Mohan:
RUB IN WITH RUBIN and IT ONLY GETS WORSE.
All the bolded lines are my comments
dawn.com
US rejects Kashmir's comparison with Timor
By Our Staff Correspondent
Kashmir and Timor: An anomalous analogy
WASHINGTON, Sept 8: The US has rejected the recent comparison by Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif between East Timor and Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir, saying it is an
analogy that does not apply.
Rub in by Rubin: Kashmir is not East Timor
Mr Sharif had recently demanded that the UN should hold a referendum in Kashmir like it did
in East Timor but the State Department spokesman Jamie Rubin categorically stated on
Tuesday "Kashmir is not East Timor."
I just urge you to not get trapped into facile analogies that don't apply. Kashmir is not East
Timor, Rubin told his regular briefing at the State Department.
Rubin was also asked about the elections in Indian held Kashmir and the US reaction but he
declined to go into the legitimacy of the elections in any part of Kashmir.
Rubin Rubs it in more: Don't Call US. We will call U . Talk man, talk to Indians
Rubin said: "During the past several Indian national elections' turnout in the predominantly
Muslim Kashmir Valley has been particularly low. It is not for us to comment on the
legitimacy of elections in any part of Kashmir. We have said repeatedly that the Kashmir
dispute must be resolved between India and Pakistan in a manner that reflects the wishes of
the people of Kashmir. That is our view."
Rubin Rubs in more and applies chilli powder: KASHMIR IS NOT KOSOVO, Man
Talking about Indian elections in general, Rubin said: "India's latest elections are only the most
recent example of its dedication to democratic principles. We look forward to working
closely with the new government when it is formed in October." Rubin also rejected any
comparisons between Kosovo and East Timor in the same manner as Kashmir.
Rubin now turns red on his face and says: Kashmir, Kosovo and East Timor . Get your bearings right, Man
"The question of East Timor and Kosovo are not the same: They are not in the same part of
the world; they don't have the same objective situations; they don't come on the basis of three
wars started by President Milosevic. It's very facile in facile analysis to make facile analogies
between East Timor and Kosovo. In East Timor there is a referendum; in Kosovo there
wasn't a referendum. In Indonesia you have a country of a very different character than a
Serbia that started a war in Slovenia, started a war in Croatia, started a war in Bosnia, and
was responsible for mass murder in the way that the Serb authorities were and were indicted
by the war crimes tribunal for," he said.
He said it was easy for some human rights organizations or journalists or others to equate
situations that we don't regard as the same. It doesn't mean we care less about East Timor
than we care about Kosovo but it does mean that they are different places with different
national interests, different histories, different factors at play, and people should be very
careful before they throw analogies around just to make their life easier when they're trying to
explain their position.
To the specific question whether he would compare East Timor with Kashmir, Rubin again
repeated: "East Timor is not Kosovo and East Timor is not Kashmir, and you can quote me
on that."
RUBIN SIDESTEPS THE TRAP
He was asked again about human rights violations in Kashmir via-a-vis US concerns in East
Timor. "You know that the people of Kashmir are being persecuted for seeking
self-determination under the UN resolutions and there were elections there and you know all
major parties boycotted those elections. What do you say about that?
Rubin said: "Again, I just urge you to not get trapped into facile analogies that don't apply.
Kashmir is not East Timor..." |
