“Between War and Peace, Breathes a Valley, Engulfed in War, Struggling for Peace” -Kashmir
Pakistan and India, have fought many wars since their independence and between all those wars, there have been numerous skirmishes, cross-border strikes and years of terrorism. From the time I have any memory, I have never seen my country at peace with its neighbour. Jammu and Kashmir’s recent history has been bloody, and no one has suffered the violence more than its citizens. After our experiences with terrorism and living in uncertainty, our generation has no appetite for conflict, jingoism or war. We have seen a lifetime of war. We do not want to see any more Indian or Pakistani die. We do not want to be a subcontinent of orphans.
It’s easy for those sitting far away in their homes and news studios to cheer for a befitting response and shout out for war. The situation prevailing between Pakistan and India can spark a conflict with incalculable consequences for both countries. It should be unthinkable for the two nuclear neighbours to initiate a conflict that has the potential of getting out of control. We must try to prevent and manage the crisis rather than spawn and fuel it.
The armed forces and their families understand war, the grief and anguish that it brings, we the people of Jammu and Kashmir understand the consequences of war, for we have lived in such times for 30 years. We understand that when the Mig 21’s and the F-16’s whiz past, there is nothing to cheer about!! There will only be tears, for someone’s son, someone’s father and someone’s husband will lose their life. I am in no place to tell the leaderships of both countries what to do, but to all you keyboard warriors “calm down and stop beating the drums of war.”
In the nuclear age, there could be mutual destruction on an incomprehensible scale if war breaks out. Whatever the compulsions of both countries, what goal could possibly justify potentially turning a flourishing region into uninhabitable wastelands and killing people in numbers that could dwarf the combined losses in the two world wars fought in the last century? The danger and risks of the current moment should not be underplayed. There is always an alternative to war; and both countries must recognise that, and reach for peace.
War is no picnic, and a conflict will have devastating consequences for the entire subcontinent. Previous Pakistan-India wars were a different affair; this time both belligerents have powerful nuclear arsenals, which should be enough of a reason to convince the security establishments and political leadership to prefer peace to war. The fact is that both states need to introspect and consider what steps can be taken internally to promote peace in the subcontinent.
It’s not a time to be proud about our country fighting a war, for there is no flag that is large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.
(The author is the chairman of the Rebuild JnK foundation)
rebuildjnk@gmail.com
Krishan Anand