Evening star., 1951-07-18
India, Pokiston and Koshmir

fUQtQy FukiStQU UUO NQSHm
Although DR.. Frank p Graham, the United
Nations mediator, is on the scene hopefully
trying to get them to agree on permanent
settlement Of their Kashmir dispute, India and
Pakistan seem to be growing progressively more
hostile toward each other. In fact, the exchange
OF verbal brickbats between them-through both
their newspapers and their official spokesmen-
has become so persistent and bitter within the
past few months that the possibility of shoot
ing war Is by no means out of the question.
Thus, in response to recent Indian charges
that Pakistani troops have been guilty OF pro-
vocative acts in the Kashnir area Liaquat Ali
Khan Pakstan's Prime Minister, has now ac-
cused India OF concentrating 80 per cent of its
army-including all of its armored formations
on the borders of his country Declaring that
he has informed friendly nations of the situation
and is leaving it up to the world to Judge the
Nehru governments aggressive designs" he
has emphasized that he has taken an extremely
grave view OF Developments much SO that he
intends to ask the U. N. Security Council to deal
with them as a threat to international peace.
In saying all this Mr.. Liaquat Ali has per-
haps exaggerated matters, but there can be little
doubt that the Indians and Pakistani have been
drifting toward an explosive kind Of hostility.
Their sharpening differences revolve around sew
eral issues, Of which Kashmr is by far the most
important In 1947, after the two countries had
come into being as result of the partitioning of
the great Asian subcontinent that was once
known as the ''crown jewel" of the British EN-
pire, they Immediately began to contend for this
rich and tabled territory. Kashmir's govern
ment, headed by Hindu Maharajah, decided at
the time to make the region an integral part
OF predominantly Hindu India. The people living
there, however. being Moslems in the overwhelm-
ing majority, reacted against the decision with
great bitterness, their view being that If they
were to be absorbed by one or the other power,
they should be absorbed by predominantly Mos
lem Pakistan.
It is not surprising, in the circumstances,
that violent rioting soon broke out in Kashmir
and led India and Pakistan to dispatch troops
there in manner and on scale that threatened
to precipitate full-scale war between them.
Fortunately, the United Nations succeeded in
persuading the two to work out cease-fire
agreement But the agreement-and this is
point worth keeping in mind in connection with
the Korean negotiations-has since amounted,
at best, to an uneasy state of affairs in which
the U. N, despite repeated efforts, has failed to
get the opposing armed forces to withdraw to
permit the holding of pressure-free plebiscite
designed to let Kashmirs people decide for them
selves on which country they should be merged
with. So the dangers inherent in this delicate
and complex situation have not diminished with
the passage Of time. On the contrary, If the
Indian charges and the Pakistani counter
charges are not mere propaganda, the dangers
have grown and both sides are risking shooting
conflict
The differences existing between India and
Pakistan are too involved, of course, to be re-
duced to simple black-and-white terms, as If one
side were wholly wrong and the other wholly
right. Nevertheless, as far as the Kashmir dis
pute is concerned the Nehru government seems
to be in q less defensible position than the gov
ernment Of Liaquat Ali. At any rate whereas
Mr. Liaquat Ali has readily assented to several
different u N. proposals to expedite the holding
OF a plebiscite and the working out of perma-
nent settlement, Mr.. Nehru-who has hotly
denied any warlike intent in the movement of
his troops-has been sufficiently obstructionist
to suggest that he does not really want Kashmirs
people to determine on the basis of genuinely
free and democratic vote, whether or not they
wish to become part of his country.
As long as this situation continues, with the
dispute increasing in bitterness, the danger of
war between India and Pakistan-a war that
could set fire to the whole of Asia-will be an
ever-present reality. 1t is danger that both
these countries-still very young in their inde-
pendence and burdened with tremendous in
ternal problems-should retreat from with all
possible speed. They owe that to themselves;
they owe It to the entire free world. If they
keep on their present course they will be flirting
with catastrophe.