Is America really the eligible mediator that could resolve a 70 year old dispute on Kashmir between India and Pakistan?

By Yana Mir

Many a social activists, engaged in the Kashmir conflict, although living outside Kashmir, have justified that Washington must employ ‘ Minimally Intrusive’ techniques to push ‘ Kashmir Peace Talks’.

Here is a detailed fact based opinion of why the USA’s role as an ideal ‘ mediator’ is a failed idea right from start.

The USA does not see Islamic Supremacy as a threat – only when it is about other nations….

Yes the main cause of concern in engaging the USA as a mediator is that despite being a victim of Islamic terrorism and having its own share of votebank that is highly Islamophobic after 9/11 bombings, The USA is steeped in hypocrisy when it comes to policies of other nations in dealing with the threat of Islamic Supremacy, which pushes Muslim youth especially from impoverished regions of Pakistan, into a religion based warfare. This warfare based on an ideological mindset that other cultures are subordinate to Islam and must be crushed- whether it is done by forced Conversion of Hindu girls, breaking down temples, genocide of other religious minorities or simply a political resistance against a secular government , is conveniently overlooked by the USA when it tries to set standards for other nations in dealing with their foreign policies.

A classic example of systematic ‘Robbery’ of sovreignity through Islamic Supremacy is observed in the case study of Sindh, which now comes under jurisdiction of Pakistan.

The urban population of Sindh, at the time of the Partition was around one million and Hindus constituted more than half of the urban population, including Karachi. Hindus not only formed the business community of the pre-Partition Sindh, they also dominated professional spheres.But more than half a decade later, In present day Pakistan, the population of the two religious minorities, Christians and Hindus, is almost still the same (after including the Scheduled Casts into what was earlier categorised and counted separately as Hindu-Jati) [ Ref- Federal Bureau of Statistics, GoP.]

What’s the Reason you may ask?

Many Hindu Sindhis were forced to cross over to India during partition, those who stayed back, were killed or forcefully converted to Islam. Some converted due to psychological stress of dealing with social stigmas against Non Muslims, who do not enjoy equal rights and previleges brazenly as per Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

When it comes to Kashmir, the so called Kashmir conflict is nothing but a Political conspiracy in the framework of Indian Democracy, a conspiracy that aims to use the sentiment of ‘ hate against Hindus’ widely practised in Pakistani society, as a weapon to defeat political opposition in Indian side of Kashmir, by justifying that every move, every error, any inefficiency or any incompetency of the Indian administration is a direct and purposeful attack on the ‘ Muslim subjects’ of Kashmir- a direct attack on Islam.

This is how the political aspirants from Kashmir are playing a dangerous game, playing with fire, using hate based politics to crush Indian governance, forgetting that it’s Kashmiris themselves who acceeded to India in 1947, seeking protection from Pakistani invasion. [ Ref- Law Department of Jammu and Kashmir, Instrument of Accession ]

In trying to glorify itself as a flag bearer of liberty , the USA chooses to ignore the consequences which general public will have to face if Islamic war theories of resistance against a secular and democratic state like India, are given ‘Liberty’ to exercise their freewill on majority of peace loving Kashmiris who don’t harbour any political discontent against India, which is evident from the voter turnout in recent DDC elections in spite of corona pandemic. [ 51 per cent turnout was recorded across 28 constituencies spread over 18 districts of the union territory, Ref- State Election Commission].

The USA has its own internal issues to resolve…

According to a new study from researchers at Tufts University’s School of Arts and Sciences and Harvard Business School, America has not achieved the “post-racial” society that some predicted in the wake of Barack Obama’s election.

In fact, Anti white racism seems to have replaced the traditional anti black racism prevalent in America since the 1960s.

Furthermore, America’s Muslim population is restless as due to a growing anti Islam sentiment and network, Islam is now one of the most stigmatized religions in USA, with only 37 percent of Americans having a favorable opinion of Islam. [ according to a 2010 ABC News/ Washington Post poll.]

Increasing student debts, declining marriage rates, jobs being swept off by inmigrants leaving original citizens of USA unemployed, highest number of corona cases in the world, and failing election integrity with sharp rise in voter frauds…The USA needs to do a lot of mediating within its own society before taking up the role of peace maker for others.

USA is not very popular with quite a many nations ..

A mediator is one who is respected and idolized by all.

Whereas in fact the USA needs to make peace externally with a lot of other nations reaching their boiling points in showing patience with the USA.

Take for instance, the sanctions imposed on Iran, or pushing North Korea into isolation, the trade war with China, the drug smuggling and land dispute with Mexico, the never ending cold war with Russia, the troops in Afghanistan, aiding terror nations like Pakistan ( ironically under pretext of ‘ fighting terrorism!) Etc..

To resolve its mounting unpopularity with so many nations, the USA in fact needs a mediator like India which has cordial diplomatic and trade relations with all countries of the world except Pakistan.

