June 1, 2003

To:

Mananiya Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

The Prime Minister of India

South Block, New Delhi, India-110 011.

Subject: Trust that the ‘ UNANIMOUS RESOLUTION ’ of the PARLIAMENT OF INDIA about Jammu and Kashmir ( dated February 22, 1994 ) is respected.

Mananiya Pradhan Mantriji:

We have written to you earlier as well regarding the Jammu and Kashmir imbroglio. Our previous letters/petitions to you, to the Parliament of India and to the President of India in this regard are available on the Internet at the above-mentioned internet web link.

We want very much to believe that our nation’s destiny is safe in the hands of the Government of India (GoI). However, we cannot help but be alarmed by the Government’s conflicting stand that (a) there can be no talks with Pakistan till it stops terrorism in India and (b) talks with Pakistan can be held without any such pre-condition.

The GoI may have a certain calculated strategy in positioning itself in such a contradictory manner, but such conflicting positioning does not inspire the confidence of a large number of people of our great nation. As an indicator of the loss of confidence such contradictory positioning precipitates, I draw your attention to the following two articles, available on the internet at the following internet reference URLs:

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/may/31arvind.htm

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/apr/29arvind.htm

We strongly share the concerns expressed in these articles.

I alert you to the fact that the people of our great nation will not accept any treaty with Pakistan that is not authorized by the Parliament of India, which has UNANIMOUSLY resolved in its RESOLUTION in the Lok Sabha dated February 22, 1994 that:

" The state of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall be an integral part of India and any attempts to separate it from the rest of the country will be resisted by all necessary means; India has the will and capacity to firmly counter all designs against its unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity; and demands that - Pakistan must vacate the areas of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, which they have occupied through aggression; and resolves that - all attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of India will be met resolutely ." [ Reference: legal_docs_006.shtml ]

Mananiya Pradhan Mantri Ji, the above RESOLUTION remains in force as of today and expresses the collective will of the world’s largest Democracy. No Government, no Prime Minister can ever be above this resolve.

Many of us are amazed by the failure of each Government, one after another, to internalize the Jammu and Kashmir imbroglio. The J&K issue is a purely internal matter and it is our failure to Consolidate First the Integration of Jammu and Kashmir in the Republic of India that has provided continuous opportunity to Pakistan to carry out unabated terrorism in India and fancy territorial gains for itself. The ‘Instrument of Accession’ by the State of Jammu and Kashmir is not merely the only legal process through which the State’s position could be determined; this position has been endorsed by the expression of Free Will of the People of the State of Jammu and Kashmir and articulated in Section 3 of the Constitution of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. [ Reference: legal_docs_004.shtml ].

India has failed to stop Pakistan propaganda about the ‘wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir’ despite the fact the these wishes, in favor of integration in India, expressed clearly already as noted above, have been firmly endorsed by world leaders [ wlop_000.shtml ]. Furthermore, India has failed to expose Pakistan’s hypocrisy that it does not, in fact, support ‘Freedom of the Kashmiris’, for which it provides no room. [Reference: hmcpjk.html#tagUNResoln1949 ]

Mananiya PradhanMantriJi, we urge you to deal with Jammu and Kashmir as India’s internal issue. The State must be treated as any other State in the Republic of India, having the same status as other States. This requires abrogation of the anachronistic Article 370, which can be done as per the procedure described in the Petition we have submitted to the President of India and sent to your office as well. [ Reference: cifjki_petition_006.pdf ]

I recall with great pride that it was your question to the then Prime Minister of India in the Lok Sabha Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, to which he answered " Article 370 ghiste ghiste ghis jayegi ... ". "Article 370," he reminded the house, "is a part of certain transitional, provisional arrangements. It is not a permanent part of the Constitution. It is a part so long as it remains so." [Reference: "370 Meant To Be Eroded" Author: Virendra Parekh, Publication: The Weekend Observer, July 1, 2000 ].

While what one might mean by 'Compromises' regarding the J&K imbroglio remains unclear, the following points must be taken into account if any compromise involves accepting the LoC (Line of Control) as IB (International Border):

1) Musharraf's regime has its own count down in progress even as Pakistan itself is perhaps a decaying state. Getting into 'Talks' and/or ‘Treaties’ with a crumbling leadership and a decaying State is not a good idea. It may not be backed up by future regimes. ( Reference: http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/may/14claude.htm )

2) There is enormous resentment against Pakistan's governance in PoK region. There is therefore absolutely no need to write off this region. Some political leaders of this region are yearning for freedom and progress, and in fact willing to "go with any nation" that will help them get their human rights.

