Thursday, August 21, 2008

Whoops

The problem with comment moderation is that sometimes you inadvertently end up deleting comments. Sorry Sandip (I just saw your email), you double-posted the same comment and I end up deleting both and I one anonymous one also. Yikes!
Anyway, the jist is simple - while many Indians will never accept the idea of giving up Kashmir, maybe even half a century from now, and the argument will be used that so much blood has been spilled that we can't give it up. But starting with trifurcation of the state while in Indian control, done in a manner that the rivers keep flowing through Ladakh can be a start. Getting rid of the National Conference and the PDP can be step two (or step one). I'm thinking of the problem as a body part afflicted by frostbite, if you don't amputate it the pain is unbearable and you could die of gangarene. Sir Ranulph Fiennes is no less of an explorer because he misses the tops of the digits on his left hand is he.
Of course, there is the other solution - that is waiting for Pakistan to disintegrate, which without Mushy it just might. Imagine if we got Sindh back, our national anthem would sound complete again.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I usually never agree with anything u have to say, But I can agree with the Pakistan disintegration part.

Complete control of the River Indus. The very thing that gives us our identity...

C

thalassa_mikra said...

Please - there's really no reason India should control those parts. When and if Pakistan disintegrates, they'd most probably have nations based on linguistic lines.

And I guess if Pakistan goes, Afghanistan would split up as well, with the southern part joining up with NWFP.

By the way - I've heard from more than one American that they expect India to disintegrate in the near future as well.

Anonymous said...

with zardari (sindhi) as prez pak and advani (sindhi) as pm hopeful, its just possible the two countries move away from biryani butter chicken culture to kadi chaval???

Ignoramus said...

Hi, I have started following the blog for some days now. Interesting to know the views presented in here. It has definitely helped me form some views on the current scenario about opur country and govt.

Of the Kashmir & Jammu, I have started feeling that this entire hulla-ballu is to some extent stage managed. It is more of creating a pathway to either trifurcation or more aggressively putting it, get rid of the problemed state altogether keeping the more Hindu Parts for ourselves. Also, a thought that comes to my mind is that Since the PM is not a political person and has more good in his heart and mind about India than any other had, And understands the economic losses that we incur hanging on the the troubled state, I have started believing that he may be trying to get rid of the money guzzler that Kashmir is. I had been to Srinagar in April and a startling fact that came forward was that J&K Bank is the biggest bank there. It is also one of the most successful banks of India. It was told to me that almost all Kashmiri's had shifted their Bank A/c's and funds from all Nationalised Indian Banks to J&K Bank with a view that if at all they get (let's use the word freedom) what they want, all Indian Banks would rush bank to India and the only Bank that would survive in Kashmir is J&K Bank. This is a fact which reflects in the fact that they do want to break away from a India.
I think India has to analyse whether it is worthwhile to keep spending its resorces (Human & Monetary) on a state that does not contribute much to rest of the country. It has to take a decision on whether the growth of the rest of the country is worth a terrain which is so rough that keeping it will not yield much economic growth for us.

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I may be painting myself into a corner, but I agree with Vir's article on Kashmir. How long do we carry this gangrenous wound along with us? If the Soviet Union could disintegrate why can't we let Kashmir go? I am getting rather tired of this mass hysteria being generated in the name of Kashmir. And what use is a place like Kashmir if we can’t visit it because we don’t really know whether a bullet fired from a sniper or a bomb in a bus will take our lives. I could live without that fear.
And anyway, the Kashmiris have been getting way with this subsidized living for far too long. Maybe it’s time to let them understand what it takes to run a country. As Vir rightly states, they won’t last 15 days. Actually, it would give me perverse pleasure to watch them run to India with their begging bowls and INDIA REFUSING to help.
I also totally trash this ridiculous idea that giving away Kashmir would leave us open to attack from China and Pakistan. The only thing that China will invade us with is low-grade electronic goods. We are not living in the stone age anymore. And anyway, what have the politicians done so far, when the Chinese were swallowing our land with their salami tactics? Because, if the politicians really care an iota about Kashmir they why don’t they take some tough steps, instead of dithering over whether they’d be hurting the sentiments of one community or another. The simple truth is it suits them to keep Kashmir on the burner, because it helps them distract people’s attention from the daily screw-ups they indulge in.
I remember, my first editor’s reaction when the Babri Masjid fell. He was, incidentally, a staunch RSS man, but his comment was an eye-opener for liberals like me: “Thank God, it’s down. Now we can look ahead. These stupid politicians will have to find another issue, because this movement won’t last long.” And the same analogy applies to Kashmir.
To me it doesn't make a damn difference whether Kashmir stays or goes. My life isn't going to change a diddly. I’ll still be getting up every morning and going to work and still be paying through my nose for fuel and LPG! I’ll still be worrying about my son’s grades at school or maybe, it might even improve fractionally, if the Kashmiris stop milking us dry, as they are doing right now!

Anonymous said...

Suddenly there is no talk about your favourite writing subject, The Hindustan Times, any longer. Also your blog is becoming very boring, not just because of lack of HT news but because of no news at all. Looks like you've been cornered and domisticated..Media gossip is your forte and not political and business commentary, for that readers have various much better sources. So don't give up your USP so easily