--- ravi <gadfly at exitleft.org> wrote: Hi Ravi,
I have no position on Kashmir, outside of a general distate for secessionism that is a result of living in the former Soviet Union, as I know hardly anything about it. However, there are some things that should be considered that go beyond whether or not a majority of Kashmiris want self-determination, which they may or may not, I don't know. (And what does that mean in the Indian context? India is not an empire, it is a liberal democracy.)
1. What effect would this have on the region outside Kasmir? Would it destabilize the situation inside India, for example? Dehli seems to think so.
2. What would happen inside Kashmir? Is Kashmir ethnoculturally homogeneous? Would it unleash violence between ethnic, religious, or cultural groups inside Kasmir?
3. Is Kashmir a viable economic unit that can exist on its own? The former Soviet Union has several instances of newly independent republics that are simply incapable of economically supporting themselves.
4. Is Kahmir a viable political unit that can exist on its own? Will it fall under the orbit of Pakistan (presumably a bad thing from the viewpoint of post Indians). Will it devolve into anarchy, warlordism, criminality and ideological fanaticism determined to continue the struggle with Dehli even after independence is achieved? This is what happened when Chechnya got its self-determination.
BTW Chechnya has very broad autonomy within the Russian Federation and has always had it.
>
> if you folks are done having fun at the expense of
> these strange
> leftists ;-), you should start addressing the
> particular issues themselves.
>
> take for instance kashmir: i believe that the people
> of kashmir have a
> right to some strong form of autonomy, and perhaps
> also
> self-determination. irrespective of pakistan's
> actions, i believe the
> facts show that the govt of india has [almost
> consistently] acted
> unfairly towards kashmiris.
>
===== Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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