[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1776-E1777]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THE PEOPLE OF KASHMIR DESERVE A VOTE ON THEIR FUTURE

                                  _____
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 28, 2010

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to call the 
attention of the House to the ongoing unrest in Kashmir. Although this 
conflict is a world away from our shores, it directly impacts our sons 
and daughters fighting the Global War on Terror in Afghanistan and 
Pakistan.
  The mountainous region of Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India 
and Pakistan

[[Page E1777]]

for more than 50 years because many of the people living in Indian-
administered Kashmir -especially in the Muslim-majority Kashmir 
valley--do not wish to be governed by India. They would prefer to be 
either independent or part of Pakistan. In fact, India and Pakistan 
have militarily clashed over the territory three times in 1947/48, 1965 
and 1971, and nearly fought another war over the territory in 2001--
which could have involved nuclear weapons.
  Several years ago, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then 
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf agreed to begin a dialogue aimed 
at narrowing their differences on the issue of Kashmir, and launch a 
series of confidence-building measures aimed at promoting trade and 
normal relations. I was encouraged by their efforts to improve the 
security situation in Kashmir, and was hopeful that cooperation between 
India and Pakistan would continue and ultimately lead to a sustained 
peace in Kashmir. President Musharraf is now gone and Prime Minister 
Singh has either been unable or unwilling to carry forward the 
initiative he began some six years ago. As a result, the simmering 
frustrations of an entire generation of Kashmiris who have grown up and 
come of age in an environment of repression once again exploded into 
violence this summer.
  Regrettably, the conflict has garnered little attention from the 
American media and zero attention from the White House. During the 
Presidential campaign, President Obama pledged to appoint a special 
envoy to the region and declared, ``. . . that solving the `Kashmir 
crisis' was one of his `critical tasks.' '' So far, this has been a 
promise unfulfilled.
  Madam Speaker, I believe an end to the violence and uncertainty in 
Kashmir would be widely welcomed in India and Pakistan as well as by 
our military commanders in Afghanistan. The longer the Pakistani 
Government focuses on staring down India along the Line of Control in 
Kashmir the harder it will be to defeat the extremists groups 
threatening the stability of the Pakistani Government, as well as the 
elements of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda using Pakistan as a safe haven to 
launch attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan.
  I do not know how the problem in Kashmir will ultimately be solved. 
However, I personally believe that the people of Kashmir should be 
given the plebiscite they were promised by the United Nations decades 
ago. And I ask unanimous consent to place in the Congressional Record 
an op-ed by Dr. Ghalam-Nabi Fai--Executive Director of the Kashmiri 
American Council--which puts the case for the plebiscite in context. I 
encourage my colleagues to read it. Whatever the solution, resolving 
the dispute over Kashmir is crucial to defeating the militants and 
stabilizing Pakistan, and winning the War in Afghanistan. The status 
quo is simply unacceptable.

                   [From the Guardian, Aug. 31, 2010]

   The People of Kashmir Must Be Allowed To Vote on Their Own Future

                          (By Ghulam-Nabi Fai)

       Pankaj Mishra's article was a concise and accurate 
     examination of the Kashmir crisis (Why silence over Kashmir 
     speaks volumes, 14 August). He pointed out that the 
     protesters ``have a broader mass base than the Green Movement 
     does in Iran. But no colour-coded revolution is heralded in 
     Kashmir by western commentators?
       Virtually everyone--men, women and children--of the capital 
     city of Kashmir, Srinagar, has taken to the streets to lodge 
     a non-violent protest at the office of the United Nations 
     against the continuance of Indian occupation. But such non-
     violent protests have received little or no press coverage, 
     even though they have been taking place, as Mishra reports, 
     since 2008. Is it any wonder that Kashmiris feel ``that 
     theirs is the voice of a neglected people''?
       Mishra speaks about the Indian media amplifying ``the 
     falsehoods and deceptions of Indian intelligence agencies in 
     Kashmir'', which argue that the Kashmiri protests are the 
     work of Islamic fundamentalists and/or terrorists. But in the 
     case of Srinagar, the population of a major town cannot be 
     composed entirely of such elements.
       Kashmiris simply demand a speedy implementation of the 
     pledge solemnly extended to them by India and Pakistan and 
     the UN--to be allowed to decide their future through an 
     unrigged and uncoerced vote.
       The protests are an unmistakeable expression of Kashmiris' 
     resentment against the indifference of world powers--and 
     their failure, largely because of toxic power politics, to 
     implement international agreements.
       As Mishra stated: ``India is a counterweight, at least in 
     the fantasies of western strategists, to China.'' This 
     contributes to the policies of inaction.
       So Kashmir continues to bleed under a renewed outpouring of 
     revolt against occupation, as the world continues to ignore 
     it There is a deliberate and direct targeting of young people 
     by the military forces, intent on crushing the anti-
     occupation movement. Mishra states: ``Already this summer, 
     soldiers have shot dead more than 50 protesters, most of them 
     teenagers.'' Their weapons? Rocks and stones. Hardly the 
     tools of terrorists.
       Apart from the magnitude of violence unleashed by the 
     military forces against protesters, the most poignant aspect 
     of the situation is the acute suffering of the whole 
     population caused by the frequent curfews, disregard of 
     normal life, arrests, detentions and sometimes disappearances 
     of innocent civilians by the authorities. This is a situation 
     without precedent in the south Asian subcontinent and with 
     few parallels in the world today.
       During his U.S. presidential campaign, Barack Obama pledged 
     he would appoint a special envoy to the region--as Mishra 
     says, ``he declared that solving the `Kashmir crisis' was one 
     of his `critical tasks' ''. However: ``Since then the U.S. 
     president hasn't uttered a word about this ur-crisis that has 
     seeded all major conflicts in south Asia.''
       If only Obama would keep his promise, it would certainly 
     hasten the process of peace and stability in south Asia--home 
     to one-fifth of the human race.

                          ____________________