I

always like reading Khawaja’s letters that appear in The Jakarta Post. He writes very sensibly. I have also felt his desire for a lessening of the Indo-Pak tensions. But his letter on Aug. 3 is somewhat different.

I think all the old disputes except Kashmir can be sorted out amicably! However, no matter how earnestly we all might wish this, the Kashmir problem isn’t going to go away! So both countries should accept the Line of Control as the international border and shake hands. There is no point in going into its causes, but today to accept a plebiscite is not feasible in J&K as all Hindus have been driven out from the valley.

But Pakistan could hold a plebiscite in the Kashmir region it occupies as there is no major ethnic change in its population. The choices should be whether they would like to join India or Pakistan, but not “Independent Kashmir” because if we talk of Kashmir’s independence, all the provinces in India & Pakistan from Kashmir, Baltistan, Gilgit (North) to Tamilnadu (South) and Waziristan, Baluchistan (West) to Assam, Nagaland (East) should also be offered the same “luxury”! Are both the countries ready to open this Pandora’s Box?

Is Pakistan ready to hold a plebiscite in the Kashmir region it presently occupies to decide whether the people there wish to join India or Pakistan?

Though both the countries are arming themselves to their teeth, India is doing so with its own money but Pakistan is doing it with borrowed funds expressly not given for that purpose!

Pakistan should have a healthy competition with India, but on fields other than the battlefield! I have never understood why Pakistan is fighting wars that it can’t afford, whether it’s with India or its War on Terror. Let go, my dear friends, concentrate on being self-sufficient first. Pakistan should stop seeking aid from other nations! But today the situation is so bad that if the US denies the aid, Pakistan goes to China! Why is Pakistan not self-sufficient after more than 60 years of independence? Why does it not want to quit the infamous “failed states club”?

It apparently wasn’t loyal to the US’ friendship in regards to Osama’s camping in Abbottabad and now their forever-friend China also has accused that Pakistan-trained militants were behind the terrorist acts in Xinjiang province. So whither Pakistan?

When a tsunami hit many parts of India, India politely refused all aid from other nations, but when last year Pakistan was hit by one of the worst floods, it went to the world for help. When Pakistan complained of poor world response, the donors wanted Pakistan to first force its rich to pay their taxes! India offered help (like it did with the Katrina flood victims in USA), but Pakistan was not magnanimous even in accepting it gracefully.

Khawaja has touched on the rise of hardline elements in both countries. Speaking for Hindus, we are basically tolerant people. That is why so many religions flourished in India. So its reasons need to be traced elsewhere. However, this is neither the place nor the time to discuss it!

Peace in this region can come only if Pakistan changes its mindset. That is why I lauded the recent speech of Pakistan’s ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharief appealing to his countrymen not to look at India as their biggest enemy. In fact, India is Pakistan’s most genuine friend. Enmity with India has cost Pakistan dearly from the beginning!

K.B. Kale
Jakarta