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| India-Pakistan |
| Hurriyat's condemnation |
| 2016-01-08 |
| [DAWN] THE condemnation by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference of the Pathankot air force base attack is a welcome addition to the chorus of criticism that all right-thinking and sensible people in India, Pakistain and the disputed Kashmire region have added their voice too. Dialogue alone can resolve the Kashmire dispute and the other outstanding issues between India and Pakistain. That is a reality that the krazed killer groups are in denial of. So for peaceful means to prevail over militancy, it is important that all political forces come together to marginalise those seeking to change reality through violence. The Pathankot attack could have been a disaster, but the fallout has been manageable so far precisely because the politicianship in the region has not given in to fear. The Indian government could have tried to deflect serious domestic criticism of its response to the attack by trying to shift the blame on Pakistain. It has not. Similarly, Pakistain could have bristled at the clearly unsubstantiated allegations that were bandied about in India in the early stages of the attack; instead, at the highest levels, cooperation has been pledged. The Hurriyat's condemnation could be seen as a response to the claim by the United Jihad Council that some of its members carried out the Pathankot attack. In the complex world of intra-Kashmire politics, the fortunes of both the Hurriyat and the krazed killer groups have waxed and waned over the years. For a while, it appeared that the APHC may be in terminal decline: divided by internal rivalries and lacking charismatic leaders who could energise and mobilise the Kashmiri people. But for all its internal problems, the APHC's insistence that dialogue, especially between India and Pakistain, is the only way to find a solution to Kashmire has helped it retain its relevance, and even influence. With dialogue taking centre stage once again -- something the Pathankot attack presumably intended to change -- the Hurriyat is rightly trying to enhance the space for all pro-dialogue forces. The days of militancy in Kashmire must end -- and soon. Yet, it is India too that must consider whether its policies in Kashmire are creating more room for groups with a violent agenda -- and thereby reducing the space for elements favouring dialogue. The unrest in India-held Kashmire is not a figment of the Pak imagination nor is it a fiction created in Kashmire to justify violent agendas. In fact, the repressive military presence in India-held Kashmire and the policies of the centre that accentuate communal tensions there have created dangerous tensions that are never far from the surface. The APHC itself has been treated by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an enemy, even though Mr Modi's partner in Srinagar, the now-deceased Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was in favour of giving the APHC more space. When pro-dialogue forces are treated as the enemy, it is usually krazed killer forces that benefit. |
| Posted by:Fred |