R Jagannathan: Wrong turn on J&K

MICROVIEW

The Prime Minister's announcement of troop reductions in Kashmir on the same day on which militants attacked a CRPF camp should make things clear about what we are really up against.

I agree with the general idea of flexibility and compromise in situations of conflict. But the key question is: for what are we seeking solutions? If the answer is the Kashmir dispute, there is going to be no solution.

Kashmir isn't the problem. It is merely Pakistan's version of the problem. And if a woolly headed Manmohan Singh has fallen for this line, the country will pay dearly for this.

Accepting Kashmir as the problem means acquiescing in the idea that religion should be the basis for nationhood, complete with all the bigotry that comes as part of the baggage.

In my book, the problem is""and always has been""Pakistan. The Kashmir issue, or any other "problem" between Pakistan and India, cannot be solved till Pakistan (and Bangladesh, for that matter) rejects Islamo-fascism and overtly becomes secular.

And until this ideological battle is won, there is no point pretending Kashmir is the core issue. Indian secularists are completely on the wrong track regarding Kashmir. The battle for Kashmir is about secularism, and not merely Kashmiri identity. If it was the latter, all Kashmiris should be eager to bring the Pandits back to the valley. But that's a long way from happening.

In the last few months, Manmohan Singh's government has repeatedly made the strategic mistake of treating Kashmir as central to peace with Pakistan when it is the other way around""Pakistan is the central threat to secularism and peace in the sub-continent.

And this threat comes from our condoning the existence of a theocratic state in the 21st century and failing to challenge the ideological roots of extremism and fascism.

The militants creating mayhem in the Valley are not driven by thoughts of Kashmiri identity but Islamic jihad. And Pakistan has been their prime sponsor because it believes in the ideology of Islamic expansionism. Having been created in the name of Islam, the state of Pakistani believes it must promote the growth of this religion by hook or by crook.

It cannot countenance the existence of a Muslim majority state in a secular India. The real threat to Kashmir's identity comes from this kind of ideological warfare and not India, which has gone to the extreme extent of denying its own citizens the right to settle and own property in the Valley.

Strategically, it would have been the easiest thing for India to use the years of central rule in Kashmir to abrogate all these laws and encourage the settlement of Hindus in the Valley""something like what the Israelis did in the occupied territories.

As a sovereign country, India could have done that and permanently erased the possibility of secession. But India did nothing of the sort""clearly proving that it is Islamo-fascism and terrorism that are behind the loss of Kashmiri identity.

Most liberals and "human rights" activists probably believe that India owes Kashmiris an apology. For them the problem is merely about human rights abuses. We don't have to defend human rights abuses by anybody, but to believe it is the key to Kashmir's problems is naive, if not dangerous.

The Indian army is in Kashmir not just to subjugate the militants but to thwart the designs of Islamo-fascism. The ultimate objective of India should be to defeat the ideology of a theocratic state in the sub-continent, and we should not rest till that happens.

Consider the cold war between the US and the former USSR. Was it really about who ruled Germany, or was about overcoming totalitarian ideologies?

The collapse of the Soviet Union and totalitarian Communism took more than 60 years, but it was achieved only because the West was prepared to fight the war to the bitter end""despite the stupidity of western liberals and the better-red-than-dead brigade.

Soft-hearted liberals may believe that peace is achieved by holding candles at Wagah, but peace can never result from a willingness to capitulate on terms specified by an aggressive ideology. Peace breaks out when a totalitarian ideology is shown to be empty and bankrupt. That, unfortunately, is not the stage at which the global jihad movement is in at this point of time.

Despite the failure of the Iranian revolution and the complete bankruptcy of the Wahabi brand of Islamic fundamentalism in Saudi Arabia, the Osamas of the world are growing in strength precisely because peace-mongers are unwilling to acknowledge a fascist threat when they see one.

Kashmir is one of the pawns in this game""along with Palestine and Chechniya. India cannot "buy" peace in Kashmir by agreeing to Pakistan's agenda.

The focus of efforts must thus shift to the ideological plane where the goal must be the secularisation of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Once that is achieved, solving Kashmir will be a breeze.

rjagann@business-standard.com