The bag is full of missed opportunities...
You can't abandon Kashmir now after so much loss of life. It is like admission of the fact that we were just not up to it, that we were on the wrong just because we did not pursue it as it should have been at the international level. Our Government, our diplomacy, our media management internationally totally failed us. We never had our priorities right.
We missed many chances of getting it. First opportunity was offered in 1962 when China had attacked India. Ayub Khan missed it. Second 1965 it was done without taking Kashmiris in confidence. They made a public issue in the world of "infiltration" and whatever little we won on the battlefield was lost on the table. Third was as late as 2001 when US needed us soon after 9/11. We should have bargained for help on Kashmir. http://thinker-thinkingoutofthebox.blogspot.com/2007/10/musharrafs-mistakes-2-continued.html
Earlier Kargil was not an opportunity but a debacle. Yet media mileage could have been got from it. Lemonade out of a lemon. We lost Siachen by just not being there (laziness) and India went and occupied it. It was aggression by India. We never made an issue in the world press of Indian aggression. It all adds up against us. We never act in time and love to blame someone else for our inaction and gross mistakes.
In the meanwhile we have got hundreds of thousands killed in Kashmir. We did not move the world. We did not tell effectively of India's State Terrorism. Instead India let the world know that we were doing "Cross Border Terrorism". We did not have the sense to counter that in the first place that it was not a border but just a line of control.
We did not tell the world why India has a million forces in a small place like Kashmir and not in UP or Bihar for instance. This is proof of the fact that all is not well there. People don't want you there. You are ruling against their will by force. We did not repeatedly tell the world and make an issue of it. Finally it is the public pressure internationally we create that matters. If we don't who is to blame.
Our diplomats and Press Attaches are of so low quality that all they want is their salaries and perks. Period. They just do not do their job. They want to enjoy foreign postings. In contrast, Indians in their embassies and consulates do their job. You see the results in the media of the world as well as in the media of most Muslim Countries.
For instance for 40 years Indians have had a total sway on Saudi Arabian and UAE media. All stories that matter are carried from an Indian point of view, not Pakistan's. Tell me when all (non-Muslims included) are reading it, hearing it, what perception does it create? Positive for India and negative for Pakistan. It hurts.
As if that was not bad enough we had this Mid-Eastern issue based terrorism in Pakistan. While the issue is Mid-Eastern, not a single Mid-Eastern country is afflicted by it as we are. Wo log tho saf nikal gaye aur hum phans gaye. Now that has put a huge spanner in the wheel we don't understand. It has impacted the Kashmir problem quite adversely.
We can't give up Kashmir because Pakistan was created on the basis of Muslim majority areas. Kashmir was and is a Muslim majority area. Giving it up is negating our own existence.
Secondly we have a responsibility towards the people of Kashmir who are divided. We have to unite them. They have suffered a lot and we have to alleviate their suffering. If we are selfish we will not.
Thirdly all rivers come from there, we cannot allow India to decide when and how much water we should get. Last but not the least, tourism. India is pocketing all the dollars and Euros while that money belongs to the Kashmiris.
We don't exploit the opportunity because at the appropriate forums and time our leadership does not say what it should. Democracy is much touted about. They went to war in Iraq apparently for democracy. Tell the world "Why not a democratic Solution" in Kashmir as Tony Blair once said. We did not catch it, build on it and cash it.
Now recently they slammed cruise missiles on Libya under the pretext that Gaddafi is killing the citizens. Why did we not go and make a big hue and cry that India is also killing similarly and for God's sake go and save them. Get a million army out of there. If India does not listen, use force.
If we the sovereign Pakistan does not raise this issue, why others will? We kept mum and missed yet another opportunity. This opportunity still exists. Make use of it even now and stop blaming others for our own woes.
Opportunities keep coming our way, we miss them all and love to blame others!
