With reference to "Kashmir gets out of hand" (July 11), it is time that we took count of the number of times since Independence that hopes have been raised about a solution to the Kashmir problem, only to end on a note of despair. We have fought three wars with Pakistan over Kashmir, and billions of rupees that are much needed for the education and health of our people have gone down the drain.
More than that, thousands of precious lives in the prime of youth have been sacrificed for this illusory goal. A few weeks ago, veteran journalist and expert on Kashmir Dileep Padgaokar expressed hopes that if Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti won the Anantnag Assembly seat it would be as good as India winning plebiscite in the Valley. She did win, but what has happened in last few days has dashed that hope once again.
In this context, it is worth recapitulating how another Britain solved its own India problem in 1947. It began in 1905, the year of revolutionary activities in Bengal, and thus had a life of only 42 years, which is far less than that of the Kashmir imbroglio.
During a debate on the Indian Independence bill, Britain's Prime Minister Clement Attlee ignored Winston Churchill's outburst in the House of Commons when he said "they are handing over India to men of straw". Years later, when Attlee was asked by an interviewer what his tenure would be remembered for (just as Churchill was for victory in World War-II), his crisp reply was, "India, of course." And a recent survey has ranked him Britain's greatest prime minister ever.
R C Mody, New Delhi
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