Mush and Kash

Judging by the soundbites emanating out of Pervez Musharraf, the man, president and general, it would appear that he is thinking Kashmir 24X...

Judging by the soundbites emanating out of Pervez Musharraf, the man, president and general, it would appear that he is thinking Kashmir 24X7. So deep in thought is he on the subject that he is constantly throwing up new approaches to the old dispute. Last week, he spoke of 8220;maximum self-governance8221; as the key to resolving the Kashmir issue. In April, while he was in Delhi to watch the one-day Indo-Pak cricket match, he had observed that he would like to see more buses run across the Line of Control in Kashmir so that it eventually becomes a soft border. Last January, he told a Pakistani television interlocutor that a 8220;made in India8221; solution on Kashmir is not acceptable to Pakistan. Last October, he had proposed that J038;K be treated as seven distinct regions and spoke of working to establish contiguity between regions. No one knows better than the General himself how confusing all these statements can appear. As he himself put it last week: 8220;I have created quite a bit of confusion by what I said but what I have in my mind is not confused.8221; Which is nice to know. But what precisely does the General have in his mind?

Looking at the positives, it appears that the Musharraf is conscious that a moment of reconciliation has presented itself, which has to be seized. Secondly, he appears more sensitive to India8217;s position that no solution with a religious basis is acceptable. Thirdly, he perceives the possible solution within a bilateral framework 8212; a 8220;do-able8221; process entered into by the heads of the two governments and hopefully within the terms of the two present incumbents. At the same time, Musharraf8217;s obsession with Kashmir also indicates how closely he associates the issue with his own political survival and future. It is now fairly clear that he has plans to stay on at the wheel beyond 2007 8212; when his term as president officially comes to an end. This also means that he will turn up or turn down the rhetoric on Kashmir depending on his own political exigencies.

So where does that leave India? Ever since Atal Bihari Vajpayee8217;s gesture at Srinagar of extending a hand of friendship to Pakistan in April 2003, there has been a national consensus 8212; specifically one across political divides 8212; on the need to work systematically towards lasting peace in the region by entering into a dialogue with Pakistan on the Kashmir problem. This makes it incumbent upon us to engage with the ideas that the General keeps throwing up. It also makes it incumbent upon us to ourselves think out of the box and come up with a few ideas on Kashmir of our own. And 8212; who knows 8212; perhaps a good idea, an useful breakthrough, a viable step forward, may actually emerge out of all these words.