Issue of Kashmir and Role of Pakistan
The Quaid was not given to making rhetorical pronouncements. He was a realist; not an idealist. As a pragmatist and a jurist, he chose his words with care before uttering them; and he was a man of his word.
The jugular vein and the body are mutually inter-dependant. Pakistan’s life-blood – water – passes through Kashmir. Kashmir’s life force – its commerce, its people’s very livelihood, its cultural heritage – all lay through its contacts with what is now Pakistan. Both Kashmir and Pakistan have suffered all these years because of artificial man-made barriers between the two.
Regrettably, the Quaid-e-Azam did not live long enough to influence the events that followed. The question that presents itself begging for an answer is: if he had lived for a few more years would he have allowed this issue to linger on for so long? We may do well to give this aspect some thought. Regrettably, the leadership that followed the Quaid singularly failed to live up to his ideals. Several issues - the Kashmir issue among them - that should have been tackled betimes and were not are a testimony to this. This is neither the time nor the occasion to go into the history of this issue. Suffice it to state that after the Quaid, successive leadership appear to have missed the bus.
The struggle of the people of the State predates the partition of what was then British India. Even before the British left, the people of the State had already asserted, through a valiant struggle, their inalienable right to decide their own future. When the matter landed in the Security Council of the United Nations, the World Body went on to put its stamp of approval on this fundamental right of the people of the Jammu and Kashmir. The right of self-determination of the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir was guaranteed by the United Nations. As a result of the resolutions of the world body, four parties to the dispute were explicitly recognized: 1) The government of India; 2) The government of
The jugular vein and the body are mutually inter-dependant. Pakistan’s life-blood – water – passes through Kashmir. Kashmir’s life force – its commerce, its people’s very livelihood, its cultural heritage – all lay through its contacts with what is now Pakistan. Both Kashmir and Pakistan have suffered all these years because of artificial man-made barriers between the two.
Regrettably, the Quaid-e-Azam did not live long enough to influence the events that followed. The question that presents itself begging for an answer is: if he had lived for a few more years would he have allowed this issue to linger on for so long? We may do well to give this aspect some thought. Regrettably, the leadership that followed the Quaid singularly failed to live up to his ideals. Several issues - the Kashmir issue among them - that should have been tackled betimes and were not are a testimony to this. This is neither the time nor the occasion to go into the history of this issue. Suffice it to state that after the Quaid, successive leadership appear to have missed the bus.
The struggle of the people of the State predates the partition of what was then British India. Even before the British left, the people of the State had already asserted, through a valiant struggle, their inalienable right to decide their own future. When the matter landed in the Security Council of the United Nations, the World Body went on to put its stamp of approval on this fundamental right of the people of the Jammu and Kashmir. The right of self-determination of the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir was guaranteed by the United Nations. As a result of the resolutions of the world body, four parties to the dispute were explicitly recognized: 1) The government of India; 2) The government of