Newsmax | How Should Christians Respond to the Crisis in Kashmir?
Christians around the world ought to pray for Kashmir as tensions in the region have spiked since Aug. 5, when India removed its long-established “special status,” bringing the India-administered areas of Kashmir into direct control of the central government. The decision exacerbated India’s already strained relationship with Pakistan, and prompted Pakistan’s prime minister to threaten to globalize the issue and alarmingly escalate the situation by stating that, “Pakistan would keep all options on the table.” I’m calling on Indian, Pakistani and all Christians to a simple task that transcends the complexity of the issue and the enmity that has long existed between our countries because of it. Christians ought to pray to Jesus — the “Prince of Peace” — that peace would reign in our countries and in our region as God has called each of us to “seek peace and prosperity” for our countries, according to Jeremiah 29:7. The prophet continues, “Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” And I’m calling them to do so intensely. Since the British partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars over the Kashmir region. Hundreds of thousands of civilians and military officers have died on both sides of the border in armed conflicts and episodes of inter-communal violence. The last thing the region needs is another war, especially when both nations have nuclear weapons. All of this has been especially complicated in recent years by cross-border terrorism as Pakistan’s prime minister himself recently recognized that 30,000-40,000 terrorists operate on Pakistani soil. Putting it all together, in just over 25 years over 45,000 people in Jammu and Kashmir have died in cross-border militant encounters between the [...]