Comment on “Kashmir Divided"

I M Sharma

I have all along felt and stated in many articles that the only solution to Kashmir problem is to realize the harsh ground realities and divide J & K up between India and Pakistan. Let Kashmir Valley minus a district carved out around Amarnath Temple area go to Pakistan and Jammu and Ladakh (fully or a major part) go to India. This can be worked out through a joint agreement between India and Pakistan and conducting a regional plebiscite after reconstituting the regions (creating and taking away Temple Amarnath district from Kashmir valley and if necessary dividing Ladakh into 2 or 3 districts for dividing it up) and surely any such regional plebiscite will end in Kashmir valley voting for Pakistan and Jammu and Ladakh (minus Muslim majority areas) voting for India which will lend legitimacy to the joint agreement. If joint agreement is not possible, India should simply withdraw from Kashmir valley after carving out Amaranath temple district, separating it from Kashmir valley and merging it in Jammu and let that wretched valley to go to anywhere in the world. No sort of room should be given to the so-called Kahsmiri Azadi-wallahs and if they want they can carry out their Azadi agitation inside Pakistan (once joining that country) and face the music. 

Article appeared in Frontier
Vol. 45, No. 52, Jul 7- 13, 2013