{"id":2427,"date":"2015-08-01T15:27:52","date_gmt":"2015-08-01T09:57:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/?p=2427"},"modified":"2015-08-01T16:35:24","modified_gmt":"2015-08-01T11:05:24","slug":"deleting-kashmir-from-ufa-joint-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/editors-take\/deleting-kashmir-from-ufa-joint-statement\/","title":{"rendered":"Deleting Kashmir From Ufa Joint Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/fb:like>

Punchline<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018Statements\u2019 and History<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

By <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Z. G. Muhammad <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Crooked historians cannot change the history. Like ripe pods spilling beans, history ultimately reveals the truth. In the joint statement issued a fortnight back after the summit meeting between Prime Ministers, Narendra Modi and Mian Nawaz Sharif, at Ufa, Russia, there is no mention about Kashmir.\u00a0 The meeting was held, after eleven months diplomatic standoff. New Delhi, had called off the Secretary Level talks in August 2014 in protest against Pakistan High Commissioner, New Delhi meeting the Hurriyat leaders for taking them on board before the talks- a practice in vogue for past many years. It sounded, ironic when Pakistan team in Ufa agreed to delete Kashmir from the joint statement.\"Nawaz<\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Many important Pakistani analysts and seasoned diplomat pooh-poohed Nawaz Sharif and his team for this and denounced it as a goof-up. In New Delhi media described it as \u00a0Modi\u2019s greatest diplomatic success for narrowing down the agenda between the two countries to issues relating to 2008 Mumbai \u00a0terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n

In this column, I am not to debate over this \u201cgoof-up\u201d- and how it will shape Pakistan\u2019s politics in the coming months. And if the pent up anger against Nawaz Sharif as is evident in the Pakistan press snowball into major crisis that could graduate into change of guard in Islamabad. \u00a0But, the question that haunts my mind is can Nawaz Sharif and his team by deleting word Kashmir from the joint statement issued in Russia change the Kashmir narrative or belittle historical\u00a0 importance of the dispute- that continues to be seen as a threat to global peace.<\/p>\n

Kashmir, runs through the India and Pakistan narrative like blood through human body. To think about India-Pakistan story without a mention about Kashmir is unimaginable. \u00a0In his just released book about India and Pakistan \u2018Midnight\u2019s Furies,\u2019 Nisid Hajari, Asia Editor of Bloomberg and formerly award winning editor of Newsweek International and Newsweek magazine, very aptly writes, \u201c In most current histories neither Junagadh nor Hyderabad rates more than a few pages. The wound that keeps the paranoia and hatred of 1947 fresh both in India and Pakistan is Kashmir. The state has been the cause of two outright wars between their nations since 1947 and remains likeliest spur to another. (p304).<\/p>\n

Since the day New Delhi published a White Paper on Jammu and Kashmir in 1948, to explain its position about future of Jammu and Kashmir, there has been not only endeavours to contort the history but to becloud the truth. For sixty seven year in line with this White Paper, New Delhi has issued spate of statements articulating its stand but it did not change history of the dispute nor stopped historians from questioning the veracity of the official discourses.\u00a0\u00a0 Time and again truths about the conspiracies that landed not only people of the state but whole of South Asia into an abyss of uncertainties have been popping up like mushrooms.\u00a0 In early nineties the Kashmir- A Dispute Legacy 1947-1990, by Alastair Lamb, followed by two more comprehensive works, Birth of A Tragedy and Incomplete Partition caused a storm in New Delhi. The ground breaking research deconstructed the GOI narrative on the veracity of the \u201cInstrument of Accession\u201d. It exposed the role of Mountbatten in prevailing upon Radcliff to ensure a road connection to India Jammu and Kashmir through through Gurdaspur and presence of Indian troops in the state before 27 October 1947. \u00a0The ravishing international reviews that Lamb\u2019s first book got caused a rejoinder by a journalist in New Delhi. The rejoinder could not undo Lamb\u2019s research. Lambs research was authenticated by the research of historians and writers like Christopher Snedden, M.S. Pampori and Dr. Abdul Ahad.<\/p>\n

