The Battle for Indus - A Sibling's War

India and Pakistan, how do you describe their relationship ?
A friendship that went astray ? Or perhaps, a modern day saga of two brothers from the same mother, who came to loathe the other ?
Regardless of how things are now, these countries have done it all and seen it all. They have come a long way in forming a unified fight to fend of the Imperial powers and then underwent a bloody partition where nearly north of a million lives were lost. Its an intricate tale which is deeply layered, changing course through history, in a state of constant evolution. Both countries have been independent for 70 years now, Pakistan a day before India, yet the powers at Islamabad and Delhi have never been able to come to terms completely, or so it seems. And the one lingering topic of dissent among these two nations has always been Kashmir. Or also known as "Heaven On Earth".

Its actually much worse than this !

It began in 1947 and it has continued ever since, Kashmir has always been at the centre of Indo- Pakistan discussions, serving as the centerpiece of tension between the two border sharing nations.
Three bloody battles have been waged in the 70 years since independence, countless other skirmishes on a regular basis, and most recently, a new wave of widespread surgical strikes by each country on the other. Mutual distrust , lack of cooperation and an ever building effort to cultivate hate towards the other nation has been dominant in the wider political and social spectrum of each nation. Each country stands by the slogan " Kashmir hamara hain ", while in the true sense of the word, the people who live there must wonder "Kashmir kiska Hai " ?
To clear the air, the Kashmir Confederacy has undergone a multitude of changes over the years, at least geographically. A part of the state is referred to as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) or as the Pakistanis call it Azad Kashmir, a region west of the Indian state of Jammu And Kashmir, a former princely which ceased to exist after the first Indo - Pak conflict of 1947. To the east of Azad Kashmir lies the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), separated by the Line of Control (LOC), the de facto border between India and Pakistan.
Azad Kashmir, has been the site of Indo Pak tensions for the better part of 7 decades, ever since the days of Jinnah and Nehru. Its a case of a partition gone horribly wrong.

Or Is It ???

For years we have been made to believe that these two nations, one which serves as Southeast Asia's gateway to the Middle East and the other the hotspot of the Asian Subcontinent, have been fighting over the region of Kashmir, an unbelievably beautiful expanse of land, desired by both nations with such vigour and determination that neither refuses to budge. For the actual region itself, well,its been in a state of panic ever since one can remember.  But are the two nations actually fighting over Kashmir or does this act as a veil to the actual cause of tension ? Is the Kashmir valley a site of a proxy war ?
Do Indo Pakistan tensions intensify since the first Kashmir conflict of 1947 or was it over a treaty, a certain treaty signed in 1960 which lies at the very core of this tension ?
The Indus Water Treaty of 1960 was a bilateral water treaty signed by the Nations of India and Pakistan, which helped assign the use of the water resources of the river's tributaries by each nation.
While it was designed to settle the matter peacefully, it certainly didn't fulfill its intended cause.
Instead it laid the groundwork to perhaps the greatest simmering tension, East of this world, or the Far East as the Early colonisers labelled this region. Coupled by religious differences, a sense of despise carried on since the days of the Partition and what I believe, a genuine attempt by the powers may be in both countries, to never really try and curb these tensions.

                                   
                                         An outline of the Indus Basin 

To put it simply, it was never a religious war, nor was it a war for land. It was a war for water. Kashmir was a mere pawn, an instrument; the fuel which would keep the engine running. In this game of Poker, Kashmir was the greatest hand either nation could play. And they did, they continue to play it.
Now I know most nationalistic supporters would give me a lot of flak, and yes, there might be credence to their statements too, but I refuse to believe the two former friends turned foes, couldn't sort it out over the course of 7 decades, its ridiculous at best, utterly disgusting at worst.

That India and Pakistan are fighting for the Indus basin water control isn't an unknown fact to many, but that Kashmir isn't entirely a different issue and lies at the crux of this debate is what the people need to know. 
The role of the two countries in this regard is also varied. While I wont go on to say that we Indians are complete saints when it comes to Kashmir, yet its noteworthy that Indian action or rather inaction could be a part of a larger ploy. For a country like Pakistan, terribly water starved, the Indus is what the Nile is to Egypt. The province of Sindh for instance is totally dependent on the Indus. That the Indus runs through Kashmir makes this a multi dimensional issue. And that is where the two nations, India in particular is both right and wrong.
So why do I suddenly change stance and go soft on our own government ?
Its not as simple as it may seem, but the fact is, coercion doesn't always need to be military. the Cold War saw the rise in forms of coercion, like Economic and Cultural which were previously unheard of, but ultimately proved vital in diplomacy and governance.
Pakistan, when it comes to water, is desperate. Despite threatening India with nuclear warfare and harbouring (apparently still rumoured) jihadists, Pakistan can never go too far, they can never go full throttle, they will in one way or the other always have their hands tied. This is because India has them cornered with their backs against the wall, and yes while Imran Khan's 1992 World cup winning team were also christened as cornered tigers, world politics is a different ball game, one which isn't played on 22 yards and one which certainly doesn't finish in a day.
Imagine a scenario where India revokes the Indus treaty. Its a living nightmare for Pakistan, already water deficient, cancellation and ouster from access of the Indus water Basin resources would send them through a catastrophic downward spiral so intense and virulent, there might not be a recovery.
India, through the threat of water is thus doing much more than the threat of a full fledged war.
That, my friend, that is coercive diplomacy.

But then again, while a clever ploy in itself, it doesn't do justice to Kashmir. And that is why i stress that how our govenrment has been correct in its strategy, but wrong in how it has decided to move forward with it. Because as far as it seems to the average man, Kashmir is the only recipient of a collateral damage which has only increased over the past 7 decades. Leave Kashmir out of it, the people, the state, they deserve peace. AFSPA doesn't help their cause either. There has been enough bloodshed, there has been enough violence. Decide its fate, and do not make it the veil to hide a larger scheme of things. Not anymore.

Because as much as I want to say Kashmir Humara Hai, I am not sure if that holds true in its truest sense.
Maybe Vishal Bharadwaj captured the true state of Kashmir in the best possible way in his movie "Haider" where Shahid Kapoor, playing the titular role demonstrates and says in his epic monologue scene, and I quote " India Pakistan ne milkar khela humse border border, ab na humko chore Hindustan , ab na humko chore Pakistan , arrey koi toh humse puche, hum kya chahte " 

What they want, maybe we'll never really know, their voices have been shut down for a good part of more than half a century now.

To Kashmir with love, we are Sorry.