Firdaus

"Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast, Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast"

"If there is a paradise on earth, It is this, it is this, it is this"

Thus exclaimed the great 13th century Persian poet Amir Khusro when he saw Kashmir for the first time. He was so smitten by the pristine beauty of the place that he called it firdaus - the paradise promised by God in the hereafter. I sometimes wonder what the great poet might have said if he saw the valley now with all the unrest and bloodshed surrounding the incomparable beauty. It proves again that in the contradictory world we live in beauty sometimes goes hand in hand with the beast of war and terror.

At the time of partition Kashmir was in the unenviable position of being at the crossroad of India and Pakistan - both Geographical and Ideological. For Kashmir shared borders with both the countries and hence both eyed it as a potential part of their respective countries when they come into being. Pakistan thought it natural that Kashmir being a Muslim majority state will fall into its lap whereas India being secular thought that religion will in no way come in the way of the merger of Kashmir as the Kashmiris were culturally closer to India and mostly sympathetic to India in any case.

When partition eventually came, as the king dilly-dallied about joining either union the Pakistan-inspired tribesman (Kabalis) launched an offensive to capture Kashmir. By the time the king finally relented to India and the army pushed the Kabalis back Pakistan had gained control of the hilly northern half (POK) and India the rest including the all important valley. Ever since then both India and Pakistan have treated Kashmir as a fiefdom to be protected. This status-quo remained - even after two wars over it - until Pakistan decided on a covert war by training misguided Kashmiri youth who were disillusioned with India and encouraging armed insurgency into the valley with the cry of 'azadi'. This is how things stood in the 90s and since then the Kashmiris have been disillusioned with Pakistan as they have realized that instead of alleviating their problems the Pakistanis have used them as pawns to checkmate India.

As last year's protests over the Amaranth shrine row proved the people in the valley are angry with India and need answers. Some people in the Indian media have suggested that India consider letting go of Kashmir as it has become a liability. However any such move will in my opinion will be disastrous as it will hurt India's secular image as the world will turn around and say that 'India cannot manage its minorities'. Also it will give grist to the right-wing parties to target the minorities accusing them of never been able to reconcile and live with the majority community. Hence any proposal of a Kashmir secession has to be shelved. So what is the solution to this problem which has grown to such a proportion that it is hurting both India and Pakistan's progress. Both sides have to make compromises in their frozen stands. India for its part has to tackle it in two ways.

Firstly, since war is not an option with a nuclear Pakistan, it has to make peace with Pakistan by proposing to make the LOC as an international border thereby letting go of the northern areas to Pakistan an area on which India does not assert control anyway. The northern areas anyway have more Punjabi influence than Kashmiri and hence letting go of that area will not compromise on Indo-Kashmiri cultural tie. The more crucial Kashmir valley with all its business and cultural centers will still be with India. Its a worthy compromise as it will change the hideous status-quo and also the fact that India will gain more than it will loose.

Secondly, India will have to provide Kashmiris a share of its economic prosperity. I always believe that most social problems have an economic solution. For an economically satisfied person will never take up arms and put his and his family's life in jeopardy. Only the man who has nothing to lose takes up violence against the state. Hence India will have to encourage foreign investment in Kashmir and also encourage tourism so as to make Kashmir an economically progressive state. India for example , can set up an annual Davos-style 'Indian Economic Forum' in Kashmir to enable Indian businessman to network which will no doubt encourage tourism and change Kashmir's international image as well. Such initiatives will go a long way in healing old wounds and bringing Kashmir into the Indian mainstream.

However, will things change for the better or worse or will they remain the same is for time to ponder and answer. We can only hope that the lost paradise is regained.