Kashmir: Time for a Radical Approach?

Re: #26 by HisExcellency wrote:

``I am afraid you give more credit to Pakistani generals than they deserve:) ``

The ``smiley face`` seems to symbolize HisExcellency`s agreement with the army that ``all the people can be fooled all the time``.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely! Pakistan`s military is now absolutely corrupt.

While respected journalists have been writing about army corruption for quite some time, so have been foreign journalists even after General Pervez Musharraf reversed the military`s policy on the Taliban in the wake of 9/11 (more for self-preservation than for any genuine change in philosophy on terrorism).

A recent article in Washington Post (Pakistanis Question Perks of Power, Many Say Military Confuses National Interest With Its Own By John Lancaster) is a good example. See the following URL for the article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23614-2002Nov21.html

The article was published in Washington Post of 21 November, 2002.
Here are some excerpts:

.....

``Some critics go a step further, accusing the military of deliberately stoking tensions with India, particularly over Kashmir, to justify its hold on resources and power. ``Peace would be a disaster for the military,`` said Pervez Hoodbhoy, an anti-nuclear activist and MIT-trained physicist who teaches at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad.``

.....

``There is no denying the military`s dominant role in Pakistan. The military owns the best farmland and several of the largest industrial conglomerates. Retired or active-duty military officers run the ports, postal service, electric utilities, sports federations, telecommunications authority, culture ministry, mineral development agency, anti-drug police, railroads, civil aviation authority, national shipping company and Pakistan`s biggest steel mill. They hold top administrative posts at the best universities. Many ambassadors are retired officers.``

.....

``Under an arcane point-based system that dates to the British Raj, the military also rewards its senior officers by allowing them to purchase agricultural and urban land from the army`s vast inventory of real estate at prices far below market value. A number of these properties are grouped into ``defense societies`` in tony suburbs of Karachi and other major cities. The societies are administered by the Defense Housing Authority, which ensures the provision of municipal services. Officers who acquire such land often develop it as rental property or sell it for hefty profits.``

......

``One of Pakistan`s most coveted addresses, for example, is the blandly named Army Housing Scheme II, which is built on the site of an old antiaircraft battery in the upscale Karachi suburb of Clifton. A gated community protected by paramilitary troops, the development consists of spacious, Mediterranean-style villas grouped around a playground and an elaborately landscaped Japanese-style garden. Nearby are clothing boutiques, jewelry stores, restaurants and a yoga studio.``

.....

``Installing men in uniform in civilian businesses and institutions did not begin with Musharraf. In 1980, Zia established a 10 percent quota for military personnel in civilian government jobs. But Musharraf, by all accounts, has taken the process further than his uniformed predecessors, dispatching military ``monitoring teams`` to key civilian agencies and replacing top officials with senior officers.``

.....

When we say Kashmiris then we mean the majority of people in Kashmir. Maharaja Hari singh or a handful of pundits don`t constitute the majority. Therefore they should be treated as minority while making a decision about the future of Kahmir. Ignoring the decision of more than 90% population and giving priority to the desires of Maharaja Hari Singh or that of pundits is a kind of a justice which Indian govt cannot justify on the table or in any international forum. However, it befools its people on this useless argument. Only some foolish people can be convinced with this argument. Many Indians try to prove that they`re completely convinced with the argument of their govt. Moreover they feel happy when their govt tells them that poverty is on rise in Pakistan. They can`t use a small thing in their skulls to verify this. They look like beggars when they stand next to Pakistanis.

Re: #26 by HisExcellency errs in blaming India for the Pak military`s crimes against humanity in 1971. The facts are well documented. It just won`t do not to attempt to shift blame by pointing fingers across the border.

The principal cause for the 1971 genocide was the Pakistan military`s utter contempt for civil authority. It is a problem that continues to dog Pervez Musharraf`s Pakistan. The people of the erstwhile East Pakistan are no longer under the boots of Pakistan`s military. But the rest of the population continues to be under its boots - and the military remains as
contemptuous as ever of civil authority.

Back to 1971. HisExcellency might want to refer to the following site:

www.defencejournal.com/march98/theway1.htm

The above Defence Journal site presents Brigadier Z.A.Khan`s ``The Way It Was``. The Brigadier saw ``action`` in East Pakistan in the March and
April of 1971.

I read Brigadier Z.A.Khan`s ``The Way It Was`` some 3 or 4 years ago. If I recall right, he was a Lt. Colonel in 1971.

