EU Report Rattles Pakistan

ROME

Kashmir has long been Pakistan’s strongest diplomatic weapon against Indiaon the international stage, unsheathed and deployed frequently to createtrouble. A persistent talking point for Pakistani officials, the "Kashmirproblem" also helps counter an increasingly dark vision of their country inthe western mind.

So when faced with a different version of the Kashmir story, they feelrattled and see it as a foreign policy debacle for Pakistan. A draftreport submitted last month to the European Parliament by Baroness EmmaNicholson of Britain was just that—for it demolished Pakistan’s claims onand about Kashmir almost entirely. And it asked tough questions about the plightof the people in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir who have no "meaningful democraticrepresentation" and enjoy only "minimal rights." They are doublyvictimised in the aftermath of the earthquake.

For the first time, an official western report named China for controlling apart of the "former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir". The name game isfraught with delicious implications because Beijing, which has enjoyed watchingIndia tangled up in Kashmir, may now find how the shoe pinches. Any futuresettlement can theoretically involve surrender of Chinese-controlled territory.

"China’s place in the region and ownership of part of the territory isvery important. I will be holding a series of workshops on the border issues inthe region," Nicholson declared in a telephone interview from Beirut. ALiberal Democrat member of the European Parliament (MEP), she visited both partsof Kashmir this summer as the EU rapporteur and vice chairwoman of the foreignaffairs committee. The report is a serious effort to go beyond the facile andinto the jungle of Pakistani claims. It looks at the role and impact of thePakistani administration in POK instead of merely condemning India for humanrights abuses. It raps the Pakistani army for its initial slow response to theearthquake, which allowed militant groups to fill the vacuum and gainlegitimacy.

"Kashmir: Present Situation and Future Prospects" is a 10-pagenightmare for Pakistan and a near-complete vindication of India’s position.The report rejects demands for a plebiscite, calling them "wholly out of step",condemns the lack of democracy, justice and human rights in POK, the absence ofKashmiri representation in Pakistan National Assembly, calls Pakistani effortsto shut down terrorist camps on its territory half-hearted and clearly linksdemilitarisation on the Indian side to a reduction of terrorist violence. Itcondemns the "repugnant Hudood laws" and even mentions the persecution ofhomosexuals.

Pakistan’s ambassador to the EU, Saeed Khalid, shot off an angry four-pageletter to Nicholson, calling the report "fundamentally flawed" and an "unquestioningendorsement of the Indian standpoint." He even threatened the report would "provedetrimental to the peace process between Pakistan and India" in the letter, acopy of which was obtained by Outlook. He resents the "emphasis oninternational terrorism in the context of Jammu and Kashmir," and says thereport "completely overlooks the history of the dispute." By dismissingcalls for a plebiscite, "the fundamentals" can’t be altered, the letterwarns.

Nicholson said her critics were "mistaken" and that she looked forward toa series of discussions with them. "Reports are produced for the benefit ofEuropean members to implement EU-wide policies. They are not produced to pleaseor displease governments," she told Outlook. While the EU has not been invitedto mediate in Kashmir, it has given a large amount of aid to Pakistan for theearthquake victims. "It is only proper we look at the situation." A LifePeer and voted "MEP of the Year" in 2002, the Baroness is on solid ground.

She replied to Khalid’s letter Nov. 28, a day after receiving it andrebutted his charges methodically, specially the one about her declining to meetHuriyat leaders in India. "Despite at least four telephone calls, my staff andI were unable to interest Huriyat in a meeting," Nicholson said in her letter.The letter reminds the ambassador that her job as the rapporteur was not toregurgitate history but to look at pertinent issues for the future. "It wasnot part of the Rapporteur's remit to revisit in the text all the familiarhistory of the past 60 years. Relevant UN Security Council resolutions dofeature in the report," the letter said.

Khalid declined to comment, saying the report was only a "draft" thatstill had to go through the "process"— meaning beware the power of thepro-Pakistan lobby to try to tear it to pieces. The Kashmir Centre in Brussels,said to be a Pakistan-funded outfit like its clone Kashmiri American Council inWashington, and the London-based Kashmir Coordination Committee are alreadyworking overtime to denounce the report. Majid Tramboo, who heads the KashmirCentre, is shuttling between London and Brussels trying to meet all 83 membersof the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament to try to amend,dilute and rewrite the report. The deadline for offering amendments is Jan. 10,the discussion set for Jan. 24-25 and adoption by the committee on Jan. 30.

London will be a key battlefield where the Pakistani community will use itspolitical muscle to water down the report through like-minded British MEPs.Pakistan is also activating the 20-member All Party Group on Kashmir in theBritish Parliament. A dubious statement denouncing the report has already beenissued on the group’s behalf through the "Kashmir Media Service," apropagandist outfit. The statement sounds eerily similar to Pakistan ambassador’sletter.

The report may yet evolve but the MEPs will have to decide whether they wantto take a realistic look at the problem or follow the old script. Nicholson hascriticised the Indian army for human rights abuses and noted a few other areasfor address but she consistently found Indian Kashmir faring better on almostevery front than POK. Pakistan might find it hard to counter the support Indiacurrently enjoys in Europe. India is EU’s strategic partner with a growingtrade relationship. "You can’t castigate a country like India which sharesyour values to side with a country which spells trouble," said aBrussels-based analyst. "Support for India in the EP cuts across party lines."

But that doesn’t mean India can be complacent. Indian missions in Europehave already received instructions—to be vigilant and work to retain theoriginal report. But India may already have suffered a tactical loss. Nina Gill,a British Labour MEP and leader of the South Asia delegation, one of those whoasked to delay the original deadline of Dec. 5 set by Nicholson for offeringamendments. Gill, who is not a member of the foreign affairs committee, arguedthat she was going to Pakistan and wanted her "findings" to be part of therecord. But going only to one country is likely to give her a one-sided view.

December will be a month of hard labour not Christmas parties for many whowill be working the EU corridors. The stakes are higher for Pakistan because thenarrative is changing. Slowly but surely.