(References: see Appendix AG6 at cifjki_petition_006.pdf & also pojk_000.shtml )

3) Toward the retake of the Indian region of J&K which currently occupied by Pakistan (PoK), consideration of the welfare of the people of PoK must be the factor of foremost importance (as per above point number 2), but also to be taken into account is the cost-economics of surrendering PoK to Pakistan, accentuated by the revenue the Indian Himalayan (Karakoram) Peak K2 generates. Some indication of the revenue Pakistan generates from the K2 Peak can be obtained not merely from the revenue generated by China from Manasarovar visits, but also from Pakistan-Tourism sites at:
http://www.terrafirmatravel.com/treks.php3?tid=46
http://www.everestnews.com/k2c1.htm
http://www.k2adventurestore.nl/index.html

4) As a long term concern, India must develop a clear vision and strategy to recover the Indian territory beyond LoC occupied by Pakistan (and also, eventually, the Indian portion of Ladakh occupied by China, at least along the lines suggested in the post-script footnote in the article at: carpi_003.shtml

5) Leaders of both India and Pakistan have given very tangible reasons to reject LoC (Line of Control) as IB (International Border): See:

(5a) Vajpayee rejects LoC as international border
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020917/main1.htm

(5b) Musharraf rejects LoC=IB
http://news.indiainfo.com/spotlight/indo-pak/13reject.html

Dubai: On the eve of his crucial Summit with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has rejected both the Shimla agreement and the Lahore declaration.

He has also ruled out any move to legitimise the Line of Control (LoC) as the international border between India and Pakistan.

''Anyone, any leadership in Pakistan that makes any agreements, any deals where Kashmir is sidelined, I can say with full certainty, that declaration, or that treaty, will never go forward because the people won't let it go forward. And that is why the Shimla agreement and the Lahore declaration did not move forward,'' Musharraf told the Dubai-based 'Gulf News' as he prepared to embark on his historic visit to India.

He said both the Shimla agreement and the Lahore declaration did not make any progress because they avoided the ''core'' issue of Kashmir between the two countries.

Referring to the talk of converting the LoC into the international border between the two countries, Musharraf asserted that no Indian government should expect any Pakistani leader to accept status quo.
''LoC is the problem. What is the freedom struggle going on about? It's about the LoC. It's the problem not the solution. How can the problem be the solution,'' he said.

Musharraf said ''respecting the LoC is a different matter, accepting it as a permanent solution is another matter. That (the July 4, 1999 Washington agreement during the Kargil conflict) does not mean he (former Premier Nawaz Sharif) accepted or we accepted that the Kashmir dispute is over and the LoC is permanent.''

6) The UN does not have the means to enforce law and order in the world. UN never found the Accession of J&K to India as illegal, yet could do nothing about it except to merely pass delayed resolutions, which it had no means to implement. (Reference: See Question-Answer No. 10 at: jkfaq.shtml )

7) Most importantly, the UNANIMOUS RESOLUTION of the PARLIAMENT OF INDIA must be respected. (Reference: legal_docs_006.shtml )

We appeal to you that the solution to the Jammu and Kashmir imbroglio does not lie in ‘Talks’ with Pakistan - which it does not understand - but in having ‘Talks’ within the Parliament of India and asking the Parliament to defend if and how Article 370 is good for the People of Jammu and Kashmir and asking an explanation for why this ‘Temporary’ and anachronistic should not be abrogated to complete the integration of the State.

Finally, I repeat my deep concern shared by a vast number of people of our great nation, which I had voiced in my previous letter (dated June 3, 2001) to you:

Jammu and Kashmir is a(our) national heritage. It must be preserved as such for posterity. It is a historical, cultural, legal, constitutional integral part of India. Its comprehensive integration and development is our collective responsibility. With warm regards,

Pranawa C. Deshmukh

Convener, CIFJKINDIA ( http://www.cifjkindia.org )

Coordinator - J&K Project, India Awareness Foundation (IAF) - previously - Bharat Awareness Forum (BAF),

1765 Lazy River Lane, Atlanta 30350 USA.

Letter, by Fax to: Prime Minister, Shri A.B.Vajpayee 91-11-2301-9545 / 6857 / 9334 / 4255/

Copy, by Fax to: President of India 91-11-23017290 & 11-23017824

Copy, by Fax to: Vice-President of India 91-11-23018124

Copy, by Fax to: Speaker, Lok Sabha 91-11-23792927

Copy, by Fax to: Home Minister Shri L.K. Advani 91-11-2301-7419 / 2309-4221

Copy, by Fax to: Minister for Defense, Shri George Fernandes 91-11- 23015403

Copy, by Fax to: Minister for External Affairs, Shri Yashwant Sinha 91-11-23794181

Copy, by Fax to: HRD Minister Shri MuraliManohar Joshi 91-11-2338-2365 / 2371-1772

Copy, by Fax to: Task Force on Management of Defense 91-11-2301-0950

Copy, by Fax to: Embassy of India, Washington DC, USA 1-202-9397027

Copy, by e-mail to: High Commission of India to UK cgi@congend.demon.co.uk,indian@consulate.fsnet.co.uk

Copy, by e-mail to: Indian Embassy at Washington, DC, USA indembwash@indiagov.org,sarna@indiagov.org

Copy, by e-mail to: select media

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