NEW DELHI: The time had come 19 Stop pretending that a dispute Over Kashmir did not exist, Dr.Karan Singh said here Nov.7. A realistic approach was called for if India was not to get into greater difficulties at the international level and reach a stage where it could not deliver results on Kashmir.

That there did exist a dispute was self-evident in the Shimla agreement which spoke of the need for India and Pakistan to go in for its ‘final settlement’ by peaceful means, he told this correspondent after returning from Srinagar where he went up to the Dargah Hazratbal with his wife.

“I gave the first opening to the Prime Minister on Kashmir at the National Integration Council meeting. I gave the second opening when I went to Hazratbal in Srinagar, have set the ball rolling in a frozen situation. If they cannot derive benefit out of my unexpected appearance in Srinagar on my personal initiative. I cannot help it. I cannot play alone hand,” Dr.Karan Singh said.

He said he could have negotiated with the Hurriyat conference and others 4 solutions to break the deadlock at Hazratbal. But he did not have that kind of backing from the Center which seemed to be adopting an ostrich like attitude and behaving as if there was no problem in the Valley; it had also to be kept in mind that Pakistan might also be looking for a way out as the USA might have put pressure on Islamabad also. There was no need to be obsessed by what a junior functionary of the Clinton administration might have said about the instrument of accession.

“Lam not spelling out any solution. What I am saying is start the processes 10 restore peace and normalcy. India and Pakistan must begin talks under the Shimla agreement. Besides, let us talk among ourselves, with the people of Kashmir, with the new leadership that has emerged there,” Dr.Karan Singh said.

Also asserting that there was no such thing as a State of Kashmir, he said that the internal dialogue must embrace the people of Jammu, Ladakh, Gilgit, Baltistan, Mirpur and Muzaffarabad.

But unless New Delhi adopted a ‘synoptic view,” things would go back to square one, he cautioned. The Hazratbal crisis was a delicate issue. But even if it was resolved, it did not mean the problem of Kashmir would be resolved.

It was a matter of regret that Jawahar jal Nehru had internationalized the Kashmir issue in 1947 by going to the UN and that P.V.Narasimha Rao had internationalized it again by laying a siege to the shrine, the standoff having entered its fourth week.

The first change required is that Delhi should get its act together, Rajesh Pilot, $.B.Chavan and the Governor talk of different things and create confusion, If they cannot coordinate among themselves what else are they going to coordinate? Dr.Karan Singh asked.

He disagreed with the Indian administration view that it was a low cost War in Kashmir and said this reelected sense of unreality. It was not so for the Kashmin people who were subjected to violence and misery. It was a high cost being paid in terms of human life and suffering, in terms of funds and ‘in terms of India’s moral prestige and international stature.

 

Picking up the latest issue of The Time magazine, he drew attention to the headline on the cover, Kashmir Asia’s worst flash point.”

Stating that it’ was apolitical problem which needed a political solution, he disagreed with the idea of sending in more troops into. The Valley. “The ground situation is totally unacceptable to any decent and democratic Indian. It is not a problem only of Kashmiris but of ail Indians,” he said.

One could fight a holding operation against the militants; certainly the militants could not get the better of the Indian troops and throw out the government by force. “But what do you do after you’ve said hello?” he asked, playing on the title of a book. There was not a single elected representative in the State from a sarpanch to an MP, and yet claims of democracy were made.

“Something has to be done, [tis a very severe and complex problem, requiring deep thinking,” Dr. Karan Singh said as he got up to leave and proceed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to inquire about the health of Wajahat Habibullah.

Article extracted from this publication >>  November 12, 1993