An Ominous Turn in Kashmir

Chances always were slim that the cease-fire called by one rebel group in the Indian state of Kashmir would prompt other rebels to abandon arms. Nevertheless, the collapse of the truce and related peace talks is a worrisome development for the disputed territory.

The leader of the Kashmiri Hizbul Moujahedeen said his group broke off talks with Indian leaders because of their refusal to include the Pakistani government in the negotiations over the future of Kashmir. Announcement of the collapse of the talks was made last week in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, and the language was unusually intemperate, calling for the Islamic guerrillas to proceed with “target-oriented missions.” Days later Hizbul Moujahedeen claimed responsibility for a bomb explosion in Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir, that killed 14 people.

On Sunday, the guerrilla group claimed responsibility for attacks on a bus caravan carrying security forces in Kashmir. Six soldiers were killed. Elsewhere in the troubled state, security forces killed 10 guerrillas.

Considering that even during the cease-fire more than 100 Kashmiri civilians were massacred, most likely by rebel groups, the collapse of the talks is especially ominous.

If Pakistan continues to encourage Islamic rebels battling Indian forces, the tensions are bound to increase. That’s especially dangerous now that both countries have tested nuclear weapons. India and Pakistan share a border and have fought three wars in half a century.

Hizbul Moujahedeen originally said the cease-fire would be in place for three months. Instead, it endured for a mere two weeks. That’s far too little time for concrete results.

Kashmir has been claimed by both Pakistan and India for the last half-century and partially occupied by both. The insurgency has gone on for more than a decade, with Muslims from Afghanistan and Pakistan playing important roles in the fighting. Kashmir is the only predominantly Muslim state in India, whose population mostly is Hindu.

During his visit to India this year President Clinton proclaimed the subcontinent “the most dangerous place in the world” because of the nuclear face-off. India has to find some way to reach out to Pakistan to defuse tensions; it adamantly refuses to let a third nation, such as the United States, get involved. Pakistan, in turn, needs to rein in the guerrillas fighting in the Kashmiri mountains. Leaders of both countries must realize that their nuclear weapons do not make them safer; instead they make both nations, the region and the continent far more dangerous.