Has Pakistan ditched the Kashmiris
At the 8th Regional Conference of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), comprising media persons from eight South Asian SAARC countries, the Kashmir issue appeared to have dimmed and become almost a non issue.
uk canada goose outlet SAFMA 2013 held its concluding session at Lahore, following its inaugural session in Amritsar wherein India’s external affairs minister Salman Khurshid floated the idea of ‘breakfast in one country, lunch in another and dinner in yet another’, pushing forward for peace between the two neighbours. uk canada goose outlet
But in one of the most important panel discussions on the theme of ‘South Asian vision for an Economic Union’ in the presence of former Prime canada goose womens outlet Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif, noted columnist and Editor in Chief of The Friday Times Najam Sethi,, Nusrat Javed, a famous Pakistani journalist and anchor for Aaj TV, besides Dr Ijaz Nabi Country Director, International Growth Centre, Pakistan, Kashmir took a back seat. It seemed that Kashmir was being clearly ditched by Pakistan!
For Kashmiris from India it came as big jolt to hear a www.hotcanadagoose.com Pakistani speaker say, “The totality of Indo Pak relations cannot be linked to the single issue of Kashmir.”
And further, to make their positions clearer, the speaker said: “We would like to see the welfare of Kashmiris by way of engaging in more trade between both Kashmirs, easing of visas for travel to each other’s places. Indo Pak trade, water and power generation, which we are greatly hopeful that peace between India and Pakistan is bound to bring in.”
Canada Goose Outlet How would Kashmiris, who suffered for more than two decades aided by Pakistan to revolt against India, feel about this, I wondered. Canada Goose Outlet
All this time, I had met many Indian Kashmiris, who came to Amritsar and looked longingly at Lahore, from the Indian side of the Attari Wagha Indo Pak border, during the beating canada goose outlet store calgary the retreat ceremony. Some, who sat glum during the retreat ceremony came close to grieving over being separated from Pakistan, lamenting that Kashmir on the Indian side, should canada goose outlet uk have been a part of Pakistan.
canada goose clearance sale One, who I met in Amritsar a few years ago, called the border an ‘unnatural divide’ and scoffed disgustedly: “If it were possible, India would station an army man in each Kashmiri kitchen.” canada goose clearance sale
Numberless gullible Kashmiris, who ran the marathon to training camps across the border, were promised a glorious goal of Independence. They returned to fight, flush with money, arms and above all dreams of ‘holy war’ that would ensure a royal place in heavenly paradise for them in case they were ‘martyred’.
Many felt it was easy money and brain washed others to run their outfits in Kashmir with support from across the border. The more vitriolic ones became apples of the eyes of their masters as they fitted in their sinister plans.
There were others who fiercely wrote in newspapers about the atrocities on Kashmiris by security forces while ignoring or canada goose parka outlet soft pedalling the atrocities by the militants. There were those who, while conversing with their counterparts in rest of the country, referred to anything Indian as ‘yours’ and anything Kashmiri as ‘ours’.
All this while, they were filled with feeling of abhorrence for their present state. The army’s strong arm tactics aggravated the situation. Daily dirges and insults at the hands of the security forces had left them cold and concerned over their future and those of their children.
cheap canada goose uk Kashmiris found themselves on a cliff hanger not knowing whether the canada goose outlet us militant or canada goose outlet the army bullet would kill them. cheap canada goose uk
When the initial itch over being freedom fighters faded and turned sore, the fallout of their actions spilled over. For some hardliners, a bleak future awaited. militants or army. It was a proverbial choice ‘from the frying pan into the fire’.
canada goose clearance Others on the sidelines gave only lip service to their bravado and went on with their lives, availing all Indian government sponsored benefits and schemes while leaving them to struggle. Still, they hung on to their ally They drew strength and succor from the fact that Pakistan was still their well wisher. canada goose clearance
Countless K agendas raised at International forums by Pakistan had canada goose jacket outlet uk little impact although it endeared Pakistan to Kashmiris.
