Against Reichwing Rant

In a typically Reichwing leader article in the ToI, Swagato Ganguly calls for freezing India's borders permanently. He berates the "liberal commentariat" and the "radical libertarian fringe" for thinking otherwise. He then goes on to repeat the Reichwing refrain that "an independent Kashmir would be utterly unviable — a tiny, landlocked state of about four million people sandwiched between two powerful giants." Between two failed states would be more accurate.

Firstly, whether independent or part of a federal set-up, Kashmir must be "viable" in the economic sense that it collects its own taxes for the maintenance of its own government. Today this is not the case. Over 90 per cent of the state government's budget comes from New Delhi. This does not include the expenditure on the army and the paramilitary. Just the other day, 10,000 additional soldiers were sent to Kashmir. How much does this cost? Swagato must note that it is the situation today that is totally unviable. It cannot be allowed to continue. It is bleeding the rest of the country.

On the other hand, there is no reason to believe that an independent Kashmir cannot be viable. An independent Kashmir can get tourists in both winter as well as summer – and tourism is the world's biggest industry. (Goa gets tourists only in the winter.)

An independent Kashmir can cash in on its many cash crops – from saffron and charas to floriculture and horticulture. We can imagine dozens of KLM cargo planes taking off every day from Srinagar carrying flowers, fruits and charas to the Amsterdam market.

Then Kashmir can be a major wool producing state. With pashmina and shahtoosh as well as lambswool, Kashmir can happily outcompete Australia and New Zealand in wool exports.

Apart from these, Kashmir is rich in handicrafts – from pretty papier-mâché to carvings made out of walnut wood.

With all these, there is no reason to believe why an independent Kashmir cannot be "viable." All that this requires is peace – and Liberty.

Lastly, Swagato must note that Switzerland is "viable" although it is landlocked. The population of Switzerland is just under 6 million. The Swiss are not homogeneous – there is no common Swiss language.

Then there is Luxembourg, which is also land-locked and has a population of under 5 lakh.

I see no reason why borders should not be redrawn. The government of India has lost Kashmir (and the North-East as well.) The rest of the country cannot continue to subsidize clients in these states. A Second Indian Republic would be infinitely better off if it stuck to the knitting – a "core area" which considers itself sufficiently "Indian."

Onwards to that Second Republic!