Pakistan granting MFN status to India will make even cynics jump out of their skin. Its implications are not confined to procedural necessity in bilateral trade as some thoughtless member of the ruling setup would have us believe. The appellation is suggestive of what it stands for: most favoured nation. The doubt in the minds of many was only confirmed on Thursday when opposition Senators blamed the government for taking the decision at the behest of the US. However, in carrying out its wishes, incalculable harm will be done to our Kashmir cause. The Kashmiri brethren, struggling to rid themselves of the Indian occupation, must be feeling let down. Resistance leader Syed Ali Geelanis statement that the grant of MFN status is tantamount to rubbing salt in the wounds of Kashmiris shows how unpopular in Kashmir the step has been. It rebuts the assumption by Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim that the decision would register no impact on Pakistans Kashmir policy. One wonders if he knows that the valley is our jugular vein. The painful thing is that the government did not even consult the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir. JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman who heads the committee has specifically emphasised that the advice of the body was necessary but avoided. The idea of according MFN status to India should not have been entertained in the first place. If the government was under pressure from the US, it ought to have at least left it to Parliament to decide. Among those who have been shocked at the governments folly was also PTI Chief Imran Khan. He has rightly demanded that the government's decision must be taken back. The storm of popular resentment against the Zardari camp will further erode the credibility of those at the helm. The government has basically shown that it can act in undemocratic ways with impunity. Those saying that the history of wars with India should be ignored, need only look towards New Delhi's activities in Afghanistan. Appeasing India at the cost of our national interest will only encourage it to act like a regional bully. Past governments have tried that only to be disappointed by the lack of change in the Indians' attitude. If trade relations are to be strengthened at all, or India is to be granted MFN status, the Kashmir issue's settlement in line with UNSC resolutions should come first.