This is what Brigadier Z.A. Khan says about the way Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (leader of the party that had won the 1970 elections) was arrested from his Dhanmondi residence on the night of March25, 1971: ``I later learnt that after telling Major Belal to break down the closed door upstairs when I went to check on the vehicles, someone had fired a pistol shot into room where Major Bilal?s men were collected, luckily no one was hit. Before anyone could stop him, a soldier threw a grenade into the verandah from where the pistol shot had come and followed it with a burst from his sub-machine gun. The grenade burst and the sub-machine gun fire made Sheikh Mujib call out from behind the closed room that if an assurance were given that he would not be killed he would come out. He was given an assurance and he came out of the room. When he (Sheikh Mujib) came out Havildar Khan Wazir, later subedar, gave him a resounding slap on his face``

Brigadier Z.A.Khan`s gleeful account of the ``resounding slap`` on Mujib`s face by a Havildar (later, Subedar) in the Pakistani Army was not inadvartent. The Brigadier seemed just as gratuitous and gleeful as he wrote with grim satisfaction of crimes committed by soldiers under his command.

The then Lt. Colonel Khan saw ``action`` in Comilla and Chittagong. Mass murders and rapes were perpetrated by the commando that he led. The then Lt. Colonel Z.A. Khan makes no secret of criminal acts of soldiers under his command. Did he take any action against any of them for the crimes? There is nothing in Brigadier Khan`s book to suggest that he did. In the absence of any punitive action, the commanding officer cannot escape responsibility for the crime. It wont`t wash even if Lt. Colonel Khan were to claim that he was merely following orders of his superiors (of a Colonel, a Brigadier or even of a General). Lt. Colonel Khan had the responsibility to resist such illegal orders, if there were any.

As I read Z.A.Khan`s book, it was apparent that the Shah of Iran, for example, could have never used his soldiers, the way Yahya Khan did, to protect his throne. No Iranian soldier would have agreed to participate in the mass murder and rape of his kith and kin to save the Shah`s throne. But Yahya Khan could do what he did because the soldiers had been brainwashed into believing that the Bengalis were not fit to be their compatriots, the Bengalis were deemed fit to stay within Pakistan only as a subject race.

Brigadier Z.A. Khan`s gleeful account of the ``resounding slap`` on Mujib`s face is just a specific instance of the general contempt for civilians, in general. The Pakistan Army could do what it did in East Pakistan because the ruling elite had brainwashed the soldiers into believing that Bengalis were not good Muslims. In fact Bengalis were portrayed as belonging to an inferior race (``Field Marshal`` Ayub Khan`s ghost-written autobiography is a good indicator of the low esteem in which the Bengalis were held by Pakistan`s ruling oligarchy.)

The ``resounding slap`` is a much more general problem. I see it as an expression of the Pakistan military`s utter contempt for civil authority. It is a problem that continues to dog Pervez Musharraf`s Pakistan. The people of the erstwhile East Pakistan are no longer under the boots of Pakistan`s military. But the rest of the population continues to be under its boots - and the military remains as contemptuous as ever of civil authority.

Re: #26 by HisExcellency brought up the bogey of ``Akhund Bharat`` to blame India to expalin away the genocide of 1971.

But enough has been written by thoughtful Pakistanis to point fingers at the real culprits.

Here are two quotes from articles by Altaf Gauhar who was a high official in Islamabad under ``Field Marshal`` Ayub Khan.

The quotes shed some light on the thinking among Pakistan`s Generals regarding India and Bangladesh. It might be a hangover from the ``martial race theory`` that was propagated by the British. The belief is very much a fact even today, especially in the ``recruitment area`` between the Indus and the Jhelum, and might have led the Pakistani
Generals to launch their 1999 ill-fated Kargil misadventure.

