Kashmir is a complex issue, thorn in good relations between two nuclear armed neighbours, although Kashmir is just pretext, main aim being making India a jewel in “Islamic Dominated States”. Question is whether this thorny issue could ever be resolved. India has been fudging over Kashmir for a long time, giving Kashmiris unbelievable privileges, separate identity and making them the most subsidized citizens with unheard privileges without tangible result, pouring money and goodwill in bottomless pit. It is time, with “All Party” support, to resolve the issue one way or another, by giving Kashmiris the freedom to decide their own fate, although this may set dangerous precedence, people of Punjab and Kerala may demand same privileges.
Second, more acceptable but equally complex solution could be to separate Jammu from Kashmir, maintaining their slim Hindu/Sikh majority, returning Kashmiri Pundits and encouraging retiring Jawans and other loyal citizens to settle in “Kashmir Valley” with huge subsidies, building well protected enclaves with security uppermost in mind, in a manner the illegal “Jewish Settlements” in West Bank are protected, thus changing demography of the region over decades, reverting the State to its 1947 population ratio, before ethnic cleansing drove Hindus/Sikhs out of the Valley.
Bhupendra M. Gandhi
By email
