ISLAMABAD: Reiterating his demand for the ‘third option’ in Kashmir the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Amanullah Khan, said no One in the world could ignore the Kashmiris for a solution to the Problem in that state.
The third option is the demand by the JKLF for making Kashmir an independent entity, independent of both India and Pakistan. This demand is a them in the side of the Pakistan establishment, which has been calling for the end of discussions calling for giving the right of self-determination to the Kashmiris. The right, as defined in the Jan.5, 1949 resolution of the United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan, was very specific. It called for the plebiscite to decide whether the Kashmrins want to join India or Pakistan. There was no mention of complete independence. This is a demand made in recent years.
Khan, who has also always demanded the implementation of the UN resolutions, Jan.26 argued that the Jan.5, 1949 resolution was not completely acceptable since it mentioned only the options of joining either India or Pakistan. He said the earlier resolution by the same commission, passed on Aug.13, 1948, had not limited the options for the Kashmiris. it had called for an unlimited option of letting the Kashmiris decide their future. It may be mentioned that even the Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, had once floated a trial balloon, when he mentioned the third option as a possible solution to the Kashmir dispute. As expected, it led to a massive furore in Pakistan and he backtracked. Khan argued that the Kashmir issue cannot be treated purely as a bilateral dispute between India and Pakistan. The best solution, in the immediate future could be handling over the entire Kashmir to the United Nations for about 10 years and then holding a plebiscite. He insisted then the third option should be offered to the Kashmin people. “No fool on earth can deny us this. “No one can stop us from becoming a part of the solution.” He said there was a campaign on in Pakistan against the idea of the third option. He mentioned that the former prime minister, Ms.Benazir Bhutto, had recently rejected this idea. Similarly leaders in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir had also been making similar statements. He observed, according to Bhutto an independent Kashmir could not exist because of the existence of big and powerful neighbors around it. “This argument equally applies to Pakistan, which is surrounded by powerful neighbors. If Pakistan has exist, then why can’t Kashmir exist,” Khan wondered.
Referring to the British prime minister, John Major’s statement in Delhi offering to mediate between India and Pakistan, Khan said Major had been “playing with words” and there was nothing new in the British stand.
However, in the next breath he referred to a statement by the British foreign secretary, Douglas Hurd, saying that the will of the people of Kashmir should prevail. He said similar statement was made by the US president, Bill Clinton. However, except for Khan, no one seemed to be aware of these statements. It may be pointed out that on a visit to Islamabad, a couple of months ago, Hurd had repeated Britain’s three point formula for solving the Kashmir problem. This formula includes a dialogue between India and Pakistan under the Shimla accord, stoppage of arms and ammunition from going over the Pakistan side to Kashmir and India starting a political process in Kashmir.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 29, 1993
