Lt Gen M.C. Bhandari
Lancer Publishers
Pages 362
Rs 795
If there is heaven on earth, it is here. This famous line of the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jehan, encapsulates the enchanting beauty of Kashmir. But as we traverse the path from history to reality, we find the beauty of Kashmir marred by conflict. The Kashmir of pristine beauty has in the last six decades become the raison d’etre of open warfare between India and Pakistan, and has slowly but surely become a seething cauldron of terrorist violence.
Solving Kashmir is an in-depth analysis of the dynamics of conflict that have dogged Kashmir for years. The history of Kashmir abounds with stories of battles fought by the Huns, the Mughals and the British to attain territorial supremacy. And strange though it may sound, Kashmir was actually sold by Britishers to the Dogra Raja, Gulab Singh, for a paltry Rs 75 lakh in 1846. So, the seeds of conflict and the present-day strife have a historical and colonial antecedent. The colonial legacy of discord was further compounded by the Indo-Pak conflicts of 1965, 1971 and the Kargil debacle. Efforts like the bus diplomacy or the UN intervention or the more recent CBMs (Confidence Building Measures) have done little to resolve the long-standing conflict in the subcontinent.
Against a meticulously detailed historical and geo-political perspective, M. C. Bhandari analyses and lays thread-bare the various options—‘Dixon plan’, ‘Andora plan’ or ‘Chenab plan’—mooted to resolve the Kashmir imbroglio by ‘Armchair strategists’. He points out that the Gen Musharraf proposal of 2004, with its three-pronged strategy of ‘de-militarisation, self-governance and joint control’ of Kashmir, was a devious manoeuvre to usurp territory that could not be won by conventional warfare.
Bhandari offers suggestions that may initiate a process for a long-term solution to the Kashmir conflict. To start with, he suggests that the powers that be need to adopt a tough stance to squelch terrorism completely. Training in the ‘Fourth Generation Warfare’ and psychological warfare would also help to snuff out ‘across the border’ proxy war designed to ‘bleed India with a thousand cuts.’ Creating a vibrant economy in the region would further negate Pakistan’s stance.
The book holds out a ray of hope that perhaps a solution to the Kashmir problem is finally in sight. However, the solution eludes the reader. As the book heads towards its close, the reader waits for a magic solution from the military strategist. But I guess it is the height of naivety to expect a concrete workable solution to a conflict that has been dubbed as the ‘unfinished agenda of the Partition’.
The book ends with a cry of ‘where do we go from here?’—A cry that reflects the frustration and impotence of policy makers trying to find a final solution to the Kashmir malaise. It also replicates the cry of people faced with unending terrorist violence that has taken emotional as well as economic toll of our country. Bhandari’s book is indeed a comprehensive, well-researched and well-written thesis examining and analysing every facet of the Kashmir problem but an ultimate solution still appears to be a ‘chimera.’ So the quest for a solution continues.
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