Between India & Pak Kashmir is not the issue It's Conflicting World-views: Lalit k kaul

Between India and Pakistan Kashmir is not the issue It’s conflicting World-views

                                       Lalit K Kaul

And, Kashmir is only manifestation of that conflict.

Any kind of sustainable relationship that India may desire/plan to have with Pakistan, India should not lose sight of the world-view that gave birth to Pakistan. That’s the bottom line as also the guiding principle that should dictate the content of their mutual relationship.

Foundation is more important than the structure built on it:

For, the structure once built can be altered not the foundation and for altering/ modifying the foundation the structure has to collapse. The foundation of Pakistan was laid on the world-view of Hindu hatred because they were designated as infidels and the narrative built was that Momeens can’t be ruled by infidels; another dimension that was added to it was that having ruled over Indian Subcontinent for nearly one thousand years there was no way Hindu Rule over Indian Subcontinent would be acceptable to erstwhile rulers. The pull of the hatred against the infidels was so irresistible that poet Iqbal who had penned “Saarae Jahan sae accha…” became the leading ideologue for creation of a pious place for Momeens- Pak-sthan or Pakistan.

Even while Relational Dialectics surfaced between the two sections of protagonists for creation of Pakistan – one seeking/aiming to make Pakistan a powerful nation by imparting modern education to Muslims and the other nurturing it as a pure Islamic State based on Sharia that comprised the Law of Allah (the Holy Quran); the teachings in Hadiths and Sirat Rasoolallah and this divide was carried over to Pakistan right from the day of her birth. This ideological struggle within Pakistan continued to be and, as is evident, today the one professing for Islamic State of Pakistan have succeeded in wielding enormous clout on the Pakistani society to the extent of nearly marginalizing the other.

The rise of Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other Islamist outfits is such that they are feared for having acquired the capability of engaging Pakistan army if they are resisted on their path to establish Sharia Rule (in KPK to start with) in entire country. So, instead of neutralizing them, they are engaged in negotiations while the Baloch and POK residents are subject to inhuman treatment. It’s also very well known that the minorities in Pakistan have been annihilated and the residual is subjected to unparalleled indignities; the treatment meted out to minorities is in line with Sharia Rule. Let no policy maker in India have any apprehensions about the truth of Sharia Rule.

The Strategy:

Before embarking on the path of dismantling terror networks and terrorists, post 9/11 the US think tank decided that the first step in that direction was to understand 1) who the Americans are supposed to fight and 2) what motivated the adversary.

The Americans were sure that their fight was not merely against this two-legged specie, loaded with arms and ammunitions, who had been trained to kill, but against that ideology that motivates him/her to go on a killing and bombing spree. So, the first step they took, to uncover this secret, was to do a serious study of The Holy Quran, the Hadiths and Sirat Rasoolallah. That study led to bringing out a report for war against terror strategists and this Jihad was uncovered in all its various forms. Few excerpts are reproduced here for ready reference:

[ The Enemy’s Stated Threat Doctrine

a.       The overwhelming majority of individuals with whom the United States military is engaged states they are fighting “Jihad” in the “Cause of Allah” in order to establish an Islamic State (Caliphate) under Islamic Law- known as Sharia. In order to accurately understand what this means, our professional duty is to know how Jihad is understood by the enemy when mapped against “Jihad” as defined in Islamic Doctrine, and to understand what Islamic Law is and what its role is in Islam. Without this knowledge, we cannot accurately identify, target and defeat the enemy.]

[IX (e). Jihad as warfare must be fought when the Muslim community has the ability to do so. Even when this is not possible, a standing requirement exists to wage Jihad via the pen or with words. At a minimum, however, all Muslims are under permanent obligation to hate and despise the non- Muslim rule (Jihad of Heart)]

IX(e) is the basis for creation of Pakistan and what was done to Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir starting 1986; including the utterances of Muslim political and religious leadership during anti- CAA hooliganism. The venom spewing public speeches made by leaders of AIMIM and some of the Moulvis Maulanas and Muftis draw their motivation from IX(e). The Indian government and its political leadership too need to do a study like the Americans did if the government – leadership combine has to successfully bury the political objective of Ghazwa 2047 and establishing Sharia Rule in India. The easier way out is to follow the American study.

The Question:

Will Pakistan make a transition from being an Islamic State to a Secular Democratic one? No. Why? Because that, in the first step, would require dismantling a State (Theocratic) within the State that’s a poor caricature of a democratic and secular one. There is another State (Establishment) within the one that pretends to be secular and democratic even though the minorities have been annihilated as a matter of routine since 1947. The National Assembly, the Courts, the Electron Commission, etc. are mere captives of the Establishment which is Supreme.

So, the Pakistan’s political leadership and the associated government have an astronomical task at their disposal if Pakistan has to emerge, over the years, as a genuinely secular and democratic country; and the task is to marginalize the Establishment and annihilate TTP and other Islamist outfits. While it may manage to marginalize the Establishment, but to annihilate TTP and other Islamist outfits is to negate and dismantle the rationale behind its birth.  And that is tantamount to re-laying the foundation which would mean bulldozing the existing structure. It would also mean negation of rationale that motivated Pakistan political and religious leadership to lay claim on Kashmir.

Genesis of “Kashmir Problem”:

“Kashmir is a Muslim majority region therefore it had to be part of Pakistan”, is Pak’s claim based on commonality of religion. Therefore, Kashmir had to be a part of Islamic State as that would relieve the Momeens of Kashmir from the rule of infidels in India.

There is another dimension to Pak’s claim on Kashmir and that’s to keep the never-ending war on infidels going, as ordained by the Allah’s command. And, Allah has guaranteed victory over the infidels only if the believers persist in the “Cause of Allah”. In fact, if Momeens face defeat it means Allah is testing their perseverance while being in the “Cause of Allah”. What can be more motivating for a believer than the command of Allah! So, the Holy War (Jihad) on infidels must go on even at the cost of one’s own annihilation. This is proved beyond debate by Pakistan; even when it’s on the brink India has to be maligned internationally (Jihad with Words) on Kashmir. Since Muslims are under permanent obligation to hate and despise the non- Muslim rule (Jihad of Heart), therefore Pakistan must enforce it by whatever means even if the employed means may lead to dehumanizing a pluralistic society. This “Jihad of Heart” comes through in speeches of the leaders of AMIM and the Valley based political outfits like JKNC JKPDP and PC, etc. And Muslim religious heads don’t lag behind in this type of Jihad, as was evident during anti-CAA hooliganism and during Corona times.

Will “Kashmir Problem” Cease to be?

Not until Pakistan transforms itself from being religious based set-up into a Secular and Democratic one. That would end the conflicting World-views between India and Pakistan.

Else, Pakistan disintegrates into smaller countries which won’t have the wherewithal to challenge India on Kashmir and  Pro -Pak elements in Kashmir would also run out of their steam.