So, what do the people of Jammu and Kashmir want?
Many loyalists as well as the so-called hardliners in the loop, lost ground in Kashmir, because the Indian state and its polity have refused to find any worthwhile alternative to the UN resolutions. Whatever is put forward – Musharaf’s proposals were perhaps a refreshingly bold Pakistani view, closest to the Indian position, but rejected by Indian Government. Manmohan Singh’s re-iteration of what the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly had passed a long time ago is also closest to the optimum solution; but has been given a go-by by Pakistan. None of the leaders of the six disputed areas have given any proposal which is even acceptable to the majority of the three major stakeholders. Within India and Pakistan itself, we have Vajpayee and Manmohan proposals or Nawaj Sharif and Musharaf proposals…competing for the political mileage, thus negating the very essence of non-partisan approach. It is an accepted fact that, in the 21st Century world, there is a greater acceptability and adherence to the
