The people of New Delhi or Islamabad living in the well-furnished chilled drawing rooms with Iranian carpets can never realize what actually is happening in Kashmir. Unfortunately, both are willing to demark the future of the people of Kashmir on the basis of their own will by using the religion and ethnicity of Kashmiris. One of the most notorious unfinished business of Britain has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in this region for more than seven decades. The people of Kashmir are miserably suffering. There are serious human rights violations in Kashmir including detained political leadership, ban on free moments, curfew, bans on public meetings, shutting down of educational institutions, cellphones, radio, television, and internet service.

During the 1947 partition, the Maharaja of Kashmir, against the will of people of Kashmir, had agreed to annex the state with India, against the Indian independence act’s partition plans. This decision started unrest in Kashmir. As a result, newborn states had indulged in the first war and the United Nations suggested the referendum for the future of Kashmir based on the vote of Kashmiris, whether they want to be with any country or become an independent state. Before the referendum, both countries did not agree to the demilitarization of the region. This beautiful region was divided and the ceasefire line has been drawn between Indian occupied Kashmir and Pakistan administrated Kashmir.

Nowadays sudden change in the autonomous status of Kashmir by illegally abolishing the article 370, (which gave almost complete autonomous status to the Kashmir) by the Indian presidential order and then approved by Indian Parliament without the consensus of people of Kashmir has created more apprehension. All political leaders are house arrested and the valley has turned into an army bunker. I am very surprised at how the civilized world allowed India to do this.

There are many solutions for the Kashmir, including converting the line of control into the international border. This solution is not acceptable to the majority of Muslim live in Jammu and Kashmir. Independent Kashmir is a possible solution for Pakistan but quite difficult to be accepted by India. Maybe if the current development is handled carefully, it will lead to the solution of Kashmir soon. But this solution would be the out of the box. Some majority non-Muslim areas may be joined to India and Ladakh with China or any settlement with India and China and Muslim populous areas to Pakistan but this would be done on the basis of the UN resolutions.

FAYYAZ SALIH HUSSAIN,

Karachi.