However, Pakistan’s recent position on Kashmir was shared with Rising Kashmir by a senior Pak bureaucrat who said Kashmiris had played a ‘double game’ with them.
He contended that while Pakistani side had lost more lives than Kashmiris, even as they had pumped in money, men and material as also feted and felicitated them, Kashmiris in turn joined the election process held by India, elected their leaders and lifted them on their shoulders. They availed all Indian government and army schemes.
canada goose factory sale “They told us they are unable canada goose jacket uk to offer Namaz in Indian side of Kashmir, but we have seen them freely doing so. They tell us their women are not safe, but their women are freely moving about, getting educated and showing no traces of fear,” he said. canada goose factory sale
The Kargil misadventure in 1999, after nearly 10 years of turmoil in Kashmir, seemed like a shot in the arm for militants in Kashmir, who saw Pakistan as the saviour.
Of course, the end of the battle saw Pakistan faced with rebuke and reprimand, as also a royal ignore and the ultimate shaming by US its funding ally that ultimately punctured its stature in global eyes. Alternatively, under the leadership and statesmanship of Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Kargil won India kudos for its restraint in the face of a sly enemy.
uk canada goose Pakistan used Kashmir canada goose outlet location to save the multitude of high profile chairs, raising the bogey of Kashmir, every time a crisis on home ground erupted. Kashmir served as a diversionary tactics, to gloss over faults of omission and neglect in Pakistan. uk canada goose
The US too felt it was being used by Pakistan who was trying to fulfill its Kashmir agenda on the pretext of Afghanistan’s occupation by USSR. Therefore, in time, USA too pulled itself out of the mire of Pak mechanizations, cut down its funding and ditched Pakistan partially as the Frankenstein monster of terrorism that it had created sought to feed onto its creator Having lost its financial conduit and faced with rebellion and insurgency in its troubled corners, as well as from insurgents it had created, Pakistan today is left with a choice to either save its own or that of Kashmir.
Perturbed over this stand of Pakistan to shelve the Kashmir issue, Shujaat Bukhari Editor in Chief of English daily, Rising Kashmir raised a query to Pakistan panel and canada goose outlet in usa especially to Nawaz Sharif one of Kashmiri origin, asking “If Kashmir issue was to be sidelined thus, why were 23 years and lakhs of lives lost for this cause?” To which he got a reply that welfare of Kashmiris could be in softening of the LoC (line of control) and “not in transfer of territory”.
canada goose coats The sidelining of Kashmir was complete when even in his personal address Nawaz Sharif gave a miss to the Kashmir issue and stated “If voted to power as next President of Pakistan I would bring the same relationship of bonhomie between India and Pakistan as I and PM Vajpayee had brought in February of 1999 by starting the Sada e Sarhad, Indo bus service.” canada goose coats
The present scenario is that Kashmiri households that drilled anti India venom are left with an educated new generation, many of whom have flown the nest, to seek wider horizons to further their aspirations of a good life, while those who remain are left alone to tend to their festering wounds. Those who supported them from the neighbouring country have now their own hands full, fighting internal battles, dousing the monster of terrorism that they had created.
Nusrat Javed, the panelist when questioned on the sidelines of SAFMA to clarify the Pakistani stand on Kashmir, counter questioned have a child in Baluchistan crying in pain, should I tend to ‘my’ child or a Kashmiri child?”
As a host for a popular programme Bolta Pakistan of Aaj TV, Nusrat said people in Pakistan are least interested in Kashmir issue and his programme’s TRPs drop every time a topic related to Kashmir issue is aired.
canada goose uk black friday It is a fact that Kashmir is fast losing out in terms of media interest in India too. Many foreign media organizations have bid goodbye to Kashmir a hotbed of news, for past two decades. Reuters, BBC radio and TV, German owned Deutsche Welle, AFP have wound up from Kashmir canada goose uk black friday.