US must shape Kashmir peace, Boston Globe, USA, July 28, 2002
PEACE AND JUSTICE in Kashmir are achievable if all parties concerned - India, Pakistan, and Kashmiris - make some sacrifices. Each party will have to modify its position so that common ground is found. It will be impossible to find a solution that respects all the sensitivities of Indian authorities, values all the sentiments of Pakistan, keeps intact the unity of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, and safeguards the rights and interests of the people of all the different zones of the state. Yet this does not mean that we cannot find an imaginative solution.

Archives

Pakistan - the odd one out, Asia Times, Hong Kong, September 16, 2003
With Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee agreeing in their condemnation of terrorism, elements within the Pakistani intelligence and security apparatus see the two as part of an unholy alliance, and a threat to Pakistani interests, especially in Indian-held Kashmir.

The ultimate solution, The Weekly Independent, June 20-26, 2002
After around a month of war mongering, the threat of an all-out hostility between India and Pakistan seems over. Still, it will not take much time for the two hostile neighbours to again cross the threshold and plunge South Asia to disaster. Since May 14 when the terrorist attack was struck in Jammu till June 10 when India announced some symbolic measures to reduce tension with Pakistan, there were moments when the two sides were on the brink of a war.

August 14 in Pakistan, The New York Times, USA, June 14, 2002
Nuclear war isn't about to erupt here. I can say that baldly because if it does, then I'll be vaporized and won't have to eat my words. But while Don Rumsfeld's relentless squinting at leaders here and in New Delhi may help stave off war for now, it still threatens just down the road. And that threat makes Pakistan an eerie place, with the flavor of the languid European summer of 1914.

India's bottom line, The Washington Post, USA, June 11, 2002
While the world's attention is riveted on Kashmir as the flashpoint of a possible India-Pakistan war, 120,000 Indian Muslims remain in Gujarat refugee camps -- afraid to return to their villages, where they fear a resurgence of the Hindu mob attacks that left 1,200 dead in March. This festering challenge to India's stability as a secular democracy explains what the Kashmir crisis is all about. The governing factor in the current confrontation between New Delhi and Islamabad is the danger of an uncontrollable chain reaction of Hindu reprisals against Muslims throughout India if the Muslims of Kashmir opt for independence or for accession to Pakistan.

The vanishing grey, Dawn, Karachi, May 25, 2002
Assuming there is no war or a large-scale retaliation against Pakistan because of America's pressure and other considerations, what would India do if there were yet another incident like the one near Jammu? The limit, if there was any room, was reached after the Indian parliament was attacked more than five months ago. The outcry at that time was no less than what it is today.

The sad face of Kashmir, Dawn, Karachi, May 24, 2002
Gulzar is a tailor in Srinagar who specializes in making British style 'Prince of Wales' suits in fine cashmere wool. But his shop has no customers and he spends most of the day standing on the street corner, dressed in a tweed jacket, to advertise his skills.