In recent times, the exchange of heated words between India and Pakistan at the UN and elsewhere on J&K, and PoJK, and the Indus Waters Treaty has intensified. This is a natural corollary of the two nations’ high-profile confrontation during Operation Sindoor - launched after the Pahalgam massacre last year - but the real issue at stake is how this narrative translates for the people of this Himalayan region. It is unlikely that India or Pakistan will ever agree on the status of Jammu and Kashmir on the two sides of the Line of Control ( LoC). 

The only people who can make this statement in the loudest and clearest terms are leaders of Jammu and Kashmir. The people have to be owned and respected for that. They are not demanding anything in return, but rather respect to their positions and their role as advocates for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir is Kashmir; this fact has been reinforced time and again. This time, too, it is becoming increasingly clear that sidelining Kashmir’s viewpoint from the national mainstream narrative is not always beneficial. And, no other voice can be as potent and powerful as the real and authentic voice from Kashmir’s soil. 

At a time when rebuffing Pakistan on all counts, particularly its unwarranted references to Kashmir, is considered both a diplomatic and national necessity, the question arises: where is the Kashmiri leadership? It may be argued that diplomats’ job must be left to diplomats, but when their voices are amplified by the local leadership those voices resonate with greater credibility across the board. This Indo-Pak........

© Greater Kashmir