Srinagar, December 31: Approaching the end of his first year in office, people in the Muslim-majority disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir are frustrated at US President Barack Obama for neglecting their cause for the interest of warm relations with India.
“When Obama came, there was so much hope to reclaim those happy times in Kashmir,” Pervez Imroz, a lawyer and head of a coalition of civil society groups, told.
“But when it comes to human rights, we feel really let down. It’s been nothing more than election rhetoric.”
During his presidential campaign, Obama vowed to push for a diplomatic solution to the dispute in the Muslim-majority Himalayan region, which has been divided between India and Pakistan since 1947 after independence from Britain.
The two nuclear neighbors have fought two of their three wars since independence over the region.
Pakistan and the UN back the right of the Kashmir people for self-determination, an option opposed by New Delhi.
“Washington fears that any overt American interference in Kashmir could backfire and set back warming relations between India and the US,” notes Howard Schaffer, a retired Foreign Service official who is an expert on South Asia.
Schaffer, the author of “The Limits of Influence: America’s Role in Kashmir,” asserted that this was the main reason why Obama did not appoint a special envoy for Kashmir.
Obama had appointed special envoys to the Middle East conflict as well as for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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Kashmiris want the US to criticize human rights violations by Indian authorities.
“We want Washington to speak out against these tragedies,” said Imroz, the lawyer.
“There has only been silence.”
Many also hope Obama would make good on his promise to push for a peaceful solution to the conflict.
“The US has to engage with both India and Pakistan,” maintains Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the All Parties Hurriyet Conference.
“The Obama administration and India can’t hide behind Mumbai.”
India blames the deadly attacks, which killed 146 people, on the outlawed Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) and accuses the group of links to the Pakistani intelligence.
It insists negotiations and confidence-building negotiations could not be revived until the masterminds of Mumbai attacks are brought to the justice.
Pakistan, which denies any involvement in or link to the attack, says India is not cooperating with its prosecutors to bring the culprits to justice.
“Many young Kashmiris today just want a good life,” says Irfan Ansari, manager of a call center.
“We need to divert young minds from this conflict.”
Farooq, the All Parties Hurriyet Conference leader, agrees.
“If this opportunity is missed, all the ingredients are there for the cycle of violence to start again.”
-Agencies