responses to ulhas, chris doss:
uvj at vsnl.com wrote:
>
> 1. You have not explained why India should hold a referendum in Kashmir.
>
because that may be one way to determine the choice of the people. i believe the people have to be given such a choice, because of the dispute surrounding kashmir's "accession" to india and india's record in the region. as i understand it: the british installed a hindu ruler over the predominantly muslim kashmir. it can be claimed that it was his religious identity that caused him to vascillate on the choice of which of the two new nations to join. it seems clear that even he preferred to not join either nation. i am not sure what the thoughts of the majority muslims he ruled over, were. further, there seems to be some technical questions surrounding the time of signing of the accession and the landing of indian troops in kashmir (in response to pashtun attacks). also, if i understand the history correctly, india agreed to a plebiscite in 1947, and a plebiscite/referendum has been called for by the UN multiple times.
> 2. Nobody can force India to hold a referendum, even if it is required.
what we can or cannot force india to do depends on extraneous issues of power and politics, doesnt it? isn't the question (in such a debate on an internet mailing list) only as to what is fair and true?
> 3. Indian Parliament has passed a resolution stating that Kashmir is an
> integral part of India. _This resolution was passed unanimously_. Even
> Indian CPs have voted for that resolution. So there is no possibility that a
> referedum will ever be held. So Kashmiri self-determination by a referendum
> is a remote possibility, even if we accept for the sake of argument that
> that is a desirable.
its not clear where you are going with this. are you making the pragmatic point that however much we may sympathize with kashmiri muslims, it is not realistic to expect the indian govt to act in a fair manner?
> 4. How do you hold a free and fair referendum in Kashmir, unless terrorism
> is stopped?
perhaps terrorists may cease violent activities if a referendum was organized (since the result might be one they favour). or if not, how does one hold elections in any such region? what are the alternatives?
> 5. If you hold a referendum in Kashmir, there could be similar demands from
> other parts of India. Sikhs in Punjab and Christians in Meghalaya, Mizoram
> and Nagaland are in majority. Tamilians can demand a referendum in
> Tamilnadu. Look at Sri Lanka!
and what is to be learned from them? is it not that each has to be given consideration as to their validity and evaluated in light of other options? tamilians in tamil nadu are not going to embark on a separatist movement unless they feel some persistent pain from the centre/north. if that be the case, is it a better option to suppress their complaints in favour of keeping the union together?
> 6. Btw, how do Indian leftists support referendum in Kashmir without doing
> so elsewhere, say, in Tibet and Xinjiang without destroying their
> credibility? Don't you know people in India will ask why we have double
> standards?
i cannot speak for all indian leftists. i do not know the details and history of tibet or xinjiang. from the little i know about tibet, i am inclined to think that a referendum may indeed be called for.
also, good luck with the air conditioner search! ;-)
Chris Doss wrote [edited]:
>
> 1. What effect would this have on the region outside
> Kasmir?
>
> 2. What would happen inside Kashmir? Is Kashmir
> ethnoculturally homogeneous?
>
> 3. Is Kashmir a viable economic unit that can exist on
> its own?
>
> 4. Is Kahmir a viable political unit that can exist on
> its own?
>
> BTW Chechnya has very broad autonomy within the
> Russian Federation and has always had it.
>
i think the questions you raise are extremely pertinent and should be a part of the framework used to answer the question of kashmir. perhaps the conclusion may well be that chechnya style autonomy would be the best option for kashmir (and hopefully the people will buy the reasoning).
--ravi