IS THE PROCESS OF CR SUCCESSFUL IN SOUTH ASIA?

BY: SARTAJ MUHAMMAD

The process of CR is a basic tool to resolve any conflict erupted in different states. The success of CR no doubt varies from region to region because of nature, behavior and political environment of a certain region. South Asia, a seeding bed of conflicts has been a vast ground of conflicts. These conflicts are territorial, ideological and ethnic in nature. Efforts to resolve these conflicts, no doubt, are being made but the elements to foil these conflicts are also active. That is why the process of CR in South Asia is not in its actual way. The hurdles or impediments are multiple not a single. These hurdles are non-cooperative behavior of the states involved, the psychology of the people of the region, the vested interest of the influential groups of the parties, have been the greatest hurdles in the way of CR beside other factors. These are the main reasons that is why the process of conflict resolution is not successful in South Asia.
There are internal and external conflicts all over South Asian countries. Especially the conflict between India and Pakistan has been since the creation of these two countries. These conflicts comprise of ethnic, territorial, religious, political, economical, military and water conflicts. As the Indian government has signaled relations with Pakistan will be damaged unless more is done to address the threat of cross bordered terrorism.
In both India and Pakistan, the ultra-religious groups, consisting of a motley collection of terrorists parading in the garb of religion, have received a major boost in recent years, deliberately courted and lavishly patronized by their respective regimes. In Pakistan, for instance, the Islamist terrorist outfit, Lashkar-i-Tayyeba is said to have been generously assisted by the Inter-Services Intelligence, the country's notorious secret service organization, in order to promote Pakistani strategic objectives in Kashmir and Afghanistan In India, Hindu terrorists affiliated to the Sangh Parivar and the ruling BJP continue their bloody campaign of murder and mayhem, principally directed against the country's Muslims. Emboldened by the BJP's active assistance in the recent programs against the Muslims in Gujarat, in which several thousands lost their lives, Hindutva groups have now embarked on a countrywide campaign of terror, distributing lethal tridents to mass gatherings of Hindus, which, presumably, are to be used against hapless Muslims. The government has, predictably, done absolutely nothing to stop the campaign.
In Sri Lanka, internal conflicts are there between two rivals Tamil Tiger and Sinhalese. In 1956 when the decision was that the Sinhalese would be the national language. The Tamil thought that it was imposed on them. In 1983 the violence started there and 15000 people were killed and a number of people injured and the suicidal bombings were taken place. In 1987 Indian peace forces were called there but they were unable to maintain peace. After spending two years they had to return back. In 2001 the dialogue were taken place which resulted siege fire. From the Tamil side a package was presented and the government accepted it. The package comprised of:
• Devolution of power
• Formulating regional committee in North and North East
• Reconstruction and rehabilitation in North and North East

'The Nepalese peace process is wrangling around the cloud of the mountains', says Shobhakar Budhathoki, lamenting the tardy nature of peace talks in the Kingdom.
Nepal's politics entered a crucial phase following the declaration of cease-fire on 29 January 2003. The powers that be strong-armed each other to gain credit while the political parties were reluctant to support the process, as they had not recognized the government.
The Communist Party of Nepal, Maoist (CPN-Maoist) and the King through his government as well as public utterances have been emphasizing the need for peace and normal life. Yet, both are fighting to grab power through their military backing. As Maoists said, "it is the agreement between two guns and not political ideologies".
Both government and Maoist negotiators are busy exploring the confidence building measures. But the exercise is not enough to bring the reality of peace. Ceasefire is not conflict resolution. It is only the government and the rebels are working seriously to achieve the goal of the cease-fire and the peace process. However, formal dialogue has not started yet. The rebels are demanding the release of the CPN (Maoists) five central committee members. and to initiate the process of dialogue. Under these circumstances, the Nepalese peace process is wrangling around the cloud of the mountains. People want to see peaceful Nepal but the responsible institutions mainly the palace, political parties and the rebels are fighting to achieve their own vested interests. Each faction is struggling to become powerful and control the power in the country. No one seems to be serious about peace and do not deal properly with the issues for the restoration of peace and people's democracy.
CONCLUSION
In few cases the process of conflict resolution is partially successful but in most of the cases it is not successful. The roadmap for making the process of CR successful in South Asia is:
• The first thing is that the process of CR cannot take place unless an environment of trust is created among people. The government should also work to create adequate confidence building measure with the concerned parties.
• The second thing is that peace cannot be bargained during the dialogue. Both parties should be serious about reaching an agreement and consider peace as a basic human need.
• The third thing is that peace is restored, no successful process of conflict resolution can take place.
• The fourth thing is that the concerned parties should be conscious that minor differences should not cause the disruption of the process of conflict resolution.
• The fifth thing is that the South Asian countries they do not give importance to arbitration, third party mediation, bargaining, conciliation, negotiation and so on. These are the things that make the process of conflict resolution more successful.

PREPARED BY: SARTAJ MUHAMMAD
CLASS OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
M.A (PREVIOUS) 2003

All content (C) Department of International Relations, Karachi University

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