Letter to Editor: War and repression will neither solve the Kashmir problem nor end terrorism

The crystal clear analysis given in this article is worth keeping as a touchstone for all analysis of the problem in the present and in the forthcoming times. It is an example of highly principled positions of the CGPI based on a pitiless analysis of the ground realities of India and the region, and on a detailed grasp of the historical realities that prevail in the region. Furthermore, the analysis is shorn of any chauvinism and also repudiates all the lines of bourgeois thinking on the matter.

Sir,

I am writing in response to the article entitled ‘War and repression will neither solve the Kashmir problem nor end terrorism’ carried in the March 1-15, 2019 issue of MEL. The crystal clear analysis given in this article is worth keeping as a touchstone for all analysis of the problem in the present and in the forthcoming times. It is an example of highly principled positions of the CGPI based on a pitiless analysis of the ground realities of India and the region, and on a detailed grasp of the historical realities that prevail in the region. Furthermore, the analysis is shorn of any chauvinism and also repudiates all the lines of bourgeois thinking on the matter. In particular, the Kashmir issue has always been one on which the wheat is separated from the chaff. It is also an issue on which the Indian State brands this or that person or organization as ‘anti-national’ and puts a block to any discussion on this matter, as well as on any related matter that pertains to the well-being of the masses of India.

The present article comes in the wake of the February 26, 2019 air-strike on Pakistan by the Indian Air Force which was supposedly in retaliation for the event in Pulwama where more than 40 CRPF Jawans were killed in a suicide bombing.  In Kashmir, there has been a further tightening of repression on all levels, from the street to the political frontier with the detention of various members of the Kashmiri polity. In light of the harassment of Kashmiri people in Kashmir and across the length and breadth of the country, there has been preparation for the unleashing of violence, presumbaly also as a prelude for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The article makes several important points which are worth nothing in bullet point form for easy reference for the present and for the future as follows:

that the Kashmir problem is a political problem, and is due to the unfulfilled aspirations of the Kashmiri people and a problem of nation building in modern day India,

that if there is no peace in Kashmir, there will never be any elsewhere in India,

that the Narendra Modi Government has intensified the bankrupt policies of all previous governments in treating the problem as one of “law and order”,

that all experts have pointed out that there is no military solution,

that the rulers of India consider Kashmir to be their property and one day say that it is part and parcel of India while continuing to maintain that all Kashmiri people are Pakistani agent,

that the people of India across its length and breadth fought the colonialists for freedom from hunger and want, and remain slaves even today,

that the people of Kashmir are fighting for the same rights as the people in other parts of India,

that there is the bogey that problems in Kashmir are because of ‘infiltrators’ from Pakistan,

that the primary cause of the problem is the policy of the ruling circles of India towards Kashmir, while the role of Pakistan in secondary,

that while Indian ruling circles crow over the breaking up of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh, they have not learnt the lesson that Pakistan did not respect the aspirations of the erswhile East Pakistan, which rose in rebellion, and but for that, no such break up would have been possible,

that the Pulwama incident has so many contradictions, it is undoubtedly a case where as in all cases, is the handiwork of state policy of capitalist states that foment trouble everywhere by supporting violence groups within their own countries and elsewhere, and that the region is where US imperialism has among its aims, one of attacking Iran and is regrouping various states to back its policies, and that the Indian state is fully aware of all these design and uses the “fight against terrorism” to fool its own people.

All the above said, I would like to reiterate the conclusions of the article that war with Pakistan will solve nothing. We as communists much reject any chauvinist line and support a principle solution to the problem of Kashmir. We must oppose all war mongering and war against Pakistan.

Sincerely,
A. Narayan
Bangalore

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