WILL  THERE  BE  A  SOLUTION  FOR  KASHMIR  PROBLEM ?

Part of Kashmir is in the Indian territory and the remaining part of Kashmir  is under the governance of Government of Pakistan. 

There have been unending controversies and arguments on whether entire Kashmir should belong to India or Pakistan. Both the countries have fought wars and there have been no solution so far for this vexed issue. Given the complexities  and the tough and inflexible stand taken by India and Pakistan , one cannot be sure as to whether any amicable solution can be reached at all, that would satisfy India and Pakistan and people of Kashmir in the foreseeable future.

After the recent “successful” visit of the Pakistan Prime Minister to meet the US President, President Trump has thought it fit to say in public that Indian Prime Minister Modi has requested   him to mediate in the Kashmir dispute. India immediately denied that such request has been made. After a few days, President Trump , in his characteristic style ,modified his statement saying that he would  mediate if both the countries would request him to do so. Again, India clearly said that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan, which it has said several times in the past ,that  no external mediation would be acceptable to India.

Now, the question remains as to where the Kashmir issue stands today.

Meanwhile, in the last few days, Government of India has suspended the pilgrimage of people for Amarnath and  said that there is threat of terrorist attack on the Amarnath pilgrims and said that the cancellation of the pilgrimage is necessary for security reasons. India has accused Pakistan and the terrorists of posing threat to the Amarnath pilgrims.

This decision of Government of India has been  widely welcomed in India,  as most Indian citizens think that Pakistan government , military and ISI hands are hands in  glove with the terrorists to create unrest by violence in Kashmir region under India’s governance.

However, what surprised most people in India and abroad are the move of the Government fo India to put the Indian military and airforce on high alert and send thousands of troops to Kashmir valley as precautionary security arrangement.

Indian media, which is known for making unverified claims and spreading rumours , has said  without any basis that Modi government proposes to abolish Article 35A which provides special status for Kashmir .  It is said that the objective of the determined  and strong Modi government is to integrate Kashmir with the rest of India by withdrawing special status  for Kashmir.

Article 35A for Kashmir covers several regulations such as  that  no other citizen of India other than permanent resident of Kashmir  can own property in Jammu and Kashmir  or get a state job. Such special status for Kashmir has certainly prevented emotional integration of Kashmir residents with citizens in the rest of India, causing lack of interaction and contacts in various ways.

It appears that Modi government thinks that emotional integration of residents of Kashmir with rest of India is necessary to stop the unrest in Kashmir that are  encouraged by the terrorists and separatists, who are suspected to be receiving military and financial support from the Pakistan army.

Overwhelming Indian population seem to approve the strategy of Modi government to promote emotional integration of residents of Kashmir with India and want  that Article 35A should be abolished. However, there is no way that the views of the residents of Kashmir on the matter can be ascertained by a careful survey in the present surcharged atmosphere in Kashmir. However,  the overwhelming participation of residents of Kashmir in the recent assembly and municipal election point to the fact that Kashmir residents would prefer integration with India in all respects. Except two or three  districts in Kashmir where the militants hold sway and are creating fear of attack among the voters , the participation of residents in the polls have been  impressive.

Abolition of Article 35A would be a decisive move by Modi government with far reaching implications. Of course, the terrorists, the separatists and Pakistan military would oppose such move by launching vigorous adverse campaign and violent methods. Modi government   know this and that is, perhaps ,why the military and air force have been put on high alert and massive additional troops were deployed in Kashmir during the last few days.

Many Indians believe that if the strong Modi government would not be able to abolish Article 35A successfully in Kashmir, it is highly doubtful whether any other government can  do so in the foreseeable future.

While there is a strong Prime Minister in India in Mr. Modi, the present Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan is facing several difficult and uncertain conditions and many observers doubt whether he is in full control of the government of Pakistan. Many observers also believe that Pakistan military generals, ISI and several terrorist groups in Pakistan are overseeing the Imran Khan government and he is not in a position to take independent decisions to find solutions for Kashmir issue.

Pakistan is in dire straits on the economic front with huge debt accumulated and China having successfully gained sort of control over Pakistan government by making  huge investments in Pakistan in several infrastructure projects including port and roadways and mines and getting strategic control over them. Pakistan Prime Minister is certainly not in a position to defy Chinese government in any manner and at the same time, he desperately needs  grants, aids and loans to overcome the impending economic  collapse in Pakistan. China is unwilling to extend unconditional loans and USA is putting several conditions and IMF is also not very helpful in viewing Pakistan’s problems.

Several utterances of Prime Minister Imran Khan in recent time give an indication that he would prefer an amicable solution to the Kashmir issue, as Pakistan cannot anymore afford the military adventures in Kashmir but it seems he is not in a position to act decisively.

Perhaps, Modi government can facilitate solution to the Kashmir problem by promoting emotional integration of Kashmir residents with India  and perhaps, ultimately recognising the ground reality and agreeing that the present Kashmir territory under the control of Pakistan would stay with Pakistan and the territory under the control of India would stay with India.

