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| Ved Bhasin - The Kashmir Conflict |
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| Kashmiri Journalist Ved Bhasin |
As Peace Boat approached the Indian sub-continent, Ved Bhasin, founder of the independent newspaper "The Kashmir Times" in 1955, gave a lecture on the conflict, from its roots in the partitioning of India and Pakistan to its current troubled status as a potential nuclear flashpoint in the region. A human rights activist, Mr. Bhasin spoke of the exploitation of Kashmir by Pakistan and India who have made its ownership an issue of national pride, and how foreign nations have vested interests in the conflict since Jammu and Kashmir are areas of strategic importance. He pointed out that these attitudes consider the area only in terms of its territorial significance, ignoring the suffering of over 13 million people who are caught in the crossfire. Mr Bhasin stated that to the death toll of up to 60,000 citizens could be added to a catalogue of human rights abuses perpetrated by both governments and over half a million army and paramilitary soldiers massed on each side of the border. Yet victim to the conflict also include the greater populations of India and Pakistan, who suffer the consequenses of vast amounts of resources diverted away from education, infrastructure, health care, etc. for military use. Calling the Kashmir issue both a cause and consequence of the India-Pakistan conflict, Mr. Bhasin called for India to honour the 1947 instrument of accession and for both armies to withdraw their troops and pull the sub-continent back from the brink of disaster. Sharing his personal vision of a demilitarised, secular, free and democratic independent state of Jammu and Kashmir, he noted that only the initiation of a multi-layered process of dialogue, involving both India, Pakistan and the people of the contested region, could hope to bring about a solution. Stating that Western or other Asian powers could help by facilitating peaceful negociations he ended by expressing his hope that Jammu and Kashmir could act as a bridge of understanding between India and Pakistan rather than a bone of contention. |
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PEACE BOAT is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. |
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