In October last year, one of the most spacious theatres at the London School of Economics (LSE) was packed as students, academics and Londoners gathered for what was widely considered a first: two former heads of Indian and Pakistani intelligence services debating the future of bilateral relations at a public venue.
Amarjit Singh Dulat, who headed the Research and Analysis Wing between 1999 and 2000, and Ehsan-ul-Haq, who headed the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence during 2001-07, held a candid conversation on issues, including Kashmir. “Heavy-handedness has never worked in Kashmir… Kashmir is an integral part of India and it’s not going anywhere, but we need to deal with Kashmir in a more civilised manner,” Mr. Dulat said.
The event concluded with a public interaction session that remained calm and nuanced, even as emotions ran high. It highlighted the potential for London — home to large Indian and Pakistani diaspora, as well as students — to play an unofficial “neutral” forum for conversations on such issues among members of the public, even as official channels remained in limbo back home.
Last weekend, two LSE student groups, the South Asia Society and the Pakistan Development Society, organised a rather unique event — a simulation of talks between representatives from India, Pakistan and different groups in Kashmir, as well as international organisations, in an attempt to come up with ways forward.
The students had carried out intense preparation for the exercise, with facts and knowledge of the legal situation at their fingertips. Emotions often ran high too, particularly when it came to issues such as cross-border raids and self-determination demands. At the end, the hope for a joint statement from all parties wasn’t met, with the Kashmir delegation staying out of a joint declaration by the majority of other delegates. The declaration called for a new ceasefire agreement enforceable by international sanctions, closer communication between the militaries (including pre-notification of military exercises and cultural training), and the eventual scrapping of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and “oppressive laws” in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Common solution
That “two delegations of young people from two countries that so very strongly oppose each other arrived at a common solution speaks volumes about the mentality of this generation”, says Siddharth Sinha, president of the LSE South Asia Society and one of the moderators of the debate. “We got Pakistan and India on the same side, something which we would never have imagined. The next stage is to get Kashmir on board.”
The event’s backers remain positive about its long-term prospects and potential, marking a shift from the traditional (and confrontational) debate forums on which issues such as Kashmir have been tackled in British higher education institutions. “We hope it can develop as a future platform not just for Kashmir, or India and Pakistan but wider issues for the region, including around secularism,” says Nilanjan Sarkar, the deputy director of the LSE’s South Asia Centre. “These students will go back to their countries and one of the very important things we hope they will go back with is the awareness that this is not a binary or a black and white issue. What is important is that both countries have to move from their master narratives and become aware of the multi-polarity of the issue…”
(Vidya Ram works for The Hindu and is based in London)
