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Friday, August 05, 2011
‘Military democracy’ solution to all ills: Sardar Attique
By Raja Riaz
LAHORE: The solution to the long-standing dispute between Pakistan and India – Kashmir — is not only dialogue, but it should be tripartite as the exercise would be fruitless until the Kashmiris from the two sides of the LoC are not included in the process.
Talking exclusively to Daily Times, former prime minister (PM) of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and chief of the Muslim Conference, Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan stressed the need of a solution to the Kashmir issue, as it was a guarantee to world peace. This is a long-standing issue between the two major nations of South Asia — Pakistan and India — both nuclear states, and bitterness between the two has brought world peace in danger, he said.
Khan said that the dialogue process between the two nations was always the result of international efforts just like the dialogue between Swaran Singh and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as part of track–II diplomacy, which were the result of international endeavours. “Even the famous UN resolution on Kashmir is due to the blessings of the US. Had the US vetoed the resolution it would have not been passed by the comity of nations,” the former prime minister added.
Though he is very supportive of the dialogue process, yet he is worried about the timing as, according to him, the foreign ministers of the two countries have met at a time when Pakistan is facing a leadership crisis. India is fully prepared for the dialogue and has done all the homework for it, but Pakistan is lacking collective leadership that might give an edge to India. This time some unseen forces have engaged Pakistan in problems and in the coming days the crises would deepen. “The country is in a crisis and a peace process has been initiated. Unseen forces would make more efforts to deepen the crises and then put the water issue between the two countries on the agenda to get their desired results. Water is a vital issue between the two countries and India wants to get the maximum out of this situation,” Khan said. Commenting on an important issue, he disclosed that the international forces would also raise the issue of the Durand Line and would demand to bring under discussion the Pak-Afghan border. The situation would not stop here, as the delimitations between the provinces would also be made an issue.
The former AJK PM supported trade between the two parts of Kashmir, which would bring bitterness to a lower level. “Trade should not be between the two parts of Kashmir only, rather a developmental forum should be formed that should consist of Pakistan, India and the two parts of Kashmir, including people from Gilgit-Baltistan. This forum should initiate joint ventures and the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the EU should also be involved in it. The exercise would soften attitudes and the issue would go to a stage from where a solution could be derived, and by applying this formula, Kashmir could become a ‘bridge of peace’ between the South Asian nations,” Khan said.
He was of the view that the stakeholders had reached a consensus on Kashmir and its announcement would be made at an appropriate time. When asked about the consensus, he said that all the stakeholders know about it, but the final shape is yet to be given.
The Muslim Conference chief is a staunch supporter of the army’s involvement in national affairs and thinks that the armed forces must be consulted for a durable solution confronting the nation on national and international forums. Giving a new term, ‘military democracy’, Sardar Attique said that the army should be made a part of dealing with the affairs.
“There must be an institution having representation from parliament and the armed forces and matters related to national security, foreign affairs, internal law and order, and defence should be referred to it for a decision. The army should have a direct representation and participation in such matters,” he opined.
Talking about the internal situation of the country, he said that the federating units must be further divided and at least 20 provinces should be made, as this is the only solution to governance issues.
Talking about the elections in AJK, the former prime minister accused the Pakistan government of manipulating the process, as according to him, the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) funds were utilised to ‘buy’ the votes besides making fake electoral lists.
Khan is against the participation of the political parties of Pakistan in the AJK polls as, according to him, it would harm the Kashmir cause. Being critical of Nawaz Sharif, the former AJK prime minister said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) divided the vote of the Muslim Conference that had benefited the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). “It is due to the ‘blessings’ of Nawaz Sharif that a leader like Sardar Sikandar Hayat was out of the assembly. The PML-N played as the ‘B’ team of the PPP and divided the Muslim Conference vote,” he concluded.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk