Dreaming of a South Asian Union

Mar. 8, 2009

Two conflicts simmer in South Asia; one over Kashmir, a second over Tamil Eelam. Taken together, they hold back the progress of a fifth of the world's population. For this reason alone, it is in the interest of all human beings to work towards a final resolution.

That's why I would like to share with you my proposal -as a neutral observer, but as a fellow human being with as much at stake as the participants - on how to bring peace to one of humanities great civilizations.

Starting with the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, a Paradise on Earth contested between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. Jammu and Kashmir were not part of the neat partition of the subcontinent along Muslim-Hindu lines: included in India, despite having a majority Muslim population. Of the many modern proposals to divide the disputed territory between Pakistan, India, and a possible third independent state, none of them will satisfy both parties.

So how does this conflict come to an end? There is no denying that a good deal of historical animosity exists between the two sides, certainly not helped by the hostage incident at Mumbai's Taj Hotel in late 2008. However, are India and Pakistan more hostile towards each other today than Germany and France were during 1944? And now, only 64 years of Franco-German reconciliation we see a shared parliament, central bank, currency, and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). And if the Lisbon Treaty is approved by the Irish in a second referendum this fall, Europe will be well on its way to having a common President.

I would argue that France and Germany have a far longer history of conflict and mistrust than exists between modern day Pakistan and India. Yet they have shown the world how pooling sovereignty in a few key areas can build trust and respect, leading to peace and prosperity.

It is time for Pakistan and India to accept their common destiny and build a South Asian Union, not with 2 member-states, but with the constituent states of their own countries. Jammu and Kashmir could be a shared state of the union, just like any other. As a symbol of Indo-Pakistani rapprochement, the capital could be in the new state, centrally located between the two former rivals. The state's current rotation between the winter capital of Jammu and summer capital of Srinagar, would be a fitting arrangement much like the European Union's rotation between Strasbourg in France and Brussels in Belgium.

If South Asia can achieve independence without firing a single shot, then I believe the same is true for unification. Only through this prism of South Asian unity can we address the second conflict: the question of Tamil home rule in Sri Lanka.

For those that have been keeping up to date on the conflict, you'll know that the situation has reached a dire state. Government forces have overwhelmed the Tamil minority in the northeast. Civilians are being rounded up and placed in camps. Disparity is at an all time high in the northeast and among the Tamil diaspora, signified by demonstrations held across the globe.

First, I believe that it is important to recognize that this conflict is a civil war. There is no distinction between the use of the term "terrorists" and "government". To use such terms distorts the nature of the conflict. For the purpose of this article, I will refer to the belligerents simply as Tamil and Sinhalese forces.

Despite the recent military victories made by the Sinhalese, I fear that their leadership does not realize that there is no military solution to this conflict. If people are disenfranchised by the bodies that govern them, relegated to a second class citizenship, held back from reaching their full human potential, then it is their duty to exercise self-determination and seek a political structure which allows for the complete fulfillment of their life's purpose.

Given that the current structure of the Sri Lankan government does not facilitate the complete expression of all its citizens, then the only sensible thing to do is for them to relinquish their claim to rule the those citizens that are disenfranchised. Only once the Tamils and Sinhalese both have a government which fulfills their potential will peace come to the teardrop of the Indian ocean.

I believe that the only way to achieve an everlasting peace is to grant the Tamil nation a homeland and enter both states into a South Asian Union.

And if you think this is a pie-in-the-sky solution that could never work in practice, then look no further than the break up of Czechoslovakia into Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Now both states are part of the European Union, and arguably more united than ever before. The same goes for the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Piece by piece, the emerging states of the former Republic of Yugoslavia are being absorbed into the EU, but not without a "rationalization" of the boundaries. In 25 years, when the entire Balkan Peninsula is part of the union, I bet you that there will be more cooperation, unity, peace, and prosperity in the former territories of Yugoslavia, that at any time during the Republic's life.

The same is, and will be true for Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese forces need to let go of their fruitless claim over Tamil territories in order to end the war and for reconciliation to occur in a great subcontinental union that embraces both peoples as equals.

Sounds like a dream? I think the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) will go down in history as the forerunner of such a union. Much like the Organization of African Unity prior to the African Union, and the Community of South American Nations prior to the Union of South American Nations.

It is my hope that SAARC will lead the 28 states and seven territories of India, the 4 states and 4 territories of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tamil Eelam, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan into a great South Asian Union. For the betterment of all South Asians, and the future peace and prosperity of all human beings.