SRINAGAR, Feb 2 (1997): Some residents of troubled Kashmir province said on Sunday they craved a stable government in Pakistan after Monday’s elections, hoping that Islamabad can help end separatist violence.
A seven-year-old revolt in Jammu and Kashmir, mainly Hindu India’s only Moslem majority province, has claimed more than 20,000 lives.
Pakistan disputes Kashmir, over which it has fought two wars with India since independence from Britain in 1947.
“I am sure if these elections produce a strong government in Islamabad, it can take bold decisions on the Kashmir issue and end bloodshed in our valley,” university teacher Bashir Ahmad told Reuters in Srinagar, the state’s summer capital.
“That will also lead to peace in the sub-continent,” he added.
Pakistan votes on Monday to choose a new parliament after President Farooq Leghari dismissed the Benazir Bhutto government on November 5, accusing it of corruption and misrule.
Kashmiris keenly watch political developments in Pakistan and often react strongly.
At least 10 people died in protest demonstrations in 1979 when former Pakistan prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged by military ruler Zia-ul-Haq, who seized power from Bhutto in a coup.
In 1987, later there was mourning in Kashmir when Zia died in an air crash.
Bhutto was Pakistan’s foreign minister when it fought a war with India over Kashmir in 1965. His daughter pursued her nation’s claim over Kashmir with comparable zeal.
India accuses Pakistan of training and arming Kashmiri militants. Islamabad denies the charge and says it extends only moral and diplomatic support.
“The elections are an internal matter of Pakistan….We can only hope for a stable government which will give priority to resolving the Kashmir issue,” Umar Farooq, chairman of the separatist All-Parties’ Hurriyat Conference, told a local weekly.
Hurriyat bands together some 30 political and religious separatist groups.
Over a dozen militant groups are operating in Jammu and Kashmir, seeking independence or union with Pakistan.
“In spite of many stable governments in India, Pakistan has failed to negotiate fruitfully on Kashmir because of the uncertainties there,” said Ehsan Fazili, a senior Kashmiri journalist.
“This has led to unabated crisis and bloodshed in Kashmir. Only stable governments in India and Pakistan can end the trouble in Kashmir,” Fazili added.
Officials in Kashmir say they want a more democratic and stable government in Pakistan to build normal relations between the two countries.
“Only good relations can end the bloodshed in Jammu and Kashmir,” said a senior official who asked not to be identified.
