India should take inspiration from its not so friendly neighbour China and allow demographic changes in resolving the Kashmir issue. The government must stop internationalising the issue and ensure that the state is brought into mainstream.
India could have taken an inspiration from its not so friendly neighbour China to resolve the vexed Kashmir issue. The communist nation has its own Kashmir known as “Xinjiang” and China has problems with Islamist separatists similar to Kashmir province. Xinjiang shares borders with Ladakh but the reason, why Xinjiang problem is not known to many people around the world is that the Chinese regimes have prevented it from becoming an international issue.
In 1948, India nearly won most of Kashmir from Pakistan which had invaded it, but, willingly turned it into an international issue. It was India, not Pakistan, which went to the United Nations and made Kashmir an international issue. Making amends India should take lead from China's handling of Xinjiang and learn hows the province was incorporated into mainland China. Xinjiang, had a majority Turkish Muslim population, known as Uighurs in 1949, and was known by its erstwhile name East Turkestan before China invaded it.
Unlike Kashmir, Xinjiang is huge province and its size is around 1.8 million sq. kms, approximately one-sixth of China; half as much as of India. On the other hand, India's Kashmir measures around 2, 65,000 sq. kms, of which some 86,000 sq.kms is under Pakistan; some 37,500 sq. kms is under Chinese control and the rest 1, 41,000 sq.kms is with India.The disputed part of India's Kashmir is less than one hundredth of Xinjiang. So China's Kashmir is physically 100 times bigger than India's and hence its problem is that much bigger. Xinjiang has a population of more than 20 million. The Uighur Muslims constitute 45 per cent; other Muslims 12 per cent and Hans Chinese 41 per cent of the population. But people will be astonished to know that Hans Chinese constituted just 6 per cent of the province’s population in 1949, although in the last six decades it has risen by seven times. This change did not occur on its own. More than trusting its own Army or the administrative control of its bureaucracy in the troubled region, China trusted its people. It ensured that the Han Chinese slowly began populating Xinjiang. The result is obvious. The 41 per cent Han Chinese population does not include Chinese defence personnel and families, and unregistered migrant Chinese workers. There is little doubt that China has problems with Islamist separatists, extremists and terrorists. But it has, by diplomacy and deed, kept it an internal problem of China. In contrast, India has on its own made Kashmir an international issue. Even more so, China has altered the religious and political demography of Xinjiang by ensuring that 41 per cent of the province's population is of Han Chinese origin. On the contrary, instead of working to change the demography in favour of India like China has done, the Indian government could not even prevent the exclusion of the Hindus from Kashmir Valley. While Xinjiang is half filled by Han Chinese, Kashmir has been cleansed of the original Hindus and this so called Islamisation of the Kashmir valley means that India has to defend Kashmir by the army rather than by the people. If India followed the policy, which Chinese had adopted in Xinjiang, winning back Kashmir instead of constricting under Article 370 which grants Kashmir a special status within the Indian Union and which prevents rest of the Indians from migrating to Kashmir, today Kashmir would have demographically integrated with India. And if the successive Indian governments had done that, then India would have been saved from the threat of communal fight and frequent acts of terrorism. The lesson to be learnt from the Chinese experience for India is: Balanced Demography. And more so at the borders, the religious demographic balance that is in tune with the national mainstream is the security guarantee for the nation. China steadily brought Xinjiang, its Kashmir, into the Chinese national mainstream through the Han Chinese migration. But India constitutionally contracted to keep its Kashmir out of the mainstream; it even cleansed it of the mainstream by making the Hindus (Kashmiri Pandits) refugees.
.There are always two sides to a point, like right and wrong. Since the wrong also pretends to project itself right, its voice is far more loud, argumentatitive,
and screetchy. Someone is preaching lessons of history pretending a Pandit of history. It is the attitude we harbour in our mind that is important in everything. Then there is nothing called perfect. It is all a compromise. But the fundamentalists in Kashmir and across the border will never allow anything rational to succeed, whatever you do. Even if they have achieved what they want, they will keep fighting among themselves. Because fighting is what they have learnt. The current situation in Pakistan is self evident. One Muslim group killing the other Muslims. That is the true nature of Islam, again demasked in the terror unleashed in 26/11 Mumbai attacks by the jihadis. Does anybody have answers?
