A fragile peace in Kashmir
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The situation along the Line of Control in Kashmir, the de facto border between India and Pakistan, is fraught with danger. After five months of New Delhi’s arbitrary annexation of Indian-administered Kashmir, life in there is not yet normal.
Even the Kashmiri leaders who used to support India are under house arrest. As if the restive Kashmir population was not enough, Indian parliament last month passed a controversial Citizenship Amendment Act that was clearly discriminatory against Muslims. According to this new law, only non- Muslims who had migrated from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan would be considered for Indian nationality, on a fast track.
Many Indian cities, particularly in the state of Assam neighboring Bangladesh, saw huge demonstrations against the law. The resistance shown by students of Jamia Millia in the capital Delhi has been phenomenal.
Some weeks ago, former Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said the situation along the Line of Control could escalate at any time. Tensions between India and Pakistan had spiked last year because of the Pulwama incident, India’s Balakot misadventure, and India’s revocation of Kashmir’s special legal status. Recent reports indicate that, preparing for incursions into Pakistani side of Kashmir, India has removed the barbed wire at certain points along the Line of Control.
Sensing a precarious situation, Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote in a tweet: “I have been warning the international community of this for some time and am reiterating again: If India does such an operation to divert attention from its domestic chaos plus whip up war hysteria to mobilize Hindu nationalism, Pakistan will have no option but to a give a befitting response.”
General Rawat’s bellicose statement had obliged Pakistan to anticipate another false flag operation like the one in Pulwama. Pakistan had expressed its readiness for an independent inquiry but this very reasonable offer was spurned. Since then, Kashmir has developed into a dangerous nuclear flash point.
But Indian exclusivist policies continue. A National Register for Citizens is in the offing in order to screen the entire population. The fear is that Bangladeshi Muslims or Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, who may have crossed into Assam or neighboring Indian states, will be expelled while Hindus will be naturalized. The ruling BJP government at the center does not want the Muslim population of Assam state to register an increase.
But the BJP-led government in Assam does not agree with its own central leadership headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It wants all illegal migrants from Bangladesh, including Hindus, sent back as they are perceived as a threat to indigenous culture. In addition to Assam where bloody riots have taken place, a number of other Indian states have expressed reservations as well. This has created chaotic conditions to which Khan referred in his tweet quoted above. Informed and patriotic Indians say the new law violates the Indian constitution.
Prime Minister Modi and the Indian military establishment think that sabre-rattling will unite a deeply divided nation. On the contrary, this policy has exacerbated the country’s internal divisions.
Javed Hafeez
I remember President Bill Clinton, during a visit to India 20 years ago, had counselled Indian leadership to follow a more inclusive policy toward its Muslim minority. He said that the alienation of such a large number of Indian citizens would weaken the state. What President Clinton had feared two decades ago has come true today. General Rawat’s jingoistic statement has sprung from a fear of national fragility, resulting from widespread demonstrations. His successor, General M.M. Naravane has, unfortunately, opted to repeat that threat.
The BJP won a landslide victory in the last national elections after touting a muscular foreign policy and Hindutva rhetoric. This was soon followed by Kashmir’s special status revocation, the Babri Mosque verdict and the Citizenship Act. The BJP had thought that such policies would always boost its popularity. That was true for a while only, and now the law of diminishing returns appears to be setting in. Young and educated Indians are increasingly realizing that BJP policies can lead the nation to civil war.
Prime Minister Modi and the Indian military establishment, think that sabre-rattling will unite a deeply divided nation. On the contrary, this policy has exacerbated the country’s internal divisions.
Asylum is normally given to persecuted or war-ravaged people, irrespective of their religion. We have seen this in Angela Merkel’s Germany where more than half a million Syrian refugees have been accommodated. Instead of following the example of 21st century Germany, the BJP of India seems to have opted more for the 20th century Germany of Hitler.
Pakistan wants peace in the region to focus on its economic development. The Indo-Pakistan tensions impact the Indian Muslim population negatively. Indian troops open fire across the Line of Control in Kashmir regularly. Pakistan has to retaliate, but the population in the Indian-administered part is also Muslim and that limits Pakistan’s options. The world should try to ensure that internal Indian turmoil does not translate into aggression against Pakistan.
– Javed Hafeez is a former Pakistani diplomat with much experience of the Middle East. He writes weekly columns in Pakistani and Gulf newspapers and appears regularly on satellite TV channels as a defense and political analyst.
Twitter: @hafiz_javed
