day dreaming : thoughts on kashmir

#3514 A State of Confusion on September 24, 1999
Wasiq:

Wasiq yaar tum baray sharir ho! Kitni maa'soomiyat say Kashimr ka hal dhoondh rahay ho.

Here is my blueprint. Admittedly, this can be further fine tuned.

--Pre-'47 Kashmir (both Indian & Pakistani Kashmir --- henceforth referred to only as Kashmir) should be hander over to a Kashmir Commission, under the aegis of the UN for the next 25 years.
--This Kashmir Commission to be an autonomous body answerable to UN only and shall comprise of five or seven retired Supreme Court Justices-- three each from India and Pakistan-- to be chaired by a Srilankan Chief Justice.
--This Kashmir Commission will be responsible for all affairs of Kashmir, save defence.
--Defence and integrity of Kashmir to be guaranteed jointly by India and Pakistan.
--India and Pakistan Armies to nominate two armed divisions each towards the creation of a FirstArmy of Peace. The Command structured so that it alternates every two years between India and Pakistan, under Kashmiri civilian control.
-- Half of of this FirstArmy at the disposable of the UN Security Council, to be deployed at the hot trouble spots in the world -- Bosnia, Kosovo,
Ethiopito, E. Timor etc. The other half to be stationed in Kashmir. There should be a two year rotation within this FirstArmy.
--The half of this FirstArmy in Kashmir should be deployed thus. The Indian component should be stationed along the Paksitani border, and the Pakistani component facing the Indian border.
--Kashmiris should have the option to travel outside Kashmir using special UN issued Passports. They can also retain their present passports.
---At the end of 25 years, the Kashmiris to decide their fate under a UN sponsored referendum. India and Pakistan give an undertaking to abide by their wishes.
----This Kashmir Commission should decide on a definition of a Kashmiri within first month of existence.
---Citizens of India and Pakistan should be able to freely travel to Kashmir for up to 30
days without visas.
---Funds to sustain this Kashmir Commission should come from the Government of India and Pakistan following this formulae: A-B divided by 10, where A= federal government (New Delhi/Islamabad) expenditure in Kashmir for the last ten years, and B= total revenue+taxes collected from their respective parts of Kashmir. This ten year average to be given to the Kashmir Commison within 30 days of taking oath of office. These funds to be replenished every year by India and Pakistan and should be increased or decreased by the percentage of increase or decrease of Indian and Pakistani federal budgets.
---This agreement to be binding on successor
Indian/Pakistani governments.

As I suggested, this can be further fine tuned.

regards