Maybe we have forgotten Kashmir?

[kumarkumar1867]

India loves to copy US & they love to walk on US foot steps. US had OBL so Indians said we need our version of OBL they choose Dr. Hafiz. Cheap shot by the Indians as usual.



Goood one but the hindis won't get it.



Burp.......

 

[karan.1970]

Typical hindi thinking. I wonder how the freedom fighters are doing in India, they must be doing good.

I dont know of any freedom fighters, but Pakistani terrorists in Kashmir seem to be getting their a$$ kicked real bad

 

[SpArK]

I dont know of any freedom fighters, but Pakistani terrorists in Kashmir seem to be getting their a$$ kicked real bad

Heyy check this out

What do u say?

 

[INDIC]

I wish Pakistan shouldn't give her obsession with Kashmir, it will ensure huge defence budget over fragile economy(which definately pale before India's). It will always ensure Pakistan won't rise as a strong nation.

 

[Dushmann]

Translation: Truth Alone Triumphs.

 

[Hellraiser007]

I am talking for strategic reason.

If you really wanted those rivers Pakistan would have behaved in a different and a diplomatic way. Pakistanis of earlier generations have a different motive and they wanted to sub due India in the name of Kashmir.

They used to have a feeling of delusional superiority on Hindu majority country.

 

[Hellraiser007]

lol, why so many green on blue attacks now lol. Do you even know whats going in Afghanistan?

Taliban is a relio-nationalistic movement now. All ethnicities of Afghanistan are in the Taliban, with maybe the exception of the Hazaras. But even then they know its wise not to annoy the majority.

lol the Afghan government is merely puppet government.

Lets see what happens in the next few years. I think some Indian members are in a real surprise.

didn't you see the headlines sweety Indian boys.

USA accepts Taliban as a reality.

Thats a far cry from the many years ago when George w Bush said "We don't negotiatiate with terrorists"

LOL

WOW LOL

What makes you think these goons with AK 47's and rocket launchers can take on ANA with NATO support??

These guys can do attacks but cannot take cities and control them. It is not Soviet Union ruling Afghanistan who had logistic problems and economic problems.

The current Afghan regime is legitimate Govt. elected by people and Taliban has no cause or reason to fight against Afghan Govt. and local people won't support with their whole heart.

The Soviet Union was driven back because of support of Local people,CIA and Pakistani support. But this time No Govt. whether it is US, Russia,Iran or India do not want Taliban in Kabul.
Only Pakistani ISI agents,army and Taliban want to rule Afghanistan, Even China will not support Taliban because of east Turkistan movement.

 

[clmeta]

traitorous garbage newspaper. We Pakistanis have not forgotten Kashmir.

Just wait till the war in Afghanistan war is over.

 

[INDIC]

Wow.. Pakistan spends 5% of its GDP on defense ?? and blames India (which spends close to 2%) for arms race in the region ?

Its about 26% of entire budget while budgetary allocation for education during this year was 0.58% of budget lower than earlier years' allocation of 0.75% of entire budget.

 

[MilSpec]

Even in that context, which you are right is probably what it is but not seen thanks to the OP's needless bold and color rubbing it in... it is a little extreme. Pakistanis are interested in jobs.. but the value of India as a threat is yet to die down to that level where it may be said safely that I would rather work there or otherwise.

ironically though.. there are Pakistanis who are working in India where they have beaten the competition..
people like Shafqat amanat , Ali Zafar.. and Atif.. are some names.

Unfortunately there aren't enough, India is a growing country and hopefully it's growth can bring positive development in pakistan too. I dont see anything wrong if pakistani youth are encouraged to come to India for vocational training in high tech/IT institutes, Business practices, law firms and educational NGO's and take those skills back to pakistan and positively induce growth in Pakistan's economy. That would be the real people to people contact, that we constantly hear about and never actually see.

The are so many avenue's to work on common problems facing both the countries which will bring us together. There is a good prospect of formation of education institutions and research centers as joint effort on agricultural technology, improvement of agri o/p through innovation, primary/secondary educational teaching practices which can be effectively benefit both countries. I hope there is some development in the mentioned areas between both countries.

Both Indians and Pakistanis on the forum can take a thread to 100 pages when it comes to pointing out each others mistakes/shortcomings, Despite of the squabbles the rhetoric for mutual co-operation and normalization of relations with each other should never take a back seat.

 

[INDIC]

The only portion of afghans who do hate Pakistan are dari speaker.

These are merely 5% of the population.

