Kashmir goes to pot

That poor area is suffering yet again..the following is from ABC Online

" Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh has expressed shock at the deteriorating situation in Kashmir.

Mr Singh called for calm and said he was "shocked and distressed" by the separatist protests engulfing the disputed Himalayan territory.

The violence has spread to new areas of Kashmir, with several more protesters shot dead by police even as the Indian government held crisis talks aimed at resolving the unrest.

But the cross-party meeting ended with apparent deadlock and no new initiatives besides a decision to launch a fact-finding mission.

Eighteen people died in Kashmir on Monday in the bloodiest day of three months of demonstrations.
Protesters want independence from Indian rule."

It appears there is no end in sight...would the solution be a separate Kashmiri State?

That rarely works.

A separate Kashimir state will end up with the same fate as "Tibet" since Kashmir is sandwiched between India, Pakistan and China.

What is going on in Kashmir is no different to Chechyna in Russia or the Xiughurs in China. Basically a Majority muslim state / population feeling inscure in wider Country under a non thoecratic (Islamic) Government as in Democracy (India), Communinst Militant regime (India) or Militant Democracy ??(Russia).

As it is the case with Muslims in many parts of the Workd genuine grievances have been hijacked by the belief that a Pan Islamic Shariah state is the answer to all the problems and that the whole World is destined to be that way one day.

Not surprising this is going on in Kashmir given that there are people in UK advocating for a shariah state.

That said there are genuine grievances for the Kashmiirs, one of the primary ones is the harsh sometime brutal treatment they get from the Indian army who take the iron fist all too easily to put down the disquiet,

In the case of Kashmir since it is bordering Pakistan it is an easy target for throwing fuel over the fire. This used to be really bad in the nineties, thanks to Mushy it has reduced considerably.

a separate kashmiri state would ensure conflict for another 100 years. its land-locked so will always depend on india and pakistan and that will lead to a conflict between the two again

i can only see freezing of the current borders as a solution with free travel across the border. maybe a common kashmiri passport to go along with the indian and pakistani ones

I returned to the Kashmiri lakes two years ago for a brief 'holiday' visit ... and wished then that I hadn't.

Comparing the place to several years previously when my family took regular holidays on the lake houseboats, I found this same region to now be totally dilapidated and forgotten.... like a backwater to nowhere.

The same lovely smiling people, the same crisp fresh air, the same beautiful nature and scenery ... BUT, all echoing an emptiness which comes from the turmoil created by fear of repercussions and the subsequent lack of care, attention and finance.

Kashmir is a holiday goldmine that's been left to rot .... but with two countries on either side not prepared to G A F about it's future; rather ... treating it merely as a buffer zone rather than an autonomous country (which it ought to be) ... what hope for the future?

None.

Shame.

The thread is 30 years late.

What ??!!
A rare issue not of the making of those loathed Imperialist Colonising Brits who brought culture and yoghurt to the crushed minnions on the sub continent ?

Strange ....

Merlin wrote:A rare issue not of the making of those loathed Imperialist Colonising Brits

if you read your history it actually is partly of their making

but its all up to india, pakistan and the kashmiris now. some kind of stability and continuity of power in pakistan would greatly help

Right on cue .............

Nevertheless, right now it is clear that no one government on either side of the divide is eager to take the initiative ... and that is what is so sad about the decline of Kashmir.

As I said earlier -basically ... no one GAF.

i would partly agree with you. people dont seem to care enough. or are just too set in their positions to have real dialogue. and their set positions are too divergent for a common ground

i feel an opportunity was missed in the middle part of the last decade for some real movement. sadly internal political changes in both countries have now made it a more distant dream

Good song though, decent riffs...

and made on pot as well

The One wrote:a separate kashmiri state would ensure conflict for another 100 years. its land-locked so will always depend on india and pakistan and that will lead to a conflict between the two again

i can only see freezing of the current borders as a solution with free travel across the border. maybe a common kashmiri passport to go along with the indian and pakistani ones

I can see full independance causing more tension between India & Pakistan - but do you think a degree of devolution of power ( as the UK have given to the Scottish - and to a lesser degree - Welsh parliament.) I'm thinking for example - if the Kashmiris are overwhelmingly Muslim - why not allow them to practice shariah law in areas like family/marriage, and banking/finance matters. Would a degree of self rule maybe quieten some of the unrest ?

The One wrote:

Merlin wrote:A rare issue not of the making of those loathed Imperialist Colonising Brits

if you read your history it actually is partly of their making

but its all up to india, pakistan and the kashmiris now. some kind of stability and continuity of power in pakistan would greatly help

TO I'm not having a dig at you - but can you please tell us how it's partly of British making? Did we treat Kashmir any differently from the rest of the region or something? Or do you mean the way the sub-continent was partitioned when we left ? I'm curious, thats all.

Your second line is so true. I've heard it said more than once that Pakistan, rather than being a country which has an army, is more accurately described as an army with a country to reside in.

The One wrote:i would partly agree with you. people dont seem to care enough. or are just too set in their positions to have real dialogue. and their set positions are too divergent for a common ground

i feel an opportunity was missed in the middle part of the last decade for some real movement. sadly internal political changes in both countries have now made it a more distant dream

D'you think that more progress may have been made had Pervez Musharraf remained in power in Pakistan? I may be wrong, but I understand from the few bits I've read, that he'd have like some sort of settlement of the issue - after all, the unrest affects Pakistan as well as India does it not?

if the Kashmiris are overwhelmingly Muslim

Thats only due to Pak based terrorists changing the demography of the state by terrorizing Kashmiri Pandits which forced them to flee the state.

Now giving the remaining habitants (predominantly muslims) right to self rule (since you talked about Sharia) is like spitting Kashmiri pandits in their mouth. Don't think that will ever be acceptable (or will be passed in Indian Parliament) to the centre.