Here are the quotes:

This country deserves me
By Altaf Gauhar

The Nation Lahore
Sunday Nov 14,1999


``What were Yahya`s assumptions when he ordered military action in East Pakistan? His first assumption was that the Bengalis would not have the guts to face the tall, muscular, West Pakistani jawans. His associates would recall how Ikhtiaruddin conquered Bengal with only 17 Muslim soldiers in 1203-1204 A.D.``

Pakistan Today
Friday, October 22, 1999

1965 war: cease-fire
By: Altaf Gauhar

``The directive issued by Ayub bore the title: `Political aim for struggle in Kashmir.` The aim was `to take such action that will defreeze the Kashmir problem, weaken Indian resolve, and bring her to the conference table without provoking a general war. However the element of escalation is always present in such struggles. So whilst confining our action to the Kashmir area we must not be unmindful that India may in desperation involve us in a general war or violate Pakistan territory where we are weak. We must, therefore, be prepared for such a contingency. To expect quick results in this struggle, when India has much larger forces than us, would be unrealistic. Therefore, our action should be such that can be sustained over a long period. As a general rule Hindu morale would not sustain more than a couple of hard blows at the right time and place. Such opportunities should, therefore, be sought and exploited.```

Pakistan`s army officers had a vested interest to swear utmost faith in the British propounded theory of ``martial races.`` Even in the early years of Pakistan, these officers would proclaim, ``Haske liya Pakistan, ladke lenge Hindustan`` and openly proclaim their belief that the Pakistan flag will get to be raised by them atop the Red Fort in Delhi. And ``Field Marshal`` Ayub Khan had made no secret of his disdain for Bengalis in his ghost-written auto-biography, ``Friends, Not Masters.``

It was the general view of the army officers, that the people of East Pakistan were not even good Muslims and, obviously, by implication, that it was the divine-ordained duty of Pakistan`s military officers to do everything possible (including murder and rape) to turn East Pakistanis into good Muslims.

Altaf Gauhar, in a series of articles, had written how ``Field Marshal`` Ayub Khan had become victim of the racist view within Pakistan`s army that one [West] Pakistani soldier was more than a match for ten ``Hindu`` soldiers. Fortified by this racist belief, the ``Field Marshal`` had put into motion the ``Operation Gibralatar`` in 1965. It was a foolhardy deed that would unleash a chain of events that would ultimately lead to his own overthrow in 1969 and the surrender of the Pakistani army in Dhaka on 16th December of 1971.

The Shah of Iran could have never used his army to perpetuate the perks and privileges of Iran`s ruling elite because ordinary Iranian soldiers were not willing to turn on the common people of Iran on the orders of the Shah. Unfortunately, in Pakistan in 1971, the situation was very different. From 1947 thru 1971, ordinary soldiers of Pakistan had been brainwashed into believing in the British propounded ``martial races`` theory, and into believing that East Pakistanis belonged to an inferior race. The ordinary soldiers had been persuaded to believe by their officers that it was their sacred duty to punish East Pakistanis because the East Pakistanis were not good Muslims!

Pakistan`s army officers had institutionalized racism to the point where the soldiers were willing to believe that they were engaged in rape and murder to save Islam in East Pakistan. Veteran Pakistani journalist Z.A. Suleri (father of writer Sarah Suleri) has written how shocked he was in 1971 to find Pakistan army officers nonchalantly joking about the on-going rapes in East Pakistan as a service to the Bengalis to improve their genes! Much the same story was confirmed in accounts of DAWN correspondent Anthony Mascarenhas.

I have quoted Altaf Gauhar to illustrate the arrogance of the military. Openly expressed belief in the superiority of the Kakul kleptocrats over ordinary citizens is nothing more than posturing to begin with. Its their means to preserving their monopoly over power. But it is a measure of their true worth that they have shown more ``bravery`` in the oppression of their compatriots than in fighting the external enemy. It is no accident that General Tikka Khan won more ``fame`` as the ``Butcher of East Pakistan`` and then as the ``Butcher of Balochistan`` than as the General who would liberate Kashmir or would ride a white horse to the Red Fort in New Delhi to unfurl the Pakistani flag.

The Kakul kleptocrats have a vested interest to exaggerate and even exacerbate perceptions of external threat to establish the need to expropriate a major share of the nation`s wealth for themselves. And that is exactly what they have been doing. It is no accident that the military was at the helm in Pakistan when the Generals initiated the conflicts of 1965, 1971 or 1999.

General Tikka Khan was quite representative of the military`s thinking when he unashamedly declared in 1971 that he was interested only in the land in East Pakistan and not in its people. He was able and willing to kill as many million civilians in East pakistan as it takes to make Pakistan safe for the military!

Pakistan`s destiny has been controlled from inception by the 3 As - Allah, America and the Army and not necessarily in that order!