However, Pakistan faces some problems in agreeing for such solution, as it has “gifted away” part of the occupied Kashmir to China and it does not have the resources or the conducive atmosphere to promote emotional integration of the residents of Pakistan occupied Kashmir with the rest of Pakistan. Further, military generals and terrorist groups are other stumbling blocks.

While  Indian Prime Minister Modi has the strength and courage of conviction to implement his plans in Kashmir, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan does not enjoy such advantages.

While Mr. Modi may  succeed in the emotional integration of residents of Kashmir with India and in suppressing the terrorists and separatists in Kashmir by force or otherwise, it appears that Pakistan side of the Kashmir problem will still  linger on for quite  long time for India.

At this stage, it  appears to be  impossible to reasonably conclude about the end of the road..

Election campaign without money power and muscle power

N.S.Venkataraman,Candidate for South Chennai Parliamentary Constituency,
M 60/1, 4th Cross Street,
Besant Nagar,
Chennai-600090
Tel:- 24916037
Email:- nsvenkat@md4.vsnl.net.in,

MY ELECTION CAMPAIGN WITHOUT MONEY POWER AND MUSCLE POWER

I am the candidate for South Chennai Parliamentary Constituency nominated by Desia Padhukaappu Kazhagam. I am a Chemical Engineer and Trustee of Nandini Voice for The Deprived, a Chennai based NGO.I carried out the election campaign without money power and muscle power and with great dignity , scrupulously adhering to the guidelines provided by the Election Commission of India. My theme of campaign was to restore probity in public life and Gandhian standards in the national agenda.Whatever may be the outcome of the election, I am happy that the Gandhian principles was effectively highlighted in my election campaign as the need of the day and to my knowledge no other political party or candidate has done this anywhere in India.Apart from others, a number of differently abled persons and visually impaired persons belonging to lower income group campaigned for me without expecting any rewards and this is a highly satisfying aspect of my campaign.At the outset, I desire to congratulate the Election Commission and the police for the exemplary manner in which they conducted themselves in organising this election under extremely tough conditions. I have absolutely no complaints and my respect for police and Election Commission have gone up several folds after completion of the campaign. May I describe my experience below in the campaign.I was allotted the election symbol only on 27th April and I could effectively start the campaign only on 29th April, with the handbills printed with election symbol.. Therefore, the candidates of small parties like me and independents were left with hardly thirteen days for effective election campaign.The Election Commission banned campaign through SMS which effectively prevented the low cost election campaign method to reach individual voters. I do not understand the logic of banning SMS message during the election campaign, The Election Commission could have exempted the cost towards SMS message in the election expense statement of the candidates. While several candidates and political parties did send SMS message in defiance of the directive of the Election Commission, I did not do so and might have lost some advantages due to my strict adherence to the directives of the Election Commission in this regard.Door to door campaign became extremely difficult for any candidate , since general public , particularly the middle and the upper income group, appear to be averse to receive the campaigners at their door step , which may be due to security reasons or the image associated with an average politician in the country today.The kalyana mandapams and several other meeting halls refused to provide the premises for election campaign for political parties , possibly due to the fear of any unpleasant happenings. Election Commission also issued some sort of directives to kalyana mandapams not to allow the premises to hold political meetings . This effectively prevented space for holding campaign meetings where some sort of interactive discussions could take place .Several housing complexes refused to allow small campaign meetings in their premises and insisted that the handbills should be delivered only at the gate , possibly due to the poor image of the politicians and political parties.There is no space to hold public meetings in many places due to traffic congestion. Police earmarked specific places for holding public meeting which might not have suited the political parties in several cases.Many TV channels are owned by several political parties Smaller parties and independents who do not own such TV channels were at a great disadvantage.The telecast facilities in Doordarshan and the broadcast facilities in AIR were not provided to the smaller parties and independents.Under the circumstances, the options available for me were to spread message by word of mouth, by opening website, by emails, inserting pamphlets in newspapers and carrying out street campaign and holding small group meetings, wherever possible. Some of the newspapers also insisted that campaign handbills should not be inserted in their newspapers.While a lot of noise are made in the street campaign by every political party including myself, some with special gimmicks to attract the attention of the passers by , I do not know as to how effective such street campaigns are in spreading the message, since large number of voters are not on the streets all the time and those on the streets often appear to be lost in their own thoughts.I carried out my election campaign just spending around Rs. 2 LAKHS. My campaign style was to print 2.5 lakhs handbills and distribute it across the constituency by inserting in newspapers and distributing with the help of supporters. In addition, a website was designed by several software professionals which became very popular.I addressed several small group meetings in addition to the street campaign for twelve days for a period of four hours on each day. I could not meet many many voters in person since the effective campaign time available for me was hardly thirteen days. I largely relied on spreading my campaign message through word of mouth and handbills. I relied on the power of truth , which is my election theme , to spread by itself.On the whole, I am thoroughly satisfied with the style and quality of my campaign and I am awaiting for the results. This style of campaign may look much different from that of other candidates and political parties but this is how it should be.

Thanks

N.S.Venkataraman