By: Shah Tavseef MairajIt has been 63 years since the Indian troops landed in Srinagar. Since then India has been murdering its commitments made to the people of Kashmir. In reply to the Accession offer of Maharaja Hari Singh, the then Governor General of India, Mountbatten had said,
"As soon as law and order have been restored in Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invader, the question of the state's accession should be settled by a reference to the people".After that Jawaharlal Nehru had said, in the Parliament of India, that Plebiscite for Kashmiris would be held at any cost, even if it meant modification of Indian constitution. But India continued to shy away from these commitments. In the process, it has been strengthening its presence in Kashmir. But it has not been able to integrate the people of Kashmir with Indian mainstream. Bullets, ballots or coffers nothing has worked for India.
India itself suffers due to the Kashmir problem. Its aim for a permanent UN Security Council is severely affected due to human rights violations in Kashmir. In order to maintain its presence in Siachen, it has to spend Rs 14.4 billion annually while half of its population lives under the specified Poverty Level of 1.25 dollars a day. India's defence expenditure is expected to touch a whopping 80 billion dollars by 2015. Instead of spending its major chunk in 'defending' Kashmir, if India diverts this sum of money towards the development of tribals and OBCs, its major internal security problem of Naxalism can get resolved. India should see the writing on the wall and should not take Kashmiris for granted.
India's prospects of becoming a super-power are severely dented by its presence in Kashmir. That is why Arundhti Roy remarked, in
2008, "India needs azadi from Kashmir as much as Kashmir needs azadi from India".
India itself suffers due to the Kashmir problem. Its aim for a permanent UN Security Council is severely affected due to human rights violations in Kashmir. In order to maintain its presence in Siachen, it has to spend Rs 14.4 billion annually while half of its population lives under the specified Poverty Level of 1.25 dollars a day. India's defence expenditure is expected to touch a whopping 80 billion dollars by 2015. Instead of spending its major chunk in 'defending' Kashmir, if India diverts this sum of money towards the development of tribals and OBCs, its major internal security problem of Naxalism can get resolved. India should see the writing on the wall and should not take Kashmiris for granted.
India's prospects of becoming a super-power are severely dented by its presence in Kashmir. That is why Arundhti Roy remarked, in
2008, "India needs azadi from Kashmir as much as Kashmir needs azadi from India".
Author is a student at NIT, Srinagar
No comments:
Post a Comment