In an editorial, Pakistan's influential Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Nawa-i-Waqt called for using force against India to resolve the Kashmir issue, stating that decisions can be arrived at "only through missiles."
The editorial, entitled "Kashmir By the Might of the Sword - No Other Solution," was written as Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh held bilateral talks at Sharm Al-Sheikh, on the sidelines of a summit meeting of Non-Aligned Movement leaders.
Significantly, a joint statement issued July 16, 2009 by the two prime ministers failed to mention Kashmir, while it included a reference to Baluchistan. [1] Prime Minister Gilani was criticized in Pakistan for dropping the Kashmir issue, but was lauded for getting India to talk about Baluchistan, where Pakistan accuses India of supporting the Baluchi rebels. In India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh drew public criticism for allowing the reference on Baluchistan in the joint statement.
Following are some excerpts from the editorial: [2]
"There Is No Doubt That Pakistan Wants Pleasant Relations With its Neighbors... However, India Has Always Responded Negatively"
"Addressing the Non-Aligned Movement summit and talking to various delegations at Sharm Al-Sheikh, Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the resolution of all outstanding disputes, including Kashmir issue, is key to lasting peace in the region [South Asia]. He said that Pakistan desires relations with its neighboring countries on equal terms.
"There is no doubt that Pakistan wants pleasant relations with its neighbors on equal terms; and it also has no ambitions of aggression. However, India has always responded negatively to this longing of Pakistan, and it has continued with efforts to treat Pakistan as a second-rate country, and, in order to avenge the partition of the subcontinent, has also been doing its level best to keep the country destabilized.
"The biggest evidence of this [Indian attitude] is that India has not allowed the Kashmir issue to be resolved even after the passage of 62 years, and did not provide the Kashmiris with an opportunity to decide their future through plebiscite in accordance with the United Nations resolutions. This is because if this issue is resolved in a congenial way, both Pakistan and India will use their resources for the elimination of poverty and unemployment and for human development. This is completely unacceptable to India, because it does not want to see a flowering and prospering Pakistan."
"India Has Always Wanted Pakistan to Set Aside the Kashmir Issue And Develop Trade, Cultural And Economic Relations With It - So That It... Could Achieve Economic And Cultural Domination"
"India has always wanted Pakistan to set aside the Kashmir issue and develop trade, cultural and economic relations with it, so that India, as per its considered policy and tradition, could achieve economic and cultural domination over Pakistan, ultimately incorporating it as its part. India has always encouraged and sponsored terrorism and sabotage operations in Pakistan. The separation of East Pakistan [Bangladesh's birth in 1971] was the result of these Indian conspiracies, intrusions and disruptive activities. It is still paving the path for secession and instability by sending trained terrorists and saboteurs in Baluchistan province and tribal areas.
"Yesterday, in his meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, Foreign Secretary Salman Basheer stressed upon including the Kashmir and water disputes on the agenda of the summit talks [between the two prime ministers], and also presented evidence of India's involvement in Malakand [Swat and neighboring districts of North West Frontier Province]. [3] India has fulfilled its designs by stopping the [river] water for Pakistan, which is the logical result of not resolving the Kashmir issue. [4] Yesterday, Indian junior foreign minister Preneet Kaur tried to make clear the Indian government's real design by making a statement in the Lok Sabha [i.e. lower house of Indian parliament] that Pakistan has been illegally occupying 78,000 square kilometers of territory in Kashmir since 1948. This was done with the objective that Kashmir should not come under discussion in the two prime ministers' talks in Sharm El-Sheikh, and if the Pakistani prime minister raised the issue, the sympathy of the international community should not go with Pakistan.
"In this perspective, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani's emphasis on the resolution of Kashmir issue to bring about lasting peace in the region is not only a representation of the Pakistani and Kashmiri people's sentiments, but is also a pragmatic act. A few weeks ago, President Asif Ali Zardari had disappointed the nation by stating that Pakistan faces no threat from India. [Zardari's statement was issued because] American and British officials had been busy continually persuading Pakistani rulers that if they do not consider India a threat, Indian rulers too will show willingness to resolve the Kashmir and other issues."
"The Moment Pakistan Showed Weakness, Indian PM Singh Declared Comprehensive Talks on Kashmir Beyond Possibility - And Started Asking that Pakistan First Acknowledge India's Demands Regarding the [November 2008] Mumbai Attacks"
"But now it has become evident that the moment Pakistan showed weakness, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared comprehensive talks on Kashmir beyond possibility, and started asking that Pakistan first acknowledge India's demands regarding the [November 2008] Mumbai attacks. This, and also not only to practically dismantle the infrastructure of the Kashmir jihad, but also to take action against the Kashmiri mujahideen and the organizations involved in jihad, similar to the measures undertaken against the Taliban and other factions involved in the Afghan jihad. Thus, the Pakistan government has now realized the need to once again put pressure on the resolution of Kashmir issue.
"Insofar as the U.S. and Britain are concerned, legally, morally and in principle they should fulfill their duty and role for the resolution of Kashmir issue, and should increase pressure on India to implement the United Nations resolutions. However, these two side with India. Yesterday, the U.S. again made it clear that it is playing no role in the resolution of Kashmir issue, and has no intention to appoint a special representative on the Kashmir issue. Therefore, we will have to rely on our own might and people's support and aid for the resolution of this issue."
"Decisions Will Be Made Through Missiles - Because the Extremist Hindu Bania [Trader] Understands Only the Language of Power"
"On the water issue, India has provided the opportunity that we talk openly with this lalaji [village lender] and tell that now decisions will be made through missiles, because the extremist Hindu bania [trader] understands only the language of power. [5] The guarantee of lasting peace in the region can be achieved only this way; and instead of begging for talks with India, we should ourselves determine our own role for establishing peace in the region. The Prime Minister [Yousuf Raza Gilani] is right in his analysis but he should make some headway in the field of action too. After all, he is the successor of late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto [former Pakistani prime minister] who had announced openly to fight a 1000-year war with India and used to talk to Indian leadership looking straight into their eyes. Why can't Syed Badshah [Yousuf Raza Gilani] do the same?"
Endnotes:
[1] www.timesofindia.com, India, July 16, 2009.
[2] Roznama Nawa-i-Waqt, Pakistan, July 17, 2009
[3] Pakistan accuses India of supporting militants in Baluchistan province and tribal region.
[4] Pakistan says India is controlling the waters of the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab and other rivers that flow from India into Pakistan.
[5] The Indian term lalaji has a negative connotation for "businessman/lender," understood in this context as a bloodsucker; the term bania also means a businessman, but is used here in a disparaging way.
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