Chapter 7: The Irrelevance of the Two-Nation Theory

The majority population of erstwhile East Pakistan seceded in 1971 despite commonalty of religion. Sectarian and ethnic riots between Sindhis, Punjabis, Pathans, Mohajirs or Muslim migrants from India are endemic in Pakistan. Pakistan refuses to accept the approximately 200,000 co-religionist "Bihari Muslims" currently in Bangladesh who have always considered themselves to be citizens of Pakistan.

In the partition of India, therefore, all that happened was that some Muslim majority areas of British India took the character of a separate political entity. The Indian States were left free to decide. The founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, had said on June 17, 1947 that the rulers of the States had the right to decide on accession. The ruler of Jammu and Kashmir chose to accede to India.

PAKISTAN'S TERRITORIAL AMBITIONS

Pakistan's harping on self-determination today, against the principles advocated by the founders of Pakistan, against the UN Charter principles of self- determination which are meant to apply to colonial territories and not to integral parts of countries, and several decades after the issue has been settled, are only a cover for its territorial ambitions. The principles being espoused by Pakistan pose several dangers to several countries in the world where multi- ethnic and multi-religious societies co-exist. Pakistan's adventurist posture on Kashmir is also an attempt to externalize its internal crises characterized by sectarian riots, daily killings of Muslims, narco-terrorism, proliferation of weapons, drug addiction, unstable power equations at central and provincial levels, a rising crime rate including daily murders, abductions and violence. Pakistan has no locus standi in Jammu and Kashmir. It has no right to demand at a conference table what it tried illegally, and in violation of the UN Charter, to secure at its own chosen forum, the battlefield, and lost.

In a diverse country like India, disaffection and discontent are not uncommon. Indian democracy has the necessary resilience to accommodate genuine grievances within the framework of its Constitution, sovereignty, unity and integrity. The situation is capable of a solution within this framework in Kashmir. The government is willing to accommodate the legitimate political demands of the Kashmiri people. However, the Pakistani-sponsored terrorists have terrorized the population and are hindering any political dialogue. Anybody who tries to initiate a dialogue is silenced. It is this terrorism, and the kidnappings and killings of innocent people by terrorists, that constitute the real violation of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir. The State agencies which are attempting to maintain law and order have acted with much greater restraint than has been the case with many other governments in similar situations. The Government of Pakistan, for instance, used its Air Force to bomb its own citizens in Baluchistan in 1973 and tackled that situation at an estimated cost of 8,500 civilian and 3,000 military lives.

Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan's covert and overt actions, instigating terrorism and mounting propaganda against India, will not change the situation.