reports of some of the journalists who recently visited the Indian-occupied part of the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir is that it is time the Kashmiris' participation in the ongoing Indo-Pakistan peace process is taken more seriously
by Pakistan by involving Kashmiri political representatives in Islamabad's efforts to evolve likely "options" for the resolution of the Kashmir issue.
A cursory glance at some of the reports of Pakistani journalists from Srinagar shows that a deep and intense emotional state of dissatisfaction and concern is growing in the minds of Kashmiri political leaders about the current Pakistan-India composite dialogue. They obviously wish to be taken into confidence.
Some of these reports about the Pakistani journalists' meeting with a leader of one of the mainstream Kashmiri leaders suggested that he harboured strong suspicions against Pakistan as if Islamabad wished to keep the Kashmiri leadership in India-held Kashmir (IHK) isolated and in the dark while negotiating on with India.
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Liberation Front's Yasin Malik, according to a report in an English daily, displayed unexpected hostility towards the journalists and even questioned their credibility.
"You have come with a brief from Pakistan which is hurting our sentiments. You are being feted by members of the (Srinagar) government with the so called 'healing touch' and what we are seeing is Punjabi state craft at work here", Mr Malik reportedly asserted in his encounter with the Pakistani journalists.
At the end of his violent outburst, later by way of apology, Mr Malik told one of the journalists: "Please do not mind what we said. You know we are in a conflict zone and the people (in J&K) do not have very good mental health and we are highly charged." This was possibly the result of a state of mental and emotional agony through which the Kashmiri people are passing.
It is evident form the pass reports that similar anger, hostility, despondency and sense of isolation, deprivation and disappointment were noticeable in the talks the Pakistani journalists had with leaders of various other political parties.
They seemed to suggest that Pakistan had abandoned its historic Kashmir policy and was changing its position for its own reasons, compulsions and objectives in a bilateral dialogue with India.
They apparently seemed to have disregarded the fact that Islamabad continued to insist placing Kashmir on the top of its agenda while interacting with India. But keeping in view the trauma of the Kashmir people due to the long period of cruel subjugation under India since independence, such outbursts and suspicions must be expected.
However, in the prevailing situation, one might suggest that both New Delhi and Islamabad would do better if they invited people of the divided state of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly its political and public representatives, academicians and political analysts, to sit down around a table together exclusively and ponder what route and means they would recommend for the promotion of a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute, since the Kashmir question is basically theirs.
They could perhaps come up with a formula and present it to the leaders of Pakistan and India to facilitate the peace process, which in any event must continue.
The journalists are due back now, and one would like that newspaper readers here get a more detailed and comprehensive account of their observations in IHK and draw conclusions about what looks like from the tentative reports a pretty disturbing situation from Islamabad's point of view.
It is hoped that there will be wide and in-depth newspaper reports available in the days and weeks ahead after the journalists return from the Kashmir visit. It is hoped that the foreign office and other government departments and agencies would give due weight to the writings of these journalists. This was a rare and first opportunity for them to make a study tour of the IHK and assess the political situation there.
Needless to say that media persons flown the two countries should undertake more such visits to gauge the dimensions of the problem which has been at the root of the 56-year old feud and three devastating wars between the world's two poor but nuclear powers.
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