Date:13/12/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/13/stories/2006121303821000.htm

Opinion - Editorials

Clues to Kashmir peace puzzle

Days after President Pervez Musharraf stunned observers by promising that Pakistan would drop its claims to Jammu and Kashmir if India agreed to a four-point peace plan, his Foreign Office has set off an even larger furore. Responding to questions from journalists in Islamabad, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam asserted that her country had in fact never "claimed Kashmir to be an integral part of Pakistan." It had only insisted that the State's "people should be able to decide their future." Ms. Aslam pointed out that Pakistan-administered `Azad Jammu and Kashmir' had its own constitution, President, and Prime Minister — all of which distinguish it from other States of the country. On point of fact, Ms. Aslam is right. Pakistan's constitution makes no reference to Jammu and Kashmir. Nor is Islamabad, unlike New Delhi, bound by a resolution of Parliament laying claim to territories on the other side of the Line of Control. Yet Pakistan's official discourse on Kashmir, suffused as it has been with macabre promises to wage wars-without-end against India, has until now been at a considerable distance from these constitutional niceties. So too have been ground realities. Most scholarly studies have been sharply critical of the state of democratic freedoms in `Azad Kashmir.' The Northern Areas, which were also occupied by Pakistan in 1947, do not even enjoy the formal pretence of democratic governance.

Why then should President Musharraf's remarks, or their adroit defence by Ms. Aslam, interest anyone other than pedantic bureaucrats and lawyers? Three reasons are apparent. First, these statements open space for debate within Pakistan on the democratisation of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the Northern Areas, a precondition for the autonomy-based solutions India and Pakistan have so far been discussing behind closed doors. Secondly, by focussing attention on the people of Jammu and Kashmir, rather than the cause, General Musharraf has facilitated efforts to marginalise opponents of the peace process within Pakistan's armed forces. Thirdly, the remarks give some insight into the kind of autonomy General Musharraf may seek for the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir. Until April 1965, the Governor and Chief Minister of this State were known as its sadr-i-riyasat and wazir-i-azam, terms generally translated as `President' and `Prime Minister' as they still are in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. General Musharraf may see in this language a possible way forward. An official working group is already deliberating these issues, and its members will present their recommendations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh early next year. The pieces that make up the Kashmir peace puzzle now seem to be in place — even if the picture they will finally make up is still unclear.