Nisid Hajari has not only authenticated the research of\u00a0 Lamb about dubious role played by Mountbatten in awarding Gurdaspur to India but has further explained it, \u201c Mountbatten pretty clearly pressurized Radcliff to redraw the map to give Firozpur to India. The two Englishman had lunch together on 12 August, joined by Ismay.\u201d (P 236)<\/p>\n

He tell us that from 19 September, that is thirty three days before the Afridis and other armed tribesmen\u00a0 from Northern Areas started entering into the state India started making preparations for ensuring accession of Kashmir. On the orders of Patel it started constructing road from Gurdaspur into the state, he writes, \u201cHe arranged to send wireless equipment to Kashmir. He told Defence Minister, Baldev Singh to collect weapons for the maharaja\u2019s army from Indian Stores. (P308).<\/p>\n

Nisid, in great details writes, how armed tribesmen \u2018rumbled into the kingdom of the maharaja in jeeps, station wagons etc. and writes, \u201cThe rebel fighters displayed little organization and even less discipline\u2026\u201d (P318) The lucidly written and highly readable 563 page book, the \u2018Midnight\u2019s Furies\u2019 recapitulating the fast changing developments from October 22 and scenes at New Delhi bring out in minutest details the discussions that took place inside the Indian cabinet. He tells that much before cabinet ordered sending troops to Srinagar \u2018Patel ordered shipping of guns to Srinagar immediately by civilian airlines, Nehru wanted soldiers too\u2026.Menon emphasised importance of accession before sending of troops\u2026Patel saw no fusing over a piece of paper\u2019. (P 322).<\/p>\n

Nisid on the basis of his research says that Indian troops \u00a0\u00a0had landed at Srinagar before Maharaja Hari Singh had signed an accession document\u2019. Instead, of waiting for signed\u00a0 accession, it seems that the Defence Committee sent troops to Srinagar upon nod by Sheikh Abdullah (P 323). Menon could not get Hari Singh\u2019s signature, the author writes, \u201cIt is sign of just how fraught Kashmir remains that for decades, India tried to obscure the simple fact of Menon\u2019s tardiness. Indian historical accounts commonly assert he made it up to Kashmir and secured the Maharaja\u2019s signature that same day before Indian troops flew to Srinagar. In fact at least two British officials attested to the fact that he did not\u2026.Menon later admitted to Philips Talbot that soldiers were being flown to Kashmir before Maharaja\u2019s accession\u201d. (P324)<\/p>\n

The Midnight\u2019s Furies is a good book, it may be \u201cthumbnail image\u201d so far as division of British India is concerned. But, as regards Kashmir, it is yet another important book that provides further grist to Kashmir narrative.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Published in Greater Kashmir<\/p>\n

24 August 2o15<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/fb:like><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Punchline
\n\u2018Statements\u2019 and History
\nBy
\nZ. G. Muhammad
\n 
\nCrooked historians cannot change the history. Like ripe pods spilling beans, history ultimately reveals the truth. In the joint statement issued a fortnight back after the summit meeting between Prime Ministers, Narendra Modi and Mian Nawaz Sharif, at Ufa, Russia, there is no mention about Kashmir.\u00a0 The meeting was held, after eleven months diplomatic standoff. New Delhi, had called off the Secretary Level talks in August 2014 in protest against Pakistan High Commissioner, New Delhi meeting the Hurriyat leaders for taking them on board before the talks- a practice in vogue for past many years. It sounded, ironic when Pakistan team in Ufa agreed to delete Kashmir from the joint statement.\u00a0
\nMany important Pakistani analysts and seasoned diplomat pooh-poohed Nawaz Sharif and his team for this and denounced it as a goof-up. In New Delhi media described it as \u00a0Modi\u2019s greatest diplomatic success for narrowing …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editors-take"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2427"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2436,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427\/revisions\/2436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}