In a major address to almost 300 Angelinos on January 29 at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Professor Stanley Wolpert called for a negotiated solution to the South Asian crisis. I had the pleasure to be part of the audience and enjoyed his remarks immensely. Professor Wolpert is a recognized expert on South Asia, having first traveled to India in 1948, and just returned from another trip to Pakistan last month. He has served as chairman of the History Department at UCLA, and was later Distinguished Professor of South Asian History at Brown University. His deep knowledge of the region was evident in the depth and breadth of his remarks.
The current situation remains tense, with over 1 million troops facing each other across the Indo-Pak border, but the real roots of the conflict are 54 years old, and lie in Kashmir. At the time of partition, all 562 princely states (quasi-independent feudal entities under inside British India) were given the right to choose between joining India or Pakistan. By all rights, Kashmir with its 77% Muslim majority should have joined Pakistan, but its Maharajah was trying to dance his way into true independence. His plans failed, and he ended up acceding to Nehru s India, although the letter of accession that he signed has been “lost” by the Indian State Archives.
Nehru’s obsession with holding Kashmir prevented him from honoring the UN call for a plebiscite, and eventually resulted in 500,000 Indian troops trying to pacify 5 million civilians. The Indian Army is viewed universally by Kashmir Muslims as an army of occupation. Until India deals with this reality, there will be no end to the Kashmir issue.
After September 11, President Musharraf showed great statesmanship, according to Professor Wolpert. Despite being labeled a traitor by religious elements in the country, he, in fact, saved Pakistan from disintegration and bankruptcy, and restored a real chance at achieving long-term viability and prosperity. The December 13 attack by militants on the Indian Parliament building created a new challenge for Musharraf.
Within Pakistan, there remains the widespread view that the attack was staged by India to make Pakistan look bad and give India an excuse to threaten attack. Wolpert believes the attacks were not staged, but he felt Musharraf has carried out a serious assault on the Jihadi element; in fact, Pakistan has arrested over 2500 militants.
For America, we should follow a patient, long-term, proactive policy in South Asia. It is critical that Afghanistan be rebuilt into a viable country, and so far it looks like the Bush Administration understands that. India’s denial that Kashmir is the central issue in Indo-Pak relations is only for domestic Indian consumption; the US must base its policy on addressing Kashmir.
India at this point needs to realize that Musharraf is its best hope for stable, responsible leadership in Pakistan. Threatening war and mobilizing its army has been a radical, dramatic, and dangerous response to the December 13 attack, and Pakistani restraint has kept the situation from worsening.
The way forward on Kashmir is treacherous. India would be happy to settle for making the Line of Control an official international border, but this is unacceptable to Pakistan, and more importantly, to the Muslim Kashmiris. Wolpert believes that a statewide plebiscite is not necessary. He envisions a compromise in which the majority Hindu region of Jammu and the Buddhist region of Ladakh remain part of India, but the heavily populated Vale of Kashmir get to vote on its status.
Mahatma Gandhi understood the poison of forcing the Vale to be part of India, and vigorously contested Nehru’s choice to accept the Maharajah s accession to India. Gandhi wanted direct talks between India and Pakistan, but he was assassinated by a Hindu extremist member of the RSS. This same extremist and radical group has close ties with the BJP, which now rules India, and many government leaders are members or were members of the RSS. But even L.K. Advani, the Home Minister, realizes that arms alone will not solve Kashmir. It is not a security issue, it is a political issue.
Finally, Wolpert dismissed the notion that a change in Kashmir’s status would threaten the Indian Union. Muslim Kashmir is very different than any other Indian state, and granting it the right to determine its own future will not lead to the collapse of India.