WASHINGTON: A U.S, House Subcommittee has ruled out a plebiscite in Kashmir, saying that any policy based on the holding of a plebiscite throughout the entire pre partition state of Jammu and Kashmir “is doomed to fail.”
The Ackerman Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs committee, dealing with Asia and the Pacific, said the UN resolutions calling for a plebiscite in Kashmir “have been overtaken by history.”
The Simla Accord too had become out of date because it did not foresee the emergence of Kashmiris as a third party to the dispute.”
It said; “Evidence does not support the thesis that insurgency in Kashmir is first and foremost a problem caused by Pakistani meddling.”
Urging both the Government of India and the Kashmiri militants {o pursue a just and durable political solution, it however, said “prospects for a genuine political dialogue between Delhi and the Kashmiris black.” The subcommittee said it was “unaware of any comprehensive government strategy for responding to the legitimate political grievances of the Kashmir people.
It asked the Indian authorities to allow the International Committee of the Red Gross unrestricted Access to prisons at other places of detention in Jammu and Kashmir.
The subcommittee called upon the Government of India to impose civil and criminal sanctions on those responsible or human rights abuses, and to make available lists of security force members who have been punished on these lawless actions.
The subcommittee has also asked India to grant access to Amnesty International, the International Red Cross and other human rights groups.
The Ackerman Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in a report, also expressed “concern” about human rights conditions in Punjab and the nights of minorities in India.
It said in Punjab, “the military has used excess force to suppress an insurgency, Simultaneously Sikh militants are also guilty of engaging in the use of force and the subcommittee condemns such practices by all parties.
The panel urged continuation of the political process now underway in Punjab, “Only through genuine dialogue, which takes the legitimate grievances of all parties into account will true peace come to Punjab,” it said, The subcommittee called upon the Government of India as well as the Sikh militants to “observe the civil and human rights of all inhabitants of the Punjab, and ensure access to international Groups.
“The whole issue of human rights, not simply in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab but throughout India, is a source of considerable concern to the subcommittee.
“Members are especially troubled by the communal and religious strife that has plagued India since late last year. “Religious and political tolerance is absolutely essential to the preservation of democracy in India,” it said.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 18, 1993
