On February 28, 2007, Barkat Bi, 70, living in Jammu & Kashmir was united with her husband, Niaz Mohammad, 72, after a gap of 42 years. Her husband had crossed over to Pakistan-administered Jammu & Kashmir during the 1965 Indo-Pak war and could never return.
Notwithstanding the constraints that bind the policymaking elite in New Delhi and Islamabad, there had been tangible progress since 2004. The Line of Control (LoC) points were opened and a process initiated to end the pain of divided families living on both sides. Last year, trade began between the two sides creating an economic stake for the peace process.
The mistrust which developed between the two countries after the Mumbai attacks in 2008 reversed some of these gains. The number of passengers travelling through the various LoC points is consistently coming down. Traders are demanding flexible rules of engagement and calling for an end to the barter system.
Despite these setbacks, there are some recent significant political developments on both sides of the LoC, which if understood and facilitated can go a long way in evolving an amicable solution. A working group appointed by the Indian prime minister and headed by former Supreme Court justice Saghir Ahmed recently issued a report. The operative portion of the report was a suggestion to restore autonomy to J&K.
The report to address the political dimension of the issue was delayed owing to major differences within the group. The autonomy debate revolves around the July 24, 1952 Delhi agreement between Jawaharlal Nehru, then India's prime minister, and J&K prime minister Sheikh Abdullah which meant "the matters in the Union List not connected with the three subjects of Defence, External Affairs and Communications and/or Ancillary thereto but made applicable should be excluded from their application to the State".
http://newageislam.com/federal-autonomy-in-pajk--an-idea-that-binds/current-affairs/d/2472
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5:48 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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