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Pastimes : Rarely is the question asked: "is our children learning" -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Sladek who wrote (1804)	1/11/2004 2:55:42 PM
From: John Sladek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2171

11Jan04-Ian Mather-Musharraf gambles his life on India peace bid IAN MATHER DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT DECADES of fighting over Kashmir have claimed at least 65,000 lives. Now Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, is gambling with his own life as well as his political career in a bid to make peace with India. Musharraf’s surprise announcement that his country would put aside its demand that the people of the Indian-controlled area of Kashmir should vote on their own future has produced immediate benefits. The two nuclear powers are committed to ending 50 years of slaughter and finding a solution to the region’s problems through dialogue. But the process of reconciliation and compromise encouraged by Musharraf has enraged fundamentalist groups that accuse the president of selling out to US interests in the war against terrorism. Last month Musharraf survived two attempts on his life, and there is no reason to think they will be the last. His climbdown over Pakistan’s long-standing demand that the inhabitants of Indian-ruled Kashmir should decide their own future was the catalyst which led to last week’s groundbreaking meeting in Islamabad between Musharraf and Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee - their first for more than two years. The two men agreed to end the decades-old stand-off over Kashmir and enter into a "comprehensive dialogue" to settle outstanding problems between their countries. In a joint declaration, Musharraf also pledged not to let his country be used as a haven for terrorists who are trying to wrest the territory from India, and India dropped its demand for an end to violence as a precondition to talks. This is a process that will take time and will be enlarged upon The deal follows months of gradually easing tension since the two nuclear-powered states were on the verge of war in 2002 following a lethal attack on the Indian parliament by Muslim extremists. The rapprochement is a triumph for moderates on both sides against extreme Muslim nationalists who want to return Kashmir to Pakistan by force and extreme Indian Hindu nationalists who want to purge Kashmir of Muslims. But the personal stakes are far higher for Musharraf than for Vajpayee. Musharraf is walking a tightrope trying to maintain a balance between his international image and Islamic fundamentalist rebels. Since the September 11 attacks he has become a staunch US ally. His government has banned more than a dozen militant organisations and arrested more than 500 al-Qaeda suspects, turning most over to American authorities. But his pro-West stance and moves on Kashmir are seen by fundamentalists as a betrayal of Islam. There have been three attempts on his life in two years. Immediately after the latest, on Christmas Day, Musharraf appeared on television and reiterated his resolve to "cleanse Pakistan of the cowardly, misguided extremists out to defame the country and Islam". But it is no coincidence that one of his first moves after the announcement of the dialogue with India was to meet leaders in the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir to reassure them that his country would not betray them. "We are happy that President Musharraf has taken a step in the right direction to solve the issue of Kashmir," said Sardar Anwar Khan, president of the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir. However, Omar Naqashbandi, an official with Jaish-e-Mohammed, an extremist group fighting against Indian forces in the two-thirds of Kashmir under New Delhi’s control, said: "The strategy of the Mujahedeen will be that they will continue their operations against Indian forces until they are beaten and forced to flee Kashmir." Naqashbandi also dismissed Musharraf’s pledge that Pakistan would not allow territory under its control, including its portion of Kashmir, to be used for terrorism. If an assassination attempt on Musharraf was to succeed, Pakistan would be plunged into a dangerous political vacuum since there is no clear institutional framework to ensure a trouble-free succession. Since Musharraf continues to be the chief of army staff as well as the president, and the military calls the shots, it is likely that direct military rule would be imposed. Fighting between Indian security forces and the militants in Kashmir continues. On Friday, 15 worshippers were wounded when a hand grenade was thrown on to the roof of a mosque during prayers. Earlier four guerrillas were killed in what the Indian army said was a fierce encounter in Kashmir. India is also bracing itself for a surge in violence on its own territory. Musharraf is gambling that a settlement of the Kashmir question will cement his status as a global statesman, and that Pakistan can start to reap the economic benefits from the ensuing stability. All previous attempts to settle the Kashmir question have failed. But the atmosphere is different today, analysts say. A former Pakistani foreign secretary, Najmuddin Shaikh, said: "This process will take time, will be sustained and continued and enlarged upon." But the question remains whether Musharraf’s gamble will pay off. news.scotsman.com