Articles
war in the making by Shumaila Anwar
Someone has rightly said history repeats itself. I guess this is proving right. Once again tensions between India and Pakistan have risen to such a level that both countries are preparing themselves for a potential war. The basic cause of these tensions is only because of an issue that has not been resolved yet. Yes I am referring to the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. The issue which has been lingering there for the past 67 years and has claimed huge loss of lives on both sides.
As we all know that the world is under the constant threat of fundamentalism and religious extremism and I come from the troubled land of Kashmir where there is a strong anti-india sentiment among people and which has led to the present uprising driven by youth.
Also it is a known fact that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan was born as a result of retaliation against the policies of Pakistan and ISIS got birth against the horrendous and despotic policies of Bashar ul Asad.
Similarly in retaliation to the Indian policies Burhan Wani emerged as a youth icon who inspired the young generation to pick up arms against the Indian state and in the words of India he arose as a poster boy and a recruiter for armed rebellion groups. Now this is quite evident when the political space is choked and people are pushed to the wall and there is no option for them other than to resort to armed resistance. I, in no way support the use of violence as I believe peace is the only solution. But we have a serious problem, a problem that needs to be addressed. We all are aware of the global coalition of fundamentalist and religious extremism. Under such circumstances, armed groups in Kashmir might easily fall prey to their propaganda and Kashmir will eventually turn into another Syria or Iraq. Kashmir is a potential volcano which can erupt anytime and as such has the potential to start a nuclear war as it is surrounded by three nuclear forces.
we will have to address this issue once for ever. Let the people of Kashmir decide what they want. Let India and Pakistan shun their age-old ego and come forward to hold a referendum in Kashmir.
I think time is ripe and if we do not take proper action in time then it will not only effect Pakistan, India and Kashmir but the world ultimately.
The need of hour is that we need to unite against such terrorists alliances and work for peace building and all those people who believe in humanity will have to unite against such enemies of peace. international community, peace building organisations and international interveners will have to play a bigger role.
There is a huge responsibility on international community especially the super powers who are the torch bearers of peace, to ensure that Kashmir does not become next Syria and ensure that the solution comes through the plebiscite held under their aegis. Let the people of Kashmir be heard, and let they be given a chance to decide their own future.
If a referendum can be held in Scotland and if Eu- Brexit referendum can be held in UK, then why not Kashmiris be given the right of self-determination through a referendum.
Let peace prevail.
