ST. LOUIS -- My trip to Pakistan, which I ended this week, was to be a relaxing getaway to my ancestral homeland. It was a surprise gift from my parents, who felt that I needed to take two weeks off to "clear my mind" from being an advocate for Muslim Americans after Sept. 11.

But instead of enjoying my 18 days away from work, I delved deeper into a cauldron of army advances, nuclear threats and imminent war. After coming to terms with the fact that the Almighty did not want me to rest on my voyage and after exhaustive talks with intellectuals, playwrights, shopkeepers and army officials, the cauldron seems ready to boil over at any time now. Imagine the scenario: Two Third World countries with nuclear capabilities are both poised for the fourth war that they have fought in their 55 years of existence.

India is ruled by an ultra-fundamentalist Hindu prime minister and Pakistan by a four-star general of the army who usurped democracy two years ago in a bloodless coup. Neither country has agreed to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The epicenter of their animosity is a beautiful valley region called Kashmir.

This scenario has been the status quo for a while now. In my days there, a prominent Kashmiri leader was assassinated, Indian and Pakistani armies have amassed unprecedented numbers of forces across their borders and reports rant about the imminence of war and a potential nuclear standoff.

Only through investigating the Pakistani-Indian collective psyche can one garner a true understanding of the conflict.

Pakistan and India were one country until a partitioned independence from British rule, in 1947. Pakistan was to be the homeland for India's more than 200 million Muslims. Although over 100 million Muslims remain in India today, there is continued hatred between the two countries over the disputed and occupied region of Kashmir.

Kashmir is a lustrous valley region in the northern region of the subcontinent. Although predominantly Muslim, two-thirds of the country remains under Indian occupation, with the remaining third a part of Pakistan. There is a permanent international "line of control" (LOC), where the two countries have almost continuously engaged in cross-border attacks in the past few years.

A United Nations resolution in 1948 promised a plebiscite in which the people of Kashmir would be able to decide their own political fate. Although over 90 percent of Kashmiris seek independence from both Pakistan and India, neither of them has relented.

According to figures by Human Rights Watch, there is one Indian soldier for every six Kashmiri citizens, making it the most policed region in the world. Amnesty International has further issued dozens of reports condemning the Indian Army for such egregious crimes as torture, rape and murder. The resolution passed 56 years ago has failed to execute itself, and thus the cries of Kashmiri women and children have fallen on deaf ears.

According to the people that I have interviewed, the continuing conflict between Pakistan and India is a matter of pride.

The extreme Hindu Bharata Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee, has treated Muslims badly in its country. Much of the resentment comes from the blatant atrocities performed on the Kashmiri people in their fight for independence. The resentment is further fueled by the recent sectarian violence in Gujarat that has killed over 2,000 innocent Muslims, more casualties than the entire current intifada in Palestine.

The governor of Gujarat, also a member of BJP, is under investigation for his potential complicity in the burning alive