General Pervez Musharraf has continued with the same tradition. He has inducted some 600 military officials to take over top civilian posts (from chairman of cricket board to chairman of WAPDA) for which they have no training. And he has imposed the LFO on the country to institutionalize the army`s supremacy.

The erstwhile East Pakistanis are no longer around to be kicked around by the Pakistan`s army which continues to enjoy a monopoly over power in what remains of Pakistan. So, it is now the ordinary citizens of Pakistan that must bear the brunt of the army`s boot. It is to the interest of the ordinary citizens of Pakistan to demand a return of the military officers to the barracks - or else they will continue to be kicked around. Forcing the Pakistani army to face the music for its crimes of 1971 will go a long way toward liberarting the ordinary citizens of Pakistan.

I am the cheese:

``im reminded of something someone said wrt the agra summit which struck me as very true.. musharrafs personal victory at agra was at the cost of pakistan as a nation ``

I had said something similar to you right after Agra (don`t ask me for proof coz I don`t wanna go digging and I`m not trying to score points) but at that time your attitude was Rah Rah Mush for socking it to the Indians.
Also, while the above statement is true, the fact that Mush`s popularity sky rocketed after Agra means that the people in general too were impressed with transient perceptions of victory rather than a slow painstaking solution.

People deserve the leaders they get. Why blame Mush alone?

The majority of people are rehashing history. History is bunkum.

I do see that on the Indian side there is a consensual approach towards converting the LOC into the border.

On the Pakistani side, is it possible to achieve a consensus? I am just curious to see if a realistic position with which all or vast majority of Pakistanis can arrive at.

Re: #26 by HisExcellency wrote:

``there is a large constituency of Pakistan haters in India who will not stop at their machinations even if Kashmir issue is resolved. For them, Pakistan is a defeat for their fantastic ideas of ``Akhund Bharat``.``

This ``Akhund Bharat`` bogey is chutzpah at its best. It is not India that wants to acquire ``Azad Kashmir``, it is Pakistan that wants to ``finsish the unfinished business of partition`` by coveting land on the other side of the LoC. In fact, Pakistan`s ruling elite goes a lot further when it mouths slogans like ``Crush India`` or ``Haske liya Pakistan, ladke lenge Hindustan`` and dreams of hoisting the Pakistan flag at the Red Fort.

``Kashmir Banega Pakistan`` is not a Kashmiri slogan. It is a slogan spawned in the cantonments in `Pindi, Lahore or Sialkot. This sloganeering is for the express purpose of promoting and preserving the perks and privileges of the the Pak army that constitutes the core of Pakistan`s ruling oligarchy. No wonder that it is the pet slogan among the ``martial races`` in the ``recruitment area`` between the Indus and the Jhelum.

In 1971, in a moment of candor, General Tikka Khan had declared that he was only interested in the land in East Pakistan and not in its people. Kashmir is no different. Pakistan`s ruling oligarchy covets the real estate in Kashmir. It couldn`t care less for the Kashmiris. To make its case, Pakistan`s ruling oligarchy sheds copious crocodile tears over the plight of Muslims outside Pakistan in general and of Muslims in Kashmir in particular. But there is absolutely nothing in the history of Pakistan to suggest that its ruling oligarchy cares anymore for the Muslims outside Pakistan than it cares for the ordinary Muslims within Pakistan.

If General Musharraf, like other Pakistani generals before him, would rather shed blood to turn Kashmiris into Pakistanis than repatriate the stranded Pakistanis (aka ``Biharis``) in Bangladesh, it is only because ``Biharis``, unlike the Kashmiris, will not come with any real estate. Is it any wonder that General Musharraf has been declaring, ``Kashmir is in our blood`` ?

I am not surprised that General Musharraf and his henchmen have Kashmir in their blood but not a trace of the ``Biharis`` !! So, even if General Musharraf is himself a Mohajir, he`ll not raise even a finger for the sake of the ``Biharis`` who have spent well over a generation in UN-run refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Kashmir is not the core issue between India and Pakistan - it is merely the core symptom of the irredentist dreams of Pakistan`s ruling oligarchy and the primary means for it to ensure that the army can garner a disproportionate share of the nation`s wealth for itself. Peace will not come till Pakistan`s ruling elite rids itself of this game. It behooves Pakistan`s ruling elite to assure democracy and self-determination of people living within its borders rather than cynically and gratuitously crying for democracy and self-determination of people living beyond its borders.