The reason you see all afghans hating Pakistan on web is dari speakers are most well off among afghans they have access to media. Most of the time you speak to dari speakers that's why you get a wrong image of them.

Pashtuns the largest population of afghanistan don not hate Pakistan.

Dari is spoken by 50% of Afghanistan, not 5%

 

[DGMO]

The writer makes points which are fairly obvious to most. Kashmir simply doesn't have the same resonance for the average Pakistani, as it once may have. And even in those times, any feeling of anger / sympathy / frustration was fuelled by the state media machinery.

The past 10 years has seen a demonstrably profound shift in focus and priority for Pakistani's:

Geo-strategic

One calendar date started the domino effect, and we're living with the aftermath today - 9/11. Two things happened here which kicked Kashmir to the backburner:

2. The renewed focus on Afghanistan for PakMil, and a subsequent new theatre of war
4. The views of the world on freedom fighters / militants

PakMil was now back in the spotlight, and it saw 9/11 as a means to reposition itself in the world as a responsible and important geo-strategic player. It also meant that any dubious activities in Kashmir (which were traditionally pushed by the Military) could not be promoted with the same vigour as before - given the accountability that was thrust upon us.

The implications of this was that Kashmir could not be pushed by the state on the global stage as we had previously done so, despite us trying our very best to use Kashmir as an example of what people can resort to in the face of disputes / atrocities. It just didn't have any takers in the world anymore.

In short, we have no sympathy or moral standing on this dispute today. Parliament 2001 and 26/11 hammered that home. On the other hand, India has been far more effective in pushing Kashmir as a region troubled by terrorism (rather than a freedom movement), and pulled off an early PR coup with the powerful term it coined in the early 2000's: 'cross-border terrorism'.

Free Media in Pakistan

The exponential rise of private media channels meant that the daily diet of 'makbooza Kashmir' was removed from the menu. The stale broadcasting of state-run PTV has been butchered over the past decade. In line with that, the agenda has been switched, particularly in the last 5 years to growing domestic issues which dominate the daily talk shows we're exposed to.

Domestic Issues

Following on from the last point, domestic issues in the past 5 years have assumed greater importance than Kashmir to the point where it's a surprise if Kashmir is mentioned once a week, let alone a day on Geo, Samaa, ARY, Dawn, NBC, Express News etc etc. And what a 5 years it's been:

1. Benazir's assassination
2. Rise of Pakistan Taliban and terrorist attacks
3. Sectarian clashes
4. Rising inflation
5. Worsening load shedding - both gas and electric
6. Corruption and mismanagement
7. Unprecedented levels of unemployment
8. Weakening rupee and wider economic stagnation
9. Karachi troubles
10. Floods of 2010 and 2011
11. Executive & Judiciary tussle

The list goes on.

So in short, we have enough on our plate to care as passionately as we once may have about Kashmir. I know that's the case when I visit Pakistan, and speak to people. The public are wiser, smarter, exposed to information like never before to make an informed decision about what's right and best for Pakistan. Taking on India, and fighting a futile war when we're in a complete mess is not worth the effort.

It certainly isn't worth doing so when all we can offer Kashmiri's on the other side of the LoC is a bleak future given our troubles. They're better off where they are, and we're better off focusing on ourselves, and getting our own house in order.

Unfortunately, the wisdom, foresight and leadership is lacking to turn that dream into a reality.

 

[Jackdaws]

Go talk to the Afghanistanis in Pakistan. Ask them what they think of Pakistan.

They say its their second home. lol

Don;t listen to the biased media like AFP or Huffington post, which had lied repeatedly for 10 years about the war in Afghanistan.

Now the truth is coming out.

Actually, I met a bunch of them in Europe - they had migrated there after spending a few years in Pakistan. Anyhow, if Afghans like Pakistanis - then good for them I guess. One less headache for the world.

 

[A.Rafay]

Stupid baseless article! Patriotic Pakistanis have not forgotten Kashmir.

 

[OrionHunter]

Pakistan is finally making a break with the past, led by the younger generation where pragmatism, mutual cooperation and development, and peaceful coexistence can become the benchmarks of a future Pakistan. It is time that such an opportunity is seized and the Kashmir issue is resolved through a sensible solution and the agreement and mutual benefit of all parties, with old impractical and idealist postures abandoned.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2012.

Try telling that to some hardline members of PDF!! For them Kashmir is the be-all and end-all of their very existence. Without Kashmir they assume that Pakistan can never hope to eliminate poverty and become a super power! And they can never hope to become millionaires themselves without Kashmir! Or so they think!

Now you know why Kashmir is so close to their hearts!