Jammu & Kashmir, Pizza and “Empowering India” in London

As some of you know, I have been organising a regular monthly get-together of like-minded fellow citizens and concerned Indians in London since the Mumbai Remembrance event that we did in December.

The meetings have continued steadily since the first follow-up in January. The mailing list now includes around 40 people…and we always run short of time (though rarely on food!).

In between the discussions and shared pizzas, we have also managed to raise funds for Loksatta and ADR (Election Watch).

The next meeting is on Monday (27th April) and the agenda is “Jammu & Kashmir“. I will be sharing these slides to set the stage for a (hopefully) lively discussion on 27th eve. Do have a look – especially at the last slide titled, “Points for discussion…”. This is a very complex subject, almost impossible to be covered in the course of an evening but I would like everyone to think of ways in which a solution can be found/issue could be resolved.

By way of background reading, have a look at some of the posts under the “Jammu and Kashmir” category on this blog.

We will also be raising funds for “Empowering India” during the course of the evening. More on Empowering India can be found here.

View more presentations from Shantanu.

Comments and thoughts welcome, as always.

Related Posts:

“Remembering Mumbai” – in London, 5th Dec

Food, Politics and some fund-raising

A busy few days…

Yeh “Liberal Agenda” kya hai?

B Shantanu

Political Activist, Blogger, Advisor to start-ups, Seed investor. One time VC and ex-Diplomat. Failed mushroom farmer; ex Radio Jockey. Currently involved in Reclaiming India - One Step at a Time.

You may also like...

8 Responses

  1. Kiran P says:

    Shantanu,

    That’s a good presentation. As soon as I saw the topic Arvind Lavarkare’s name came to me immediately. What I know most about J&K I know reading his columns in Rediff. I hope you will mention about article 370 and such. Another thing, it might be interesting to start the presentation with humor by sprinkling this fact.

    http://myexperimentsagainstprejudice.blogspot.com/2008/12/facts-about-jammu-and-kashmir.html

    Kiran

  2. B Shantanu says:

    Kiran: Thanks for the link…Unfortunately I had to call off today’s meeting due to something unexpected that came up…

    🙁

    Hope to re-schedule soon though…and yes, Article 370 will definitely be on the cards.

  3. B Shantanu says:

    My comemnts on a Reuters blog post on Jammu & Kashmir http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2009/05/07/is-india-failing-to-win-hearts-and-minds-in-kashmir/
    that had posed this question:
    “With militancy down, this is the perfect opportunity for talks and the onus is on India now to take advantage and resolve the Kashmir dispute once and for all,” Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told Reuters.

    Could this be the right time to hold talks with the separatists to resolve the Kashmir crisis? And do Indian authorities agree?

    **** MY COMMENT BEGINS ***

    Bappa: In my view, the issue can never be resolved until the “separatists” give up their “separatists” tag…That needs to be the first step in resolving the crisis.

    Below are my thoughts on several previous comments before:

    ***
    @ Abdul Majid Zargar: First, it is important to get the history right. Please refer to the slides here on this link: https://satyameva-jayate.org/2009/04/25/jammu-kashmir-empowering-india/
    And there really can be no serious talks under the shadow of a dagger or at gun-point. As long as terrorist violence continues, no meaningful resolution is possible.
    If Kashmiris are serious about resolving the crisis, they must a] participate in the democratic process b] make sure that there is no ground-support for terrorists…

    ***

    @ Muzi: Kashmiris will never give up their struggle,no matter what. Struggle for what? Independence – that is not an option (Pl. see slide 7 to get a legal perspective on this matter) and plebiscite cannot be held because Pakistan has been in violation of the agreement and has not withdrawn its troops for the past 60+ years.

    So what is the struggle about? Integration with India? That would be a good thing to aim for…let us start with dismantling Article 370 – which prevents closer economic and socio-cultural integration of Kashmir with India.

    ***

    @ Ahmad Kashmiri: Pl. remember that freedom from India is *not* an option – not in law, not in terms of situation on the ground. Such irresponsible statements is the main reason why the dispute has dragged on.
    I do not doubt that Kashmiris have legitimate grievances…so do people in Assam, so do people in Maharashtra and so do those living in Tamil Nadu. Why cannot these matters be resolved through the ballot box? And please do not blame the politicians…they thrive because good, sensible people stay away from politics.

    ***
    @ Amjad: Very insightful statement: “ They (Pakistanis) have no love for us, They just love to hate India

    ***

    @ reyan: Please have a look at the link I have posted above and you will get an answer to your question.

    ***
    @ Wasim: How is Pakistan “legally a party in the kashmir solution” – Can you please cite the relevant UN resolutions?

    ***
    @ Rashid: Re. Kashmir “never being a part of India”, please have a look at slides 12 and 13 here: https://satyameva-jayate.org/2009/04/25/jammu-kashmir-empowering-india/ You may change your mind

  4. K. Harapriya says:

    Women in Kashmir not allowed to vote. Oh my God, is this in India?

    http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Women-cant-vote-in-this-Afghan-village-in-Kashmir/456280/

  5. B Shantanu says:

    Unbelievable…And we thought that the Taliban were at least 100 miles away…Seems they are nicely settled in Gutli Bagh.

    Thanks for highlighting this Harapriya.

  6. B Shantanu says:

    Thought-provoking article by Prof. Mohan Krishen Teng on why a non-territorial settlement with Pakistan over Jammu & Kashmir might lead to another partition.
    Brief excerpt below:

    The Indian Prime Minister’s claim to have formulated proposals envisaging a non-territorial solution on Jammu & Kashmir, which does not involve any territorial adjustments and which would be acceptable to Pakistan and the Muslims of Jammu & Kashmir, is deceptively simple.

    In essence, Dr. Manmohan Singh’s approach underlines the recognition of Jammu & Kashmir as a separate sphere of Muslim interest in the Republic of India. The proposed non-territorial settlement seems to essentially envisage the inclusion of Jammu & Kashmir in the territories of India, but at the same time exclude it from the secular political organization of India. The approach further envisages the exclusion the state of Jammu & Kashmir from the territories of Pakistan, while at the same time including it in the political organization of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

  7. B Shantanu says:

    The presentation on J&K made it to the “Hot on Facebook” for an hour earlier today! Thanks all.

  8. B Shantanu says:

    Interesting data in Praveen Swami’s article that puts paid to the nonsense of “whole of J&K burning” http://bit.ly/cAVSmT Almst 70% of violence limited to 3 towns