Kashmir’s Fruits of Discord

Author and activist Arundhati Roy writes a powerful guest editorial published by the New York Times reflecting on the ongoing need for justice and an end to the occupation in Kashmir while President Barack Obama strengthens ties with India.

Kashmir’s Fruits of Discord
By ARUNDHATI ROY
Published: November 8, 2010

A WEEK before he was elected in 2008, President Obama said that solving the dispute over Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination — which has led to three wars between India and Pakistan since 1947 — would be among his “critical tasks.” His remarks were greeted with consternation in India, and he has said almost nothing about Kashmir since then.

But on Monday, during his visit here, he pleased his hosts immensely by saying the United States would not intervene in Kashmir and announcing his support for India’s seat on the United Nations Security Council. While he spoke eloquently about threats of terrorism, he kept quiet about human rights abuses in Kashmir.

Read the rest of the editorial here.