Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao has bracketed the Charar-e-Sharief operation with the ones at Golden Temple and Hazratbal and says that in matters like this, “we cannot be successful every time.” Much propaganda has poured forth from Delhi on the alleged Pak interference in Kashmir, Governments in the west have tended to buy this line of Indian: propaganda, and the U.K. officials have actually lent cautious support to Delhi, But the ground reality may, not tally with India’s claims, There has been no qualitative change I am involvement in Kashmir in the of thousands of Muslims in Pakistan and its part of Kashmir who share the Kashmiri’s agony and are willing to lend a helping hand to their brethren in the valley. This international brotherhood is inspired by Islam. It does not necessarily drag. Pakistan as a state beyond a point Sentimental commonality among the people of Kashmir and even Pakistan on the one hand and those ‘of Indian Kashmir on the other is a reality, Similar phenomenon exists among the Sikhs living in the USA, Canada and other countries, vis-à-vis the struggling people of Punjab. This does not mean much in hard, military terms, But the Indian propaganda machine has conveyed a grave threat perception to the world to justify its military adventure in Charar-e-Shrief.

The real Indian game plan is aimed at bringing about an electoral polarization in Kashmir as Delhi is preparing to hold some sort of elections in the state in response to international pressure. It is well known that an overwhelming majority of the people of Kashmir have contempt for India and its elections. These people mostly are Muslims who live in the valley. There is a small Hindu population in areas like Jammu. Most of the Hindus are politically close to the BYP rather than the Congress (I). The Charar-e-Shrief operation’s real thrust was to appease the Jammu Hindus and win them over from the BJP fold. In Indian political configuration, the state’s hard plows at Muslims, Sikhs or other non-Hindu religious groups help the ruling party immensely in covering the Hindu votes. Focusing ‘on Pakistan, a Muslim state, as India’s enemy serves to ice the Hindu cake.

Thus while the Charar-e-Sharief operation represented India’s continuing aggressive policies against non-Hindu religious political groupings, its immediate aim was to provoke Kashmiri Muslims into boycotting, the proposed election on the one hand and to mobilize the Jammu Hindu to vote in favor of a minority Congress a government in Kashmir on the Punjab pattern, on the other. It remains to be seen whether the people of Kashmir will allow Delhi a force hand by boycotting the election. India, on its part, has already surveyed the international political markets about the likely impact of a low poll turnout in the scenario of the Kashmiri boycott. Indian authorities seem to feel that the poll boycott by Kashmiris will do it no harm internationally.

The Kashmir problem has been sufficient internationalized. The Indian propaganda line, which sells like hot cakes in the west, is that it is a democratic country trying to revive democracy in Kashmir while antidemocratic forces like Pakistan and its support base in Kashmir are comprised of “militants” who are opposed to democracy, In these circumstances, contesting elections and forming a government is in the best interests of the people of Kashmir. The world does not go by the limitations such a government will be subjected to. It is more concerned about the representative character in Kashmiri, be it the Indian state or the Kashmiri freedom movement.

‘The developments of the past week once again expose the fascist character of the Indian state which embarks on a military aggression against Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and other groups as a part of the, political tussle between the two main contending parties for bigger slice of the Hindu cake, This happened in Amritsar and the result was that the Congress (I) swept the 1985 parliamentary elections with an unprecedented majority. On the eye of the elections in Haryana, Rajiv Gandhi ordered the killings of a few hundred Muslims of Malleana in U.P. to appease the Hindu voter. This criminal racket is now a routine affair in India on the eve of each election. The distinction of Ayodhya based Babri Masjid evidently was a BJP Congress(I) joint venture but, in reality, it was Narasimha Rao’s Long term plan to establish his credibility as a fundamentalist Hindu, more fundamentalist than the BJP. The process continues at Charar-e-Sharief with diversified aims and objectives.

It is amazing that even the most informed sections of the public opinion in the USA and other western countries are reluctant to criticize the India state’s brazen use of military force to destroy the historic centers of religion and culture of Muslims, Sikhs and other political groups. It is an obligation cast on countries like the USA by the U.N, Declaration that the Indian aggression against Muslims and Sikhs and their religion and culture is stopped.

Article extracted from this publication >> May 19, 1995