MARCH 10, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 9

Letters

ALSO IN ASIAWEEK Cover: Internet money goes shopping in Hong Kong and what PCCW-HKT means for old-economy firms in Asia • Players: The deal, the winners and the losers • Interview: Richard Li on bagging the region's biggest buy • SingTel: What now for Singapore Telecom? • Chart: Comparing PCCW and Cable & Wireless HKT • No. 1: The Lis are definitely Asia's top business family Editorial: Taiwan should respond to China's peace feeler - hidden in a war threat Editorial: India's RSS must curb its chauvinism Philippines: Amid terrorist attacks in Mindanao, President Joseph Estrada plays tough with MILF insurgents Brunei: The sultanate sues Prince Jefri Singapore: Behind Ong Teng Cheong's maverick presidency • Extended Interview: Ong does not regret riling his former colleagues Nepal: Why the Maoists are resurgent Green Stakes: Why Asia has to clean up - fast • Snapshots: Where countries stand on the environment • Eco-warriors: Fighting to save the planet • By Design: Ideas that can make a difference Exhibitions: The art world - a proxy cross-straits battlefield Newsmakers: India's pointman for defense Real Estate: Building up Indonesia's multimedia dreams MyWeb: As this Malaysian Internet company proves, a U.S. listing is not an automatic road to riches Investing: Don't use yesterday's rules to value tomorrow's hottest telecommunications companies Business Buzz: CLOB gets resolved Viewpoint: Political reform is inevitable in China

Kashmir Paths
The Kashmir dispute is not a manifestation of the rivalry between India and Pakistan, but about the right of a nation to decide its destiny ["Reveling in Rivalry," VIEWPOINT, Feb. 18]. The crisis is a direct consequence of the refusal to allow Kashmiris to decide their fate in accordance with a United Nations-sponsored plebiscite that India agreed to five decades ago. To suggest that the current Line of Control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan be formally recognized as the border - giving Pakistan a third of the disputed state and allowing India to retain two-thirds - epitomizes the fondest Indian hope. Missing from such parceling is any regard for the wishes of the Kashmiri nation, or indeed for the commitment made to the U.N. by Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru. Like it or not, the issue is, at the very least - and by default - trilateral, involving India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri people.

In suggesting that Pakistan withdraw from Kashmir, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee should also offer a reciprocal withdrawal of forces, paving the way for a U.N.-run plebiscite. Kashmir could draw from the example of the East Timor referendum as a means for peacefully resolving territorial issues. Anything less can only prolong, or even aggravate, the crisis.
Zia Ahad
Dhaka

Who's Doing the Fighting?
A point which escaped notice in "Of Rhetoric and Reality" [THE NATIONS, Feb. 11] is the identity of the mujahideen who are fighting in Kashmir. The term "Kashmiri militant" has been loosely used. A Kashmiri is a person who speaks Kashmiri and is domiciled in the state. They are Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists, a gentle people not given to extremes. Genuine Kashmiri nationalism has long taken a back seat in the present mayhem, its voices drowned by the clatter of AK47s and the thump of rockets wielded by the mujahideen. The so-called Kashmiri militants are Pakistanis (including some from Azad Kashmir) and a ragtag element of Afghan, Sudanese and Arab mercenaries of all nationalities. Ninety percent are not Kashmiris. The militants are an Islamist international brigade seeking a new state. Pakistan of course has its own wish list.
S. K. Bhattacharya
Singapore

Militant Masood Azhar, who was freed as a result of the Indian Airlines hijacking in December and returned to Pakistan - where he issued calls for war over Kashmir - has been detained by Pakistani authorities. - Editors

Your statement that Vajpayee added a sizable new hurdle to stalled Kashmir talks by insisting that Pakistan accept U.N. Security Council Resolution 47 and withdraw its troops from its part of Kashmir, is erroneous ["Talking Points," FRONTLINES, Feb. 18]. Where to draw the line on sovereignty? Should Puerto Rico and the native American tribes be given independence? I could ask for an independent state in Sind, Pakistan for my people, the Hindu Sindhis who were deprived of their homeland. What are the criteria? Better to maintain the status quo and grant as much autonomy as possible.
Vinod Kirpalani
Hong Kong

Malay Generation X
UMNO Youth (of which I'm part) is moving to reappraise itself in the wake of the political quagmire of the past two years ["UMNO's Restless Youth," THE NATIONS, Feb. 18]. Don't assume the United Malays National Organization is irrelevant to the new generation. Despite their frustration over the handling of many political issues, they see UMNO as the most hopeful party for Malays and Malaysia. There are, of course, multifaceted issues to be addressed by the UMNO leadership. UMNO Youth, under Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, will surely address these, failing which there will be an exodus. The party election in May will tell whether UMNO Youth will continue to be the torchbearer of the people.
Zambry Abd. Kadir
Lumut, Perak
Malaysia

No-Contest Decision
The voting rights of UMNO's ordinary members are not in any way curtailed. They are at liberty to challenge the no-contest decision of the party's supreme council ["Reform UMNO," VIEWPOINT, Feb. 25]. It is ironic, however, when supreme council members like Ibrahim Saad provoke the grassroots to challenge that decision whilst they sit tight to save their skins. Ordinary members are not easily influenced by that call. They know that it's not in their interest when lists of hopeful leaders are waiting to be nominated - and who they know are not worth fighting for. Furthermore, they think the challenging should have been done right from the start - in the supreme council.
"Ordinary grassroots member"
Subang Jaya, Selangor
Malaysia