Purpose And Politics

Joe Biden und Barack Obama in Springfield, Illinois, right after Biden was formerly introduced by Obama as his running mate (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Barack Obama in 2007 talked relentlessly about clean energy on the campaign trail, to the point it almost felt out of whack sometimes. Like, who exactly are you talking to? And it felt impossible. Dirty energy's dominance was total. But by now solar is about to achieve grid parity with dirty, and is on track to totally take over by 2030.

The oil spill in the Gulf was Obama's Bay Of Pigs fiasco. I think the British did it on purpose. They are like, there is a black guy in DC and an up and coming brown guy in New Orleans. This is not looking right. Bobby never really recovered.

The democratic process matters. The conversations political leaders steer with the broader electorate matters.

The gay marriage victory was pretty dramatic. And it happened faster, much faster, than anyone imagined. I for one thought it might take a few more decades.

So, talk people.

What Did I Do?

Kashmir And Peace

The Disputed Territory : Shown in green is Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. The orange-brown region represents Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir while the Aksai Chin is under Chinese occupation. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have no desire to tow the Indian government official line on Kashmir. Heck, I don't even know what that is. I have an idea, but I have not done my homework.

But peace is everyone's desire. Palestine is thought of as the number one flashpoint in the world. I think it is Kashmir. Modi and Nawaz should work towards a permanent peace and get a shared Nobel Prize.

Of course Kashmir can be talked about. Everything can be talked about. The two sides just have to come up with the right framework.

There has to be some out of the box thinking. The two foreign ministries are in a rut. They play the same tug of war over and over again.

The larger framework is the deal Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and India signed last year. The four have agreed on an economic union within 10 years. Pakistan should start talks on the same. Pakistan eventually being part of that economic union solves the Kashmir problem, I believe. Because if the people in Pakistan and India can freely work in either country, then the question as to which country Kashmir belongs in becomes less urgent.

I think the eventual right solution is to respect the current Line Of Control and then make it pretty much meaningless through a Pakistan India economic union. There are also two Punjabs, one in Pakistan, another in India. It's the same people who live in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and the Madhesh in Nepal. You have West Bengal and Bangladesh. Kashmir is not an exception, more a rule.

Demilitarize Kashmir on both sides. That's the eventual goal. But the path to there might be tortuous. In the short term the right strategy perhaps is to stay engaged and keep the expectations low. Two full fledged democracies would have quite easily solved the problem. But in Pakistan the army and the ISI act as parallel power centers to the Prime Minister. That makes it complicated.

नेपालको बाबुराम भट्टराई र भारतका नक्सल हरु (२)
नेपालको बाबुराम भट्टराई र भारतका नक्सल हरु