New Delhi, September 26
An independent country for Kashmiris is impossible and can remain only a dream, a former Prime Minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Sardar Mohd Abdul Qayyum Khan, admitted here today.
“An independent state is not possible. Especially considering the geo-political situation in Central Asia and reservations against Muslim countries worldwide. We don’t really bother about independence now,” he said and appealed for a more practical solution to the Kashmir problem.
The views expressed by Sardar Khan, supreme head of the All J-K Muslim Conference, at an interaction on Kashmir organised by the Observer Reserve Foundation, echo Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s call for an out-of-the-box solution to the Kashmir dispute.
Sardar Khan
made a significant remark on the issue of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir when he said that Kashmiri militancy had come to an end. The only remaining problem was “outsiders” supporting the militancy. He said this would
also come to an end as the peace process moved forward.
Sardar Khan, heading a 14-member delegation which took part in the interactions with former senior Indian officials and analysts, said the most important thing was that the ongoing peace process should continue unhindered.
He also warned against putting conditions on the peace talks. “We have wasted 50 years, talking and arguing about the past. Now we should move on to catch up with the world... Most important is that the peace process should continue. Once it is guaranteed, it would take care of other issues, which can be addressed simultaneously,” he said.
Sardar Khan said the ongoing peace process would have an electrifying effect on the people and societies, as it was being shown nowadays. “The peace process will take over everything — politics, policies, attitudes on both sides.”
He stressed that intra-Kashmir dialogues between parties, institutions, people should go on, irrespective of the policies of the governments in Pakistan and India.
He was sure this would lead to peace ultimately.
Sardar Khan went one step ahead and suggested that such a cooperation should and could become an example to be expanded to other areas of India and Pakistan.
On a question on madarsas encouraging militancy, Sardar Khan said Pakistan itself was a victim of this. “We ourselves are in trouble. Our politics is in trouble. Many other Muslim countries are also in trouble, not just India,” he said.
Sardar Khan rejected the view in India that the elections in PoK were never fair. “It is not right. This is misinformation,” he said, adding, “the only time, elections were rigged in PoK was during the time of Benazir Bhutto’s prime ministership. Then the elections were massively rigged,” he said.
Sardar Khan also warned against any one side pushing its agenda hard. “With Kashmiri militancy ended, we should stress on breaking the ice and continuing the peace process forward,” he said.
Former J-K Governors Jagmohan and G.C. Saxena, the government’s interlocutor on Kashmir, Mr N.N. Vohra, strategic analysts like Mr Prem Shankar Jha, Mr B.G. Verghese, Mr A.S. Dullat, Gen Afsir Karim, Vice-Admiral KK Nayyar and others took part in the discussion which was chaired by Mr M. Rasgotra, former foreign secretary and convener of the National Security Advisory Board.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Jagmohan said through good governance, the governments at both sides should work jointly to remove backwardness and illiteracy. He said a common front could be formed to remove poverty and educate people on both sides.
