The Human On The K-Table

It’s time for a new narrative and idiom to break the logjam. A Kashmir Roundtable finds early signs of meeting points that may open new roads.

- Ruben Banerjee

THE sea of mourners at the recent funeral of a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant killed by security forces in Anantnag of south Kashmir reemphasised what we have already known, but refuse to readily acknowledge: an ever-deepening divide that separates the people of the otherwise picturesque region from the rest of the country, including the rulers in Delhi.

The turnout at the funeral was also proof that with every ‘success’ registered by the security forces, we are not getting any closer to a resounding victory.

If anything, these ‘successes’ help in feeding local grievances and losing more ‘hearts and minds’. Lives are being lost without any tangible gains. Kashmiris are bearing the brunt of the turmoil, but even India is bleeding, with casualties on both sides, including soldiers made to make the ultimate sacrifice. This utter hopelessness and cycle of violence have been allowed to fester for far too long.

Indeed, few disputes in the world have defied a solution for this long. North and South Korea have been at daggers drawn for decades, but following a summit between Kim Jong-un of the reclusive Pyongyang regime and US President Donald Trump, a thaw looks imminent. In between, disputes such as the ones in Northern Ireland and Bosnia have been thrashed out. Kashmir, unfortunately, is one of the two long-running disagreements stubbornly refusing a solution. The other is Gaza, at the heart of what seems to be an intractable stand-off between Palestinians and Israelis.

Stalemates are energy-sapping and self-defeating, so it would surely serve all of us well if an agreeable solution to Kashmir is arrived at the soonest. It is easier said than done, but what’s the harm in at least trying? If India is to prosper as a truly democratic nation, it cannot allow a sizeable section of its citizens—the Kashmiris—to live in perpetual disenchantment and despair. A breakthrough is the need of the hour.