Re: #26 by HisExcellency wrote:

``Instead of letting Pakistan take care of its internal problem, India attacked the status quo and broke all rules of Tashkent. ``

HisExcellency shouldn`t forget that it no longer remained an internal problem of Pakistan when its military`s crimes against humanity terrorized more than 10 million Bengalis to seek refuge in India. It was Pakistan`s military that was playing a cunical game in East Pakistan. Just recall how the military had recruited the ``Biharis`` to act as its cat`s paw in 1971 and then how the military had discarded the ``Biharis`` like the rind of a squeezed lemon after 1971.

If Pakistan`s ruling elite can let a quarter million stranded ``Biharis`` (who consider themselves Pakistanis) to rot in refugee camps for decades, it cannot possibly care for Kashmiris who don`t even call themselves Pakistanis.

The ``Biharis`` will not come with any real estate - naturally Pakistan`s ruling elite doesn`t want to touch them even with a 10 ft pole.

Funds were set up in Pakistan, and even in Saudi Arabia,to finance the repatriation of these hapless ``Biharis``. The Rabita trust was one such fund. And General Pervez Musharraf was himself on its board. I don`t know how much fund was collected by the Rabita trust for the purpose over the years. But I was not very surprised to be told ruefully by a Mohajir-Pakistani acquaintance that in the post 9/11 era, the funds of that trust have been frozen on orders from the American government because they were being misused to promote terrorism.

And that, in a nutshell, spells out the real tragedy. Pakistan`s ruling elite has never lacked in funds to promote jihad in Afghanistan or Kashmir. But they had not a penny to spare for the repatriation of the hapless ``Biharis`` !!

Are Dumz and temporal same person?

Chowk staff!!
Is it possible for you to please print IP address along with poster`s handle? It would be interesting to know how many people are posting from same machine/IP address. Yes, people can spoof the IP addresses but still it would be an interesting stats.

Kashmiris don`t like the presence of Indian govt. (For verification of this a plebiscite could be held but Indian govt avoids it because it already knows what Kashmiris think of it). It should quit Kashmir ASAP.

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harimau#20
You are right that the States have been flouting established norms and even the Supreme Court injunctions. But that is a problem of the sickness of the Indian federation. As far as J&K is concerned, the famous instrument of accession gave it certain unique powers, which were whittled down over time by India. Don`t you think that Kashmir is entitled to have some of those powers back?

re: nakhok

Indian chowkies are in no position to criticise Pakistan Army of being corrupt and genocidal. Look at your own country first.

Your army is not exactly a clean one either. There is massive corruption at the top especially in defense deals. Remember Bofors and Tehelka?

Your politicians are not exactly honest and upright. From the fanatic Modi to the Muslim-hating Advani to corrupt Laloo Prasad Yadav, Indian lack integrity and vision. Had it not been for Nehru`s obsession with Kashmir, their would not have been 3 wars in the subcontinent.

Your democracy is also an oxymoron. Wherever Hindus are in majority, democracy is allowed to flourish. Wherever Sikhs and Muslims are in majority, rigged elections held under military occupation replace democracy. Punjab and Kashmir are the only two states where Hindus are a minority. In both states, the Indian army indulged in genocide of Sikhs and Muslims.

Only a genuinely democratic state with excellent human rights record like USA, France, Germany or UK may criticize Pakistan. These states consider Pakistan as a frontline ally in the war against terror.

Instead of behaving like the world`s cry baby, India should accept its failure in Kashmir. Accepting failure is the first step towards resolution of the conflict. No amount of pressure on Pakistan or Pakistan Army will ever compel Pakistan to ditch the Kashmir issue.

Kashmir is the test of Indian integrity and commitment to peace in subcontinent. Actions speak louder than voices. India`s actions in Kashmir have not been sincere to the Kashmiris at all.

friend:

pls. email

ttemporal@lycos.com

re: nakhok

You are dismissing Indian slogans such as ``Akhund Bharat`` as chutzpah and declaring Pakistani slogans such as ``Haske liya tha Pakistan, ladke lenge Hindustan`` as the stated policy of Pakistan Army.

Come on, be objective here. Either accept both as chutzpah or accept both as real.

Except for Jaish-e-Mohammad, no Pakistani leader or general has ever declared the conquest of India as a policy objective in the last 57 years.

I challenge you to produce any quote from any respectable Indian or Pakistani historian that will suggest that Pakistan Army had designs to conquer India!

right stuka.. and your point was?