Pakistan ‘ talked its way ‘ into funding from USA, now it wants to ‘ talk it’s way’ into funding from India…

It is very clear that Pakistan has emerged as a hooligan nation, one that takes security money from powerful nations in return for a promise that it won’t make any ‘ unexpected fidayeen attacks’ on those countries’ people or infrastructure.

Wasn’t that the implication in USA disbursing an annual funding of $6.88 billion which is represented in USA’s taxpayer funds . American money is being disbursed to Pakistan for pirypose of what USA calls ‘ Our shared fight against terrorism’.

However history shows us that while Pakistan is getting money and weapons, U.S. goals in the war on terror are sadly lacking, and Pakistan is in fact abetting terror , by protecting terror instigators, labelling them as social activists, nourishing terror training camps, sending infiltrators into India side of Kashmir, on the other side, sending terror into Afghanistan etc..All this so that war on terror never ends, and funding never ends… The cycle of terror propelled by Pakistan won’t end, simply because Pakistan will not allow it to end, because terror is what it sells.

According to an analysis published by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in 2008, Pakistan was reportedly, perhaps the world’s most active sponsor of terrorist groups… aiding these groups that pose a direct threat to the United States. Daniel Byman, a professor and senior analyst of terrorism and security at the Center For Middle East Policy, also wrote that, “Pakistan is probably 2008’s most active sponsor of terrorism”. Pakistan has been described as an effective safe haven for terrorists by the United States Secretary of Defense.

The United States’ State Sponsors of Terrorism designation list describes Pakistan as a “terrorist safe haven” where individual terrorists and terrorist groups are able to organize, plan, raise funds, communicate, recruit, train, transit, and operate in relative security.

Author Gordon Thomas states that Pakistan “still sponsored terrorist groups in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, funding, training and arming them in their war of attrition against India”. Journalist Stephen Schwartz notes that several terrorist and criminal groups are “backed by senior officers in the Pakistani army, the country’s ISI intelligence establishment and other armed bodies of the state”.According to Ted Galen Carpenter, a senior fellow for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, “Without the active support of the government in Islamabad, it is doubtful whether the Taliban could ever have come to power in Afghanistan.

So by all means, it is safe to say, that by campaigning for ‘ dialogue with India‘ all Pakistan is trying to do is pitch for some annual funds from India too, likewise it did from the USA . From America, the money comes to ‘ fight terrorism’, from India, the money should come ‘ to resolve conflict‘. A simple bueiness deal that India is not interested in buying.

Failure of United Nations Mission in resolving Kashmir issue..

If one was to follow the probability theorum, another very important reason why Washington’s attempts at mediating is likely to prove futile and appears to be a mere glorification exercise for the USA, is because a truce attempt made previously by several organizations including United Nations Commission for Kashmir issue, did not yield any results.

The United Nations gives itself credit for maintaining peace and order in the Kashmir region, which is ironic, because even today, Pakistan violates ceasefire agreement, indulges in firing at border areas which has disrupted lives and homes of thousands of border dwellers. Even today Pakistan keeps it’s Anti India and Anti Hindu agenda alive by brazen and open propaganda which reults in killings of civilian political workers as well as Hindus in the Kashmir valley. After two years of mediation and 3 visits to the Indian subcontinent between June 1948 until March 1950, the UN Commission gave up and declared it’s efforts as a failure.

There are many reasonable factors to this failure.

One being that the UN Resolution did not consist of directives to India and Pakistan, but rather “recommendations”. Former UN diplomat Josef Korbel states that this bound the parties only “morally” but not “juridicially”.

Korbel states that the Security Council could have requested the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on the legal issues. Had that been done, the Security Council would have been in a stronger position to declare one of the parties to be in the wrong, and the handling of the dispute would have been easier.

But in today’s day and age, considering that as per Shimla Agreement of 1972, the Kashmir issue is a bilateral one between India and Pakistan, even today there cannot be any jurisdicial applicability on the dispute through the ICJ.

So conclusively, any attempts by USA to intervene in Kashmir issue will simply yield no results and will only be used as a feather in cap for everyone’s self proclaimed big Daddy, USA.

From the perspective of Kashmir, it was the Indian Administration that deserves a pat on the back for resiliently fighting to protect its sovreignity and the right of its people to live freely and follow any religion. India deserves a pat on the back for winning hearts of those who were hopelessly infuenced to hate their Indian / Hindu counterparts, Furthermore India continues to do everything it can under peaceful and lawful means to control the collateral damage that came with this fight. And India applies this approach only because unlike American black population which supports the falling of statue of Gandhi, conversely India follows the principles of Gandhi- remember Gandhi’s quote? ” Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it…”

Yana Mir, is the Editor in Chief of the Real Kashmir News, based in Srinagar Kashmir.