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In 1947, India, Great Britain and the United Nations promised Kashmir a free plebiscite to determine her own destiny.
Lord Mountbatten, on July 25, 1947, told the princes of the Indian States that, "the Indian Independence Act releases the States from all their obligations to the Crown. The States have complete freedom - technically and legally are independent."
Mr. Nehru pledged a plebiscite for Kashmir on November 21, 1947. He said, "I have repeatedly stated that as soon as the raiders have been forced out of Kashmir or have withdrawn and peace has been established the people of Kashmir should decide the question of accession by plebiscite or referendum under international auspices such as those of the United Nations"
For sixty years, India has repeatedly found excuses to prevent the plebiscite and the United Nations has repeatedly found reasons not to discuss Kashmir.
On June 21, 2010, we are once again hearing about "rebels" in "Indian Kashmir". Kashmir is not Indian. When I did my research on Kashmir in the 1960's, ninety percent of Kashmiris were Muslim, and it was reported that Hindus who lived there were getting along well with their Muslim neighbours.
The Turks and Mongols of Central Asia ruled India for 800 years. Their culture and influence have left their effects on the people of the region. Eight centuries of foreign rule inevitably led to the diffusion of foreign cultures in India.
Kashmir's geographical location - like Israel's - is of strategic interest to her neighbours - India, Pakistan, Russia and Afghanistan. Jammu and Kashmir borders on Tibet and Sinkiang Province of China. Anyone can see how vulnerable and how valuable Kashmir is to other nations.
The two main rivers of Kashmir, the Chenab and the Jhelum flow to Pakistan. Those rivers are a great potential source of hydro electric power, and the mountains of Kashmir are rich with precious minerals. No wonder India will not let go.
THE PROMISE OF PLEBISCITE
The Kashmir Question; A.G. Noorani, 1964, P.C. Manaktalas and Sons,. Private Ltd., Bombay, India
Mr. A.G. Noorani was a practising lawyer at the Bombay High Court and a well know political commentator and author. In his introduction to this book, Shri V.B. Karnik writes:
"There is no attempt (on the part of the Government of India) even today, to tell the people the truth. They are still being fed slogans, half truths and lies ."
"The fact of the situation, however, is that what Sheikh Abdullah is stating happens to be largely the truth. The truth is that the problem of Kashmir is not solved. The truth is that the people of Kashmir never had the opportunity to express their views on the issue of accession. And the truth is that there will never be peace and stability in Kashmir as long as India and Pakistan continue to quarrel over the issue."
Unlike Quebec, where separatists continue to agitate for a state of their own, Kashmir does not exist in the midst of a free and democratic country. Kashmir is a captive land that has been torn apart by marauding hordes and covetous neighbours for hundreds of years and kept in chains by India since 1947.
The indifference of the western world is Kashmir's enemy. We should be promoting their right to choose their own destiny.
India, Great Britain and the United Nations have promised Kashmir a free plebiscite for sixty years. Free Kashmir. It is time.
See - A PORTRAIT OF ASGAR AND THE PLIGHT OF KASHMIR
on PHYLLIS CARTER'S JOURNAL at http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com
on PHYLLIS CARTER'S JOURNAL at http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com
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How could he find himself in such a pickle? he wondered, not worryingly, but with a unfortunate gleeful ponderousness that seemed to grow, like a weed without root, there was no beginning, there just was. He'd made it home without a mental glance back at his done work hours, whats done is done after all.
He went on with his routine, "do I warm up that rice and peas" he thought on the metro, thinking better, he passed by burger king for a couple a burgers, he only ate one, giving the other to the outside "doorman" in lieu of loose change.
once home, his routine would be a mirror of yesterdays, he knew what was up with that, with him, but had lived with it for so long, it had become second nature to him, one of his many, it seemed, questionable solitary life habits he'd cultivated, an outsider may assert, out of ...... pain.
Now he sat, alone between fidgety and disturbed at his own unrequited need to know, he'd listened to this woman at work, haltingly expound thoughts domestic and foreign, he had at her every sentence, a counter, if not complimentary sentence in mind that he kept suppressed ... he found her card ... perused the site ... what does this girl not have an opinion on!?! ... damn she's as shallow as the Mariana Trench ... He usually felt like a librarian in a bar full of drunks during conversations, this is not to say he's scholarly or well read for that matter, with his 9th grade education, he was neither, it's just the general population seemed pretty much devoid, to him, of the capacity to think critically, an early lifetime of memorising for exams seemed to have left them in a repetitive parrot zombie mode, maybe technology played a role, but then again, he felt as lazy brained as the next human...
Just glancing at her blogspot headers, he knew that she was several lifetimes all rolled into one, it was as though she was channelling pains of others, those who should be raising the sinking issues, dare not it seems, but she would, vociferously, irrepressibly, unabashed and unashamed.
Talk about a Spirit on a Trip ...
Talk about a Woman with a grip ...
Listen to the echoes between her words ...
Listen to the pains of the unheard ...
Dont sigh when distending Her thoughts ...
Feed Your Soul and share it with your Lot ...
With cause, you will be overwhelmed by your lack ...
When faced with Her's, always on the righteous attack ...
While most others just slip ...
Her's is a Spirit on a Trip ...
(I'm not a writer, nor was I "educated" in English, so forgive me my mistakes, It was a pleasure meeting you today, (dropped you off at pharmacy in JGH) ... just felt the need to let my mind flow and let you know ... Damn Girl ... "your irrepressible like a gust a wind in Michigan's tornado alley.")
Stephen Payne
sidney22@hotmail.com
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