Kashmir is under siege yet again. The cabinet committee meeting called by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a clear proof of how the government of India looks at Kashmir. It was the second meeting called to discuss the prevailing situation in Kashmir in as many months but apart from security matters nothing else was seriously discussed. The central government passed the buck on the state government and called on the Chief Minister to reach out politically to the people of Kashmir. One may ask how far a chief Minister can go and what he can offer to the people of Kashmir that will pacify the situation. If there is any serious political initiative, it has to come from New Delhi and state government can act only as a facilitator. We have witnessed loss of life, chaos and turmoil for the last 21 years and not a single bold initiative has come from the GoI. Why didn’t the Home Minister visit Kashmir? Even the Indian media that earlier gave extensive coverage to Kashmir are now not taking Kashmir with the same gravity. It is time for the politicians in Kashmir to take a note of the events and accordingly carve out a strategy. As we know that it is a long drawn battle so over night results cannot be expected. New Delhi's approach towards Kashmir is a bigger problem than the Kashmir problem itself.
Sheikh Imtiaz
coolkashmir@hotmail.com

Lastupdate on : Tue, 3 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 3 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 4 Aug 2010 00:00:00 IST