There are situations where logics and administration do not go together. Hardline Islam cares the least for those values.
Dr. O. P. Sudrania
.I agree with Mayeed's comment. The only solution is that India and Pakistan let the Khasmiris to decide their fate under UN supervision but I think India will never do this becasue India is using kashmire as wpon againisn Pakistan by confronting ISI for different internal violations.
.No doubt, this articleis very good. It must be kept in mind that Sardar Vallabha Patel wanted to settle the Kashmir issue internally. But Nehru over-ruled Sardar Patel's request and complained the the United Nations about Pakistans' involvement in the Kasmir issue. If only Nehru accepted Sardar Patel's advice, the Kashmir issue would have been solved decades agao. Also the politicians want to keep the Kashmir issue pending, as any minor or major threat (bomb or otherwise) in India can be pushed towards Pakistan's ISI.
.I must congratulate for the brilliant article with startling facts regarding the chinese kashmir. I hope our politicians ,our bureaucrats and our people read your article and think about it. How much have we sacrificed for Kashmir in the form of our forces and kashmiri pandits.
when the BJP government wanted to withdraw the special status there was a big hue and cry. Our problem is that whereas china kept the muslims in control we have pampered them with special favour as minorities. If Imran hashmi does not get a house in hindu society he calls a press conference and when the kashmiri pandits where thrown out of the valley there was no one to give ear to their catastrophe.
.It is a mindless muck...Yes India should learn from china because what ever china is doing in their"kasmir" that is evident and they accept to have done it.But our secular cum fanatic hindu leaders are overtly attacking the rellgion of the minorties and when it comes to kashmir they do not leave even a single chance to kill and harm kashmiris under false pretense...
.The Xinjiang is not Kashmir and India ia not China,so the solution of Kashmir is not the same. The solution has to be out of the box.The Paklistan thinks that it can frustrate India by creating trouble throgh their jehadi elements and bring India to its nees.Till ths is not brought to its conclusion, Pakistan hope will remain that one day it can have muslim majority Kashmir One day. Therefore, India should see that stategy of pakistan gets fruatrated at the earliest. Then the solution to the Kashmir problem can be found.It is unfortunate that India internationalised the Issue that is why we are suffering todate.
.Funny ... China's Ueghur problem is an International issue. If it wasn't, why are they trying to stop Australia from allowing their leader to attend the film festival in Sydney? China, whether it likes it on not, will have to part with Xingiang sooner or later - as will be the case with India getting its freedom from Kashmir (as Arundhati put it). Changing demographics will result in massacre if the events of last year in Kashmir are any guide for us.
.Mr Pawan Atri is talking in air. He is oblivious of the ground situation in Kashmir and lacks knowledge about the history of the case.
He would do well to go back in to history and analyse as to how Pt Nehru started addressing the demographic balancing act for final solution to the problem. He must know that United J&K had 80:20 ratio of Muslims v/s Non-Muslims. Nehru by putting a halt to the Indian advance towards now Azad Kashmir or Pak administered Kashmir sought to make the demography in manageable levels of 65:35. He virtually eliminated the martial race portion of the populace that could make the problem unmanageable by allowing Pak to occupy the Northern territories and districts like Muzafferabad, Bagh. For more than forty years we could manage to keep the docile Kashmiris under check and even manipulated demography by bringing in a large number of Punjabis and settling them in Jammu, Poonch, Rajouri and even in Ramban districts. Then we have several central institutioins in J&K which are manned by Indians who get settled in the state. Under Jagmohan doctrine we are are bringing in more and more non Muslim s in to the state to work in Universities and institutions like NIIT, Mata Vaishno Devi University of Science & Technology. Today the people of J&K are fighting each other over having the proposed Central University in Jammu or Kashmir. See they are not going to get even a class 4rth job share in the university. The university is going to bring in a large number of Non Muslim employees who for certain would be settling in the state and by the by very shortly we are going to have Muslims in minority there. The author needs to know that with the reservation policy many scheduled cates are getting infiltrated in J&K's Muslim majority districts. They are going to settle and help reduce fair color of the Kashmiri race. The Government is already doing so much yet this Pawan Atri is not satisfied-Ram help him to understand what is what-He is typical BJPO man without a grain of intellect
