With their autonomy backed by international guarantees, they have been used a model for resolving minority conflicts throughout the world. The Aland Islands have legislative powers in such areas as social and health care, the environment, trade and industry, culture and education, transport, postal services, policing, radio and TV broadcasting and local government, but relatively little authority to levy taxes The autonomy of the Aland Islands is enshrined in the Finnish Constitution (Article 120) in accordance with the Aland Autonomy Act, which has been passed by the Finnish parliament and may only be amended or revised by a joint decision of the Finnish parliament and the parliament of the Aland Islands. This means that each of the two parties can veto any changes it does not accept. The concept of the Aland Islands’ autonomy is not based on the decentralization of power but on an agreement of shared powers established with the help and under the auspices of an international institution, i.e., the League of Nations.
The Irish Model
The Irish peace process based on the April 1998 Good Friday Agreement signed between the United Kingdom of Britain and the Republic of Ireland and 8 political parties of Northern Ireland has been posited as a relevant model for resolving the Kashmir dispute The fundamental problem in Northern Ireland has been the violent thwarting of the desire of the Catholic nationalist minority living in six of its counties to seek union with the Republic of Ireland. The Protestant majority wants these areas to continue as part of the UK. The Good Friday Agreement brokered with the assistance of former US Senator Robert Mitchell offers the first tentative step on a long road to a complete and durable peace among the contending parties. It has been suggested that the Irish model provides peer learning in at least two ways. One, it offers an analogy of structured and sustained course of dialogue/negotiation process supported by well-defined mechanisms - three strands - functioning quite satisfactorily. And, two, the resolution of the conflict is based on certain principles that may have some usefulness in determining the final settlement of the Kashmir conflict The similarities suggested between the Irish model and the Kashmir conflict include the following: The similarities include in govern ability of the territory; alienation of the population; rigged polls; question of sovereignty; discriminatory practices followed by the state; and use of oppressive laws allowing use of force with impunity.
Kashmir Dispute Chenab Formula
This plan envisages the division of Kashmir along the line of the River Chenab. According to the ‘Chenab Formula’, Pakistan may consider Doaba’, a narrow strip of land between Chenab and Ravi in the suburbs of Shakargarh, stretching up to Chhamb, Dhodha and Rajwari districts as international border. Even the town of Kargil might go to India under this ‘give and take’ but from Kargil upward, India will have to agree to give territory to Pakistan,” the sources claimed Most of the districts in Jammu and on the left bank of the Chenab are Hindu majority in the state of Jammu and Kashmir while in most of the districts on the western side of the Chenab, the Muslim are predominant.
The ‘Chenab formula’ was for the first time discussed between India and Pakistan in 1962-63, but the negotiations could not make any headway. According to former foreign
secretary Niaz A Naik, the proposal had been discussed during the unofficial efforts to normalize relations between Islamabad and New Delhi, known as Track-II diplomacy, and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee “had also evinced interest in it”. The Chenab formula attracted lot of attention in May 2003 when AJK Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat called upon India and Pakistan to seriously consider the division of J& K with River Chenab marking the boundary Arguing that this is not a new theory, nor am I the first one to have floated it,’ he expressed the hope that India and Pakistan will give a serious consideration to this proposal to end the sufferings of the Kashmiris in particular and of their own people in general and thus materialize the long cherished hope of durable peace in the region.”
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf identified the following seven regions for this purpose. Two regions - Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas - are under the control of Pakistan whereas five regions are under Indian control. The first part comprises Jammu, Sambha and Katwa where Hindus are in majority The second part also comprises Jammu but the areas include Dodha, Phirkuch and Rajawri where Muslim population is in majority which includes Gujars, Sidhans and Rajas who are also associated with Azad Kashmir. The third part is the area of Kashmir Valley which also has Muslim majority. The fourth part is Kargil which has Shia and Balti population in majority and the fifth area is Ladakh and adjoining areas where Buddhists live.
President Musharraf further said that it was imperative that the linguistic, ethnic, religious, geographic, political and other aspects of these seven regions should be reviewed and a peaceful solution to the problem found. President Musharraf’s call for open discussion on Kashmir was termed by the Pakistani Opposition parties as a “rollback” and it was dismissed by India as unacceptable as it envisaged redrawing of the territorial map in J & K.
President Musharraf’s proposal for demilitarization of seven zones
Addressing a group of newspaper editors at an Iftar dinner in Islamabad on October 25, 2004, President General Pervez Musharraf called for a national debate on new options for the Kashmir dispute. He suggested that identification of various zones of the disputed territory needs to be carried out followed by their demilitarization and a determination of their status.
|