Bye, Bye Kashmir

Happened to read Vir Sanghvi’s article on Kashmir in this Sunday’s Hindustan Times (ya, I get HT too!). He wrote about things which I have always felt strongly about and which make perfect sense to me. Kashmiri’s have always behaved like they are doing us a favour, by staying with India. Any sign of peace in the valley is temporary and even a minor spark turns into a wildfire and they start demanding secession. Kashmir is the only state for which an exception is made and has special provisions in the Constitution. In addition, aid given to Kashmir is 10 times more than that given to Bihar, which is by far, larger and poorer than Kashmir. Besides Kashmir gets it as grants, while for Bihar it is in the form of a loan. In spite of all this, they still don't appreciate us. Why should India then hang on to Kashmir? If you want snow and natural beauty, then you have Himachal Pradesh or go to the real place, Switzerland. Girls are beautiful right across India and not just in Kashmir :P Letting go of Kashmir could probably encourage other states to follow suit, but I don't think that's the case now. Punjabi's see sense and Khalistan is long forgotten. Even the north eastern states are happy being with India. So let the people of Kashmir vote and decide. If they want to side with Paksitan, hell, Azad Kashmir will get a little more land. If they want a separate state, better! Without India they would last for about 5 minutes. And if they decide to stay with India, then better be grateful and loyal to us. Cause right now Kashmir is like a tumor. And science has taught me, that if a tumor is harmful and doesn't heal naturally, you have got to surgically remove it!