Article 370, Pakistan's new map and the prospect of Kashmir chocolate exports!

Pratim Ranjan Bose

If India were China, someone would have manufactured Kashmir shaped chocolates, painted in green, with white crescent moon and a star pinned on it, and sold them to Pakistan via-some Arabic named company in Dubai.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan might have announced a government scheme to present each of its citizens with a piece of ‘Kashmir’ of their own. One of his corrupt aides, could have taken charge of packaging and distribution. “Kashmir-ka talluk Pakistan se hai,” the gift wrap would claim.

The kind of mental state that he is in since August 5, 2019 - when India tabled the bill for abrogation of Article 370 and 35A in the erstwhile Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir and dividing the State into two Union territories - everything is possible.

The fault doesn’t lie with Khan. He became Prime Minister in August 2018 with the support of staunch Islamists who see the world through glasses with a deep green tint. Yes, he also promised to take action against corruption and since then the country is abuzz with financial scandals - involving his aides, involving China and China Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Khan is now on a weak wicket. His popularity is waning and going by the history of the country, takeover of the administration by Pakistani Army cannot be ruled out, unless China comes to his rescue. And, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to take full blame for his misery.

Having begun with the Balakot airstrike on February 26, 2019 that shook Pakistan, by virtue of sheer audacity of the mission, Modi destroyed the age-old political paradigm in Pakistan centering Kashmir and India.

Everyone, on either side of the border, who had a stake in that politics, suffered.

Pakistani Army lost a major plot. Pakistani politics can no longer blackmail India in global forums because there exists no State of Jammu and Kashmir. Ladakh has been demanding separation from Kashmir for decades. They finally got it.

Kashmiri politicians led by Late Sheikh Abdullah, who fooled India by converting a temporary piece of law (Article 370), created for the annexation of the princely State, into a near-permanent feature and enjoyed the benefits of a country-within-a-country, are ruined.  

They can no longer deny rights of minority Hindus and Buddhists, and convert the land that was ruled by a Hindu king, into a preserve of only one religious community. The Union Territory of Kashmir revived the secular character of Kashmir.

Over the last one year, some 20,000 Hindu and Sikh refugees from West Pakistan and nearly 10,000 sanitation workers got domicile status in Kashmir that includes not only voting rights but access to State welfare schemes. They were marginalised for 70 years.

Despite their complaint over prolonged lockdown or internet ban, common citizens are gaining. Simplification of and rules – in line with practices in other parts of India - saw beeline land registration bringing the Union Territory a record Rs 100 crore of revenue. The money came from Kashmiris only, they were waiting for years to register their property. 

Yes, many people have complaints. They lived in one political paradigm for seven decades. The restructuring will hurt them. But this is a temporary phenomenon. If the once-turbulent North East India can become peaceful, how long can Kashmir deny peace?

If the administration doesn’t support the ‘economy of stone-pelting’, as Kashmiri politics did so far, everything will change rapidly. And, that story has just begun. Pakistan can delay the process by letting loose those Hafiz Sayeeds, but not for too long.

The sword of FAFT (Financial Action Task Force) is hanging on their head. They took advantage of the geopolitics to get access to funds in the past. But the days have changed since then.

Geopolitics became complex but global finance became even more complex. It would be difficult for Pakistan to survive in today’s world, with a ‘Terrorist State’ stamp that too with such a weak domestic economy.

Support from China is not assured because they too are witnessing mounting pressure both from within and outside.

In the last few weeks alone six Chinese steel mills have closed down, as US and European markets are becoming inaccessible. India, the last big technology market, started closing doors to China. The impact will be felt.

After 31 years since the fall of the Berlin wall, global politics is set for a major churn and no one knows where it will end. Ofcourse, Khan must not think that long. He is suffering from tremendous mental agony since India changed the status of Kashmir in August 2019.

At one stroke, it erased the history of India’s past mistakes of taking the case to the UN. Pakistan enjoyed that handle for too long. Modi ended it by overnight change in the status and geography of the land.

Where will Imran Khan go now? How should he face those Islamists?  Dejected, he resorted to releasing a new map of Pakistan that includes Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, excluding the areas illegally occupied by China, and parts of Gujarat etc.

Not known if Khan is inspired by Nepal or their common support base China, which has a track record in releasing maps that includes areas from other countries. Indians enjoyed this comedy. The internet was at splits. 

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Tweeter: @pratimbose

 (Pictures from net.