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Mixed response to Musharraf remark on Kashmir

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: Political parties, retired army generals and religious groups that have been critical of President Pervez Musharraf's approach to a settlement on Kashmir have predictably reacted sharply to the Foreign Ministry statement that Pakistan has never claimed Kashmir as an integral part of its territory, but others saw in it a "remarkable" window to resolve the six-decade old dispute.

The Jamaat-e-Islami said President Pervez Musharraf was not entitled to make a "U-turn" on the issue, and pointed out that father of the nation Mohammed Ali Jinnah had described Kashmir as the "jugular vein" of Pakistan.

In an interview to BBC, the JI general secretary Munawar Hussain said an "unconstitutional President" and army chief had no right to frame policy on Kashmir.

The Jamaat-ud-dawa, which the United States and India say is Lashkar-e-Toiba by a different name, a charge denied by the group, said the Foreign Ministry statement had "gone so far as to defy the principles of the founder of Pakistan".

A JuD statement said India was in "illegal occupation" of Kashmir, and the issue "continues to be part of the unfinished agenda" of Partition.

"Kashmir and Pakistan are one entity, not two, and the people of Pakistan stand shoulder to shoulder with their Kashmiri brothers and completely reject such non-serious statements by the Government," he said.

Former army chief Mirza Aslam Beg also described the statement as a "U-turn" and said that the relationship between Pakistan and the Kashmir cause ran deep and to deny it would be to ignore reality.

But Lt. General (retd.) Talat Masood, who heads the Pakistan chapter of Pugwash, an international group that campaigns to end armed conflict, said it was an "excellent opportunity" for a settlement on Kashmir provided India responded positively to it.

He said the Foreign Ministry was "absolutely correct". But "Pakistan was obsessed with Kashmir" all these years, and the position as articulated by the Foreign Ministry on Monday was "a remarkable shift" that had "shed years of baggage" on the issue.

"It would be unfortunate if India does not respond to it because that will strengthen the hands of those who are opposed to the peace process. Pakistan has now come closest it can to the Indian position. If India does not respond now, it means that it does not want to resolve this through dialogue but unilaterally. India's response is critical," he said.

According to Ershad Mahmud, a Kashmir specialist at the Jamaat-I-Islami associated Institute of Policy Studies, Pakistan's true legal and constitutional position had never been articulated so explicitly before. He said Gen. Musharraf was reaching out to the Indian public, possibly to build pressure on the Indian Government to respond to his proposals.

But he also voiced the apprehension that in doing so, Pakistan had hit the "maximum bottom line" on Kashmir, and said it would be viewed as "more one-way appeasement" of India by the President.

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