Like India, Malaysia was also colonized by the Britishers in the guise of British East India Company. Both got independence after World War II; both tried the method of peaceful merger. But unlike India, Malaysia expelled (yes, you have read it right) Singapore from its union when it realized that proper integration of the states is not possible. The Parliament of Malaysia voted 126-0 in favour of the expulsion.
India on the other hand has gone out of way to keep all the apples in the basket, why not how different they are. No politician or even freedom fighter has ever tried to say that in line of principles they fought Britishers, they want Kashmir to decide for itself what it want. Jawaharlal Nehru may have promised plebiscite, but that promise is more seen as act of mental feebleness.
India has continued pumping money and lives to the cause of Kashmir, not considering how much harm it is doing to others and to itself. It lost its face in United Nations and internationally, lost the confidence of Muslims in India who think Kashmiri Muslim’s are persecuted, lost the faith of other Indians who think that it can’t manage a state, and biggest of all it lost the cause of democracy and human rights.
Of course, causes like Khalistan demand iron hand to quell them; but iron hand is an emergency measure which should only be used as sparingly as possible. It can’t be extended indefinitely.
India should realize that it has failed to integrate Kashmir, and pretext of outsider intervention should not be relied on when it has been at least more than 20 years since people have been vociferously demanding independence.
It should be further acknowledged that many times giving independence could be the best solution for everybody. We could have better ties with everybody in the neighborhood who too have been using the Kashmir issue to rouse the emotions. And like Singapore Kashmir may also prosper if it’s people can focus their attention on economy.
But before all this could happen Indians need to realize that just having a large area map doesn’t make a country great. Even till today the border issue is such a touchy point that a magazine like Economist, which is for elite readers, put by hand on every issue delivered in India that borders of India is still disputed.
On the fateful day tearful Lee Kuan Yew, then Singapore Chief Minister, announced on a televised press conference that Singapore was a sovereign, independent nation. In a widely remembered quote, he uttered that: “For me, it is a moment of anguish. All my life, my whole adult life, I have believed in merger and unity of the two territories.”
Yes that is the parallelism between Kashmir and Singapore that they seem like magnet which can never follow the same way, even after being in the same situation.