Kashmir options

                 Kashmir is primarily a dispute about justice and people, but it has strategic and territorial dimensions as well. There is a Kashmir that has a physical territorial existence and there is a Kashmir that is in the minds of politicians, strategists and soldiers. The conflict in this, latter Kashmir is a clash between identities, imaginations and history.
                 The Muslims of the subcontinent argued for Pakistan on the basis of the two-nation theory. For Pakistan leaving a Muslim majority region to India would be a negation of this theory.
                 The ruling elite of Pakistan has made out that Kashmir is the centrepiece of Pakistan's very existence. Any dilution of that concept spells a catastrophe for this establishment.
                 India argues that Pakistan is fanning the issue because it is unwilling to accept the fact of a secular India. It (fearing a domino effect of separatism) finds it difficult to turn over Kashmir to Pakistan just because it is Muslim.
                The implications of the issue are great both regionally and internationally. The world is pressuring both Pakistan and India for a dialogue. There are 12 options reportedly being discussed these days to resolve the dispute.
                If one looks at the map and statistics, one will see that the so-called Chenab formula, which splits the state of Jammu and Kashmir along the river Chenab, is a natural solution both geographically and demographically.
               The new idea is: let the 'Chenab formula' be given a democratic colour by conducting a referendum on the basis of regions (Kashmir Valley, Jammu, Ladakh, Northern Areas and Azad Jammu and Kashmir).
                If a choice were given to the people, the democratic outcome would be a demographic and geographic split of the state along the Chenab. The statistical indications are that Jammu would vote for India and the rest of the regions would go along with Pakistan.
                India takes pride in being the biggest functioning democracy of the world. It would enhance its stature even more if it agreed to a democratic process instead of a solution by force.
                A quarter of humanity would be the beneficiary of a just and honourable settlement of the Kashmir dispute. The time is ripe for bold and imaginative steps. The world is helping and both President Musharraf and the Indian government seem determined to find a solution. The people of Pakistan and India should encourage and support them to defeat those who have vested interests in maintaining the status quo.