How do we resolve the Kashmir problem? Ask the Kashmiri.
"…while the accession [of Jammu and Kashmir to India] was complete in law and in fact, the other fact which had nothing to do with the law remains, namely our pledge to the people of Kashmir—if you like, the people of the world—that this matter could be affirmed or cancelled by the people of Kashmir according to their wishes, We do not wish to win people against their will with the help of armed force; and if the people of Kashmir wish to part company with us, they may go their way and we shall go ours. We want no forced marriages, no forced unions."
– Jawaharlal Nehru in August 1952
Forty-two years later, the consequences of brazen and repeated breaches of that pledge by the Government of India are starkly obvious. For the past five years, New Delhi has by and large done exactly what Nehru said it should not do: try to win the Kashmiri people over with the help of armed force. Nehru's words constrast sharply with Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao's speech on the occassion of India's latest Independence Day. Making a combative reference to Pakistan, Rao said: "With you, without you, in spite of you, Kashmir will remain an integral part of India." It is remarkable that he did not once refer to the people of Kashmir.