Humanitarian

Recently, the US announced it would be selling F-16 planes to Pakistan as a part of its five year $3 billion assistance program.  The F-16 is one of the most advanced and powerful planes in the world, and only 4,500 such planes are in commission in the entire world.  By agreeing to sell the planes to Pakistan, the US risks instigating a new arms race between India and Pakistan, long time rivals, and further agitating the conflict over the Kashmir region.  The US indicated that it may strike a similar arms deal with India soon.

Kashmir is one of the most strategically important areas in the world.  The region boarders two major powers, China and India, the first and second fastest growing economies of the world respectively, as well as two Islamic countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, one of which is directly occupied by US military and run by an American puppet, the other of which is one of the US’ greatest allies in the war on terrorism who is a major recipient of American military aid.

History of the Conflict over Kashmir

          Kashmir had been divided up and occupied by three different countries for over 50 years, India, Pakistan, and to a lesser extent a small area in the northern part of the region, China, all nuclear powers.  The status of the Kashmir and Jammu region has been undecided since the colony of India became independent of colonial rule in 1947.  The former British colony was divided into two new states, India, which was predominately Hindu, and Pakistan, predominately Muslim.  The ruler of Kashmir and Jammu at the time, Hari Singh, was a Hindu, but as the population of the region had a Muslim majority, and as the state was directly between the two new states, he initially did not join either state.

India’s main claim to the region is that Hari Singh eventually accessioned his territories to India in return for an Indian military intervention against a Pakistan-backed Muslim insurgency in 1947, which lead to a war between the two countries.  Although both countries promised the status of Kashmir would be decided by a referendum, one that Pakistan would have most likely won, no such referendum has ever been held.  The United Nations arranged a ceasefire on January 1, 1949, and both sides retreated behind the Line of Control, which divided Kashmir into a section occupied by Pakistan and one occupied by India. 

Another war was fought in 1965, again provoked by Pakistan-supported militants in Indian Kashmir, which also ended in a ceasefire arranged by the UN and a reestablishment of the Line of Control.  In 1971, the two countries were once again at war. The war was initially a civil war, with the people of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, fought for independence from West Pakistan.  The fighting created 10 million East Pakistani refugees, who were allowed to enter India.  India later sent troops to East Pakistan to aid the East Pakistanis in their struggle for independence.  During the conflict, over 90,000 Indians were taken prisoner by the West Pakistan forces.  India and East Pakistan were victorious, and East Pakistan became the independent country of Bangladesh on December 6, 1971.

In recent years, a new armed insurgency has fought in Kashmir against Indian rule, with some of the militants calling for an independent Kashmir and others for a union with Pakistan.  The situation has become even more volatile when in 1998 both countries announced that they had developed nuclear weapons.  The conflict over Kashmir is the only live conflicts between nuclear powers in the world today.

The imperial interests of India and Pakistan over the Kashmir territory have had devastating consequences for all parties involved.  The 1947 war alone left 1 million dead, and in recent years, the death toll is in the tens of thousands.  The people of India and Pakistan suffer greatly from the conflict as well.  The military spending on both sides is obscene; Pakistan, a country whose GDP per capita is $580, spent $2.7 billion on its military in 2002 alone, while India, with a GDP per capita of $640, spent $13.8 billion on its military during the year. 

The tension surrounding the issue has also led to racial violence and repression against Muslims in India, and the rise of far-Right Hindu leaders such as Narendra Modi, who is best known for instigating race riots in 2002 in which some 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

The US’ Role in South Asia and the Indio-Pakistani Conflict

The US’ decision to reinstitute its policy of selling arms to Pakistan and India is criminal, as it will exacerbate and intensify the unfortunate situation in Kashmir.  The international community ought to be working toward a demilitarization of the contentious and dangerous situation.  Along with the F-16s that are being sold to Pakistan, there is talk of the US also supplying India with a large shipment of arms, and perhaps also F-16s.  There is reason to believe that the US and India may also be moving towards a strategic alliance in an attempt to contain the growing Chinese empire.  According to the Economist, India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently made a speech in which he affirmed that India was ‘proud to identify with those who defend the values of liberal democracy and secularism across the globe.’  The US’ attempt to play both sides of the conflict in an attempt to fortify its position may be very problematic, just as the US has faced problems by forming alliances with both Israel and fundamentalist Arab governments such as Saudi Arabia.

The US has shifted its military focus somewhat to East Asia, where it has been attempting to fortify its position in the region by reinforcing its allies in the region including Japan, South Korea, the puppet government in Afghanistan, and Indonesia in an attempt to contain China. In addition, the US has been militarily assisting King Gyanendra and has supported his antidemocratic coup, classifying the Maoist rebels who have been fighting for basic land reform as terrorists on the level of Al Qaeda.  Now, by reopening military ties with both Pakistan and India, the US is hoping to complete its plan of encircling China with American allies, which, although it openly participates in the capitalist system, is a member of the WTO, and has basically turned its entire country into a Nike sweatshop, has shown signs of moving in a different direction from the US, and has begun to economically assist third world leaders with policies adverse to the US, notably Hugo Chavez.  It is this that the US wishes to contain, a force adverse to American hegemony to defend third world nationalism.

Solutions

To avert the potential nuclear crisis between Pakistan and India over Kashmir and to ensure a peaceful solution, a referendum on the status of the territory must be held, something which India has not allowed to happen for fear that the Muslim majority would vote to join Pakistan or to become independent, and both sides must respect the results. 

If the people of Kashmir were allowed to decide their fate through elections, Pakistan and India could be brought closer to peace and religious tensions in the region could be lessened.  Until both countries agree to a peaceful solution and a plebiscite in Kashmir, it is absolutely criminal for anyone in the international community to be providing either country with arms, as the situation is so dangerous, but the US has disregarded the danger of the situation and has instead continued to act with no consideration of anything but its own interest.