No parallel between Kashmir and East Timor: US

[sajjadm]

Washington, September 8: In a virtual snub to Pakistan, the US has rejected any parallels between East Timor and Kashmir and praised the ongoing “election process” in India as an example of the country's dedication to democracy.

”East Timor is not Kosovo. East Timor is not Kashmir”, US State Department spokesman James Rubin said at a press briefing on Tuesday when asked on whether the situation in Kashmir could be compared with that of East Timor. “With respect to elections, let me say that India's latest elections are only the most recent example of its dedication to democratic principles”, he said.

He, however, refused to comment on the legitimacy of the ongoing election process in Kashmir in view of the low turnout of voters. “It is not for us to comment on the legitimacy of elections in any part of Kashmir”, he said. Rubin's remarks come close on heels of a recent statement by Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz that the low turnout in Kashmir is indicative of alienation felt by the Kashmiris.

[ehsan]

The US is right there is no comparision between East Timor and Kashmir. The East Timorese were given THE RIGHT OF SELF DETERMINATIONS WHICH IS CONSTANTLY BEING DENIED TO THE KASHMIRIS. However, the Kashmiris will one day rid themselves of the terror and raping and looting being inflicted upon them by the H****** of the Indian army.

[This message has been edited by ehsan (edited September 08, 1999).]

[sarwar]

Pakistan is getting increasingly desperate and frustrated in seeing that the world community regards Kashmir as an internal issue of India. After the recent debacle in Kargil , Pakistani politicians and officials haven't been slow to pick up on the East Timor referendum.

Many have argued that if the international community has supported the rights of the East Timorese people to have a vote on independence, they should also support the people of Kashmir to have the same.

But the US State Department spokesman abruptly countered such arguments when he told a press briefing in Washington that the analogy between East Timor and Kashmir was facile.

"Kashmir is not East Timor," he said; and he described the elections currently being conducted in India as an example of Delhi's dedication to democratic principles.

Those comments have produced a sharp reaction from Islamabad. Pakistan has always played the Islamic card to woo OIC and Muslim nations to garner support for Kashmir. However most nations consider Kashmir as India's internal problem.

The Foreign Office spokesman, Tariq Altaf, described the remarks as ill-considered and inconsistent.

He said that while the rights of the East Timorese people have been acknowledged, the people of Kashmir have repeatedly expressed their desires by boycotting Indian parliamentary elections.

He said the most recent boycott, on 5 September, amounted to a loud and clear message that the Kashmiris reject illegal Indian rule; and he argued that India has more reason than Indonesia to hold a referendum because Delhi is a party to UN resolutions which call for a plebiscite in Kashmir.

"To deny the Kashmiris the same rights as the East Timorese," he said, "is a travesty of democratic rights and ideals."

Meanwhile internally Pakistan is facing stiff resistance in Sindh over Islamabad rule. Many have accused Nawaz Sharif of raising the Kashmir issue to divert people's attention from internal issues and a sagging economy.

[Fata Morgana]

Pak politicians are naive.

Fata Morgana

[ehsan]

Fata that is an understatement.

[mohabbat]

Pakistani politicians are ignorant, cunning and stupid. They dont know when to say, what to say. They have made a big fool of themselves. They are basically raising the Kashmir issue to divert people's attention from economy and other problems. They dont have any manners and just talk blah blah blah before media. Look how rubbish Sharif, Bhutto , Mushahid Hussain, Sartaj Aziz talk on BBC.

Nawaz Sharif goes to Albania to visit Kosovo refugees and talks about Kashmir. That's stupid !!! Comparing East Timor to Kashmir is the most stupid thing. Do they know any history of East Timor , Portuguese rule etc.

Human rights in Sindh and Karachi is worse than Kashmir and Pakistani politicians keep talking about Kashmir. Pakistan's image in the international community is so bad that no one believed what Pakistan says. Pakistan is always associated with Drugs, Islamic fundamentalism, corruption, Religious fanatacism , Human Right abuses, torcher and the list goes on an on.

[durango]

After Kargil Nawaz Sharif has made a Big fool of himself. His days are numbered. Look at the strike in Sindh. It was a big success.


US rejects Kashmir's comparison with Timor

WASHINGTON: The US has rejected the recent comparison by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif between East Timor and Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir, saying it is an analogy that does not apply. Mr Sharif had recently demanded that the UN should hold a referendum in Kashmir like it did in East Timor but the State Department spokesman Jamie Rubin categorically stated Tuesday "Kashmir is not East Timor." I just urge you to not get trapped into facile analogies that don't apply. Kashmir is not East Timor, Rubin told his regular briefing at the State Department. Rubin was also asked about the elections in Indian held Kashmir and the US reaction but he declined to go into the legitimacy of the elections in any part of Kashmir. Rubin said: "During the past several Indian national elections' turnout in the predominantly Muslim Kashmir Valley has been particularly low. It is not for us to comment on the legitimacy of elections in any part of Kashmir. We have said repeatedly that the Kashmir dispute must be resolved between India and Pakistan in a manner that reflects the wishes of the people of Kashmir. That is our view." Talking about Indian elections in general, Rubin said: "India's latest elections are only the most recent example of its dedication to democratic principles. We look forward to working closely with the new government when it is formed in October." Rubin also rejected any comparisons between Kosovo and East Timor in the same manner as Kashmir. "The question of East Timor and Kosovo are not the same: They are not in the same part of the world; they don't have the same objective situations; they don't come on the basis of three wars started by President Milosevic. It's very facile in facile analysis to make facile analogies between East Timor and Kosovo. In East Timor there is a referendum; in Kosovo there wasn't a referendum. In Indonesia you have a country of a very different character than a Serbia that started a war in Slovenia, started a war in Croatia, started a war in Bosnia, and was responsible for mass murder in the way that the Serb authorities were and were indicted by the war crimes tribunal for," he said.