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Two questions Imran Khan should ask himself. 

Every national leader has their own version of events to support their claim of abiding by the international law.

Following the course, Pakistan’s newly elected Prime Minister has his version of history and the intention to resolve the conflict through diplomatic means, which is indeed a noble thought.

Millions of people in India, Pakistan and Kashmir which wanted to be an independent state at the time of partition have been urging a peaceful solution ever since terror filled the valley between the borders of two nuclear-armed Asian nations.

Equally, vacuum has filled the political will of their leaders as well. No one needs a war except the politicians because as Carl Von Clausewitz said war is an extension of politics by other means.

Mr. Khan’s intentions for a peaceful solution reflects how deeply hollow his political will is. 

He should do some soul searching to find how profoundly he desires peace with India.  The below 2 questions should help him self-interrogate.

1. Did he mourn or express condolences for the killing of 46 Indian soldiers in Pulawama?

No matter who killed. Civility is not outlawed for politicians.As a leader of the nation who is accused of perpetrating the attack, Mr. Khan never expressed his grief for the killings.

How could a peace loving Prime Minister display dis-courteousness with such contempt? He advised the citizens of the rival nation to use their intelligence and wisdom to avoid a war while forgetting to show the bear minimum political civility expected of him.

The script he read to the press was devoid of benevolence towards humanity. When there is no act of kindness shown at the demise of those who you presume to be your enemies where lies the intention to achieve peace.

2. Would his peaceful solution find the disturbing truth?

Let’s go back to 1947. As the two newly independent nations were born based on the religious majority, more than 650 princely states remained independent without swearing their allegiance to either of the two nascent nations.

Kashmir was one among the 650 princely states and it wanted to remain independent under Maharaja Hari Singh, a ruler whose subjects are mostly Muslims.

When Pakistan wanted to have it’s settlements in the land of Kashmir and allowed its tribesmen to infiltrate, the ruler Maharaja hari Singh requested military assistance from -before fleeing to- India, where he agreed to annex the state with the Union of India by signing the Instrument of Accession.

A war was fought between the two nations in 1947-48 after which India approached the UN to resolve the dispute.

The UN Security Council passed a non-binding resolution that forced Pakistan to withdraw its troops and allowed a smaller portion of the Indian troops to remain in order to maintain law and order in the state.

However, Pakistan continued to fight for it’s unknown right over the land and today controls certain portion (35%) of the state.

A ceasefire in 1949 drew the boundary of LOC which allowed India to hold 65% of the land. In 1957, India occupied Kashmir became a part of the Indian Union, while Pakistan still continues to fight for the land.

Several efforts put forwarded by the UN failed to resolve the conflict addressing the concerns of both the nations.

But the first legal document concerning the dispute is the Instrument of Accession which was accepted by Lord Mount Batten, the then Governor General of India with him quoting ‘it is my Government’s wish that as soon as law and order have been restored in Jammu and Kashmir and her soil cleared of invader the question of the State’s accession should be settled by a reference to the people”

The term invader denotes the infiltrators of Pakistan backed by its government. While the invaders have never left the land, how would a referendum be conducted?

Moreover,the referendum proposed by the first UN commission was not successful due to Pakistan’s condition to keep the proposal non-binding on or not acceptable to Azad Kashmir, the region controlled by Pakistan.

The invaders made the region unstable over the years and had deceived its inhabitants by seeding an illusive thought in their minds on religious grounds which reflects India as the malefactor.

A referendum now might go in favor of Pakistan, the original invaders of the land.

The peaceful solution proposed by Mr.Khan would only justify the invasion. Is it the agenda of Pakistan government to destabilize the region and win its people?

As a peace lover, Mr. Khan’s diplomatic resolution should identify the origin of the problem, recognize the infiltrators and leave the land that never belonged to Pakistan.

Peace prevails in the truth.

Image Source: The Trumpet