WAS Nawaz Sharif reminding Bill Clinton that his assurance of taking a personal interest in Kashmir was long overdue when he compared Kashmir with East Timor? If that was the bait, Washington certainly didnt bite. "In fact the spokesman for the Emperor was quick to tell his protege to shut up," says Brig (rtd) Usman Khalid.
But Islamabad cannot help make the comparison because of the similarities. "In both cases the territories were annexed by a militarily dominant neighbour to fill a power vacuumby Indonesia in Timor and by India in Kashmirwithout ascertaining the wishes of the people. In both cases, the local population resented that annexation. In both cases, efforts by occupying forces continued to suppress that resentment by force. In both cases, the UN refused to legitimise the annexation and decided that the people of the two territories should, through a UN-supervised referendum, accept one of the two options offered to them. In both cases the occupying forces killed a large number of unarmed civilians to keep themselves in power," read the editorial in the English daily The Nation.
Whats come in for criticism is the US reaction. On a visit to Pakistan, British MP Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar said: "Its (the US) opposition to holding a referendum in Kashmir like East Timor has displeased Kashmiris." Former PoK prime minister however, thought that with the East Timor issue resolved, as also the earlier Kosovo crisis, Kashmir remained the main hurdle in the way of lasting world peace.
But Khalid Mehmood, specialist on Indian affairs, sees no hope for world pressure to mount. He sees a "pronounced pro-India tilt" in the US stand, post Kargil. Others feel world pressure for East Timor came because its population was mainly Christian. "Kashmiri Muslims have struggled for a longer period," says Mehmood. Reason enough, he thinks, for them to be given a choice.
