Flashpoint Kashmir

Indian Held Kashmir (IHK), which has been simmering for the past two decades because the Indian leadership reneged on the promise made by its founding fathers to honour the pledge given to the UN Security Council to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the desire of the Kashmiris, has now reached a flashpoint.

The events of the past ten weeks, a fanatical Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and an ineffective Congress have acted as catalysts in bringing the situation to a head. The allocation of 100 acres of prime forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) by the Jammu and Kashmir Government caused a violent reaction by the Kashmiri Muslims, causing the Chief Minister Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad to lose his government and the rescinding of the allocation and placing IHK under Governor's Rule. This in turn provided an opportunity to the BJP to arouse chauvinism among the hardliner Hindu population of Jammu to politicise and exploit the agitation. It imposed an economic blockade which closed the Jammu-Srinagar highway for weeks bringing goods transportation to a halt, causing great public suffering.

As a reaction, mainstream parties of IHK marched towards Muzaffarabad with the aim of selling perishable fruit in Azad Kashmir. More than 20 people were massacred along with the renowned Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz, in condemnable, highhanded police action. In a turnaround, New Delhi has now decided to re-allot the cancelled land to SASB to appease the Hindus.