WHY INDIA MUST OPPOSE KOSOVO’S INDEPENDENCE

Sify
March 6 2008
India

Maloy Krishna Dhar started life off as a junior reporter for Amrita
Bazaar Patrika in Calcutta and a part-time lecturer. He joined the
Indian Police Service in 1964 and was permanently seconded to the
Intelligence Bureau.

During his long stint in the Bureau, Dhar saw action in almost
all Northeastern states, Sikkim, Punjab and Kashmir. He also
handled delicate internal political and several counterintelligence
assignments. After retiring in 1996 as joint director, he took to
freelance journalism and writing books. Titles credited to him are
Open Secrets-India’s Intelligence Unveiled, Fulcrum of Evil – ISI,
CIA, al-Qaeda Nexus, and Mission to Pakistan. Maloy is considered
a top security analyst and a social scientist who tries to portray
Indian society through his writings.

I am not sowing a new idea. I am just sharing the concerns and
apprehensions expressed in several world capitals over the unilateral
declaration of independence by Kosovo, a breakaway Albanian Muslim
majority province of Serbia.

Normally a distant Muslim province of two million people of which 10
percent are Orthodox Christian Serbs should not bother us. So far,
it has certainly not bothered the government of India and our Great
Political Parties.

However, history has put the Balkan people, especially the Serbs,
at the cruces of civilisations. The Turks finally defeated the
patriotic Serbs at the battle of Kosovo in 1389 and began its advance
into European heartland. The Serbs have never got over it, as most
patriotic Indians cannot forget the dubious defeat of Prithwiraj
Chauhan at the Second Battle of Tarain.

Serbia was the most advanced segment of Eastern Europe. The Turks
patronised the pliable Bosnians and converted them to Islam and
persecuted the Orthodox Christians in Serbia. The last gasps of
the Cold War initiated the disintegration of Yugoslavia: Slovenia,
Croatia, Macedonia-1991; Bosnia-Herzegovina-1992; Montenegro-2006 and
now the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo on February
18, 2008, when the territory is still under UN administration.

The proud Serbs are yet to forget the bloody bites of history.

European historiographers agree: the Serbs do not forget their history.

The US has probably seeded another poison-tree that might lead to the
Third World War. Sarajevo in Bosnia had sparked off the First World
War. Sarajevo was the scene of several important battles between
Allied resistance fighters and the Germans in World War II

These new ethno-religious states are somewhat like the creation of
Israel after unplanned withdrawal of British mandate in 1948, and
the creation of Pakistan after their planned escape from India in 1747.

Creation of new nations based on religion and redrawing national
boundaries of several states had started after the First World War.

After the Second World Order, the Big Powers assumed this task as a
matter of international policing privilege.

Kosovo had been on the boil since 1989. The turmoil during the last
decade in which the NATO assumed the role of Big Protector of Islamic
minority in the Balkans paving the way for creation of Bosnia had
encouraged the Kosovar Albanians to wage a jihad-type struggle with
Turkish, Iranian, Pakistani and Al Qaeda backing. These very pro-jihad
forces had also interfered in Bosnia.

Read all Maloy Krishna Dhar columns here

Kosovo has not only committed a crime against Serbia by unilaterally
breaking away; it has also committed a crime against the UN by flouting
its mandate under transparent encouragement of the US and its major
allies, France, Britain and Germany. These countries have already
recognised the illegitimate country and its illegal government.

Serbia has lodged a complaint with the Security Council, where China
and Russia are likely oppose the US and EU action. Serbian Foreign
Minister Vuk Jeremic has said Kosovo’s declaration of independence
was illegal and illegitimate. Speaking at the Council of Europe
in Strasbourg, he said those who had recognised Kosovo had set a
dangerous precedent.

Condemning the positioning of a EU Mission in Kosovo as an act of
flagrant violation international law, he said: "By the actions of some
European member-states, every would-be ethnic or religious separatist
across Europe and around the world has been provided with a tool kit
on how to achieve recognition."

It is clear that Pristina’s declaration of independence has divided
the world capitals. The UN has again been proved to be an ineffective
international mechanism for conflict resolution.

Russia has reacted with reasonable alarm. It described Kosovo’s
proclamation of independence as a "gross violation" of international
law and criticised the European Union’s sending of a "Rule of Law
Mission" intended to help stabilise Kosovo. The mission comprises
some 2,000 people who would train and mentor police, judges and
customs officials.

Kosovo’s move appeared as a litmus test of attitudes in Asia and
elsewhere toward secession from mother countries.

Russian concerns have been echoed by China, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

China criticised Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia
while Taiwan welcomed it. China is worried about similar action by
Taiwan, which has recognised Kosovo. China is also concerned about
its western Xinziang area, where Uyghur Muslim rebels are fighting a
‘liberation war’ for over three decades. The Tibet issue too has the
potential of troubling Beijing again.

Sri Lanka has voiced concern out of fear that the rebel Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) might follow the Kosovo example and might
even be recognised by some world capitals.

Indonesia has already lost East Timor and is worried about the Aceh
province, where rebels want to secede from the mainland regime.

Thailand is involved in fighting the Muslim minorities in the three
southern provinces. International Islamic Jihad is patronising the
Thai Muslim rebels.

These are not the only areas where the seemingly affected
ethno-religious groups can take Kosovo style action. Similar
situations exist in Darfur region of Sudan and the Shan, Kachin
and Rakhine (Arakan) provinces of Myanmar. What would the US and UN
reaction be if these ethno-religious groups break away and declare
independence? Would they come to their help, send an EU Mission,
establish embassies and open up UN aid missions? This may sound filmy,
but after Kosovo everything appears to be possible.

If this policy of the US and its allies is accepted as part of the
new global political order, the Chechens, Dagestanis and Ingusetians
should also have solid international support to breakaway from
Russia. Russia has already indicated that the Kosovo principle can
be applied to Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh of Georgia
and Armenia. These regions are already trying to merge with Russia.

They might as well declare unilateral independence.

Would the US and its allies now go for three separate nations in Iraq
– Sunni, Shia and Kurdish? Would the UK agree to create a separate
Northern Ireland and give full political rights to the Catholic
Irish community?

Can the US and the EU recognise the unilateral declaration of
sovereignty by Balochistan and Balawaristan (the Northern Areas of
Pakistan-part of greater Kashmir)? If they do, what would remain of
Pakistan? Washington should not aid Islamabad to suppress the Balochis
and Balawaris while it abets secession by Kosovo.

India exists as a nation as all ethno-religious and linguistic
subnationalities have mutually agreed to make it a nation-state,
rising above narrow considerations. However, Pakistan continues to
incite and abate sections of misdirected Kashmiri and mainland Muslims
for seceding from India.

The Kashmir Media Service (February 20, 2008), a pro-separatist
website, quoted the pro-liberation leaders like Syed Ali Gilani and
Shabbir Ahmad Shah of the All Party Hurriyat Conference and chairman of
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Muhammad Yasin Malik as saying that
the sacrifices of the Kashmiris would not be allowed to go waste. They
cited Kosovo as a ray of hope and urged the international community
to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

Would the US and EU now accept a unilateral declaration of independence
by the pro-Pakistani Kashmir leaders? Can New Delhi prevent them?

Western media like the International Herald Tribune, New York Times,
Los Angeles Times, The Moscow Times, and The Jerusalem Times etc have
highlighted that besides Kashmir, disaffected Sikh groups, ethnic
and tribal groups in the northeast are also keen to secede from India.

Can India afford to cope with these insurgencies, separatist movements
in addition to fighting the ‘proxy war’ launched by Pakistan and the
marauding guerrilla actions by the Maoist groups?

Would the US and EU come forward to support the NSCN, ULFA and PREPAK
etc in the northeast?

Why not? Kosovo has written new international laws for all the
simmering separatist movements.

The government of India has so far remained silent about the Kosovo
developments basically out of fear that any opposing statement would
erode its ‘secular’ image, annoy its targeted vote banks and displease
its supposed friends in the comity of Muslim nations.

It is time for India to stridently oppose unilateral declaration of
independence by Kosovo, while under UN administration. India should
openly support Russia and China in the UN and ask Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon to explain to the world body as to how the US and allies
could bury the UN mandate and agree to the creation of another nation
on ethno-religious considerations.

Kosovo would not be the last, in case the Big Brothers are allowed to
use the NATO as a mandated force of the neo-imperialists. Who could
prevent the NATO to frog-leap to Kashmir from Afghanistan?

This new world order is likely to lead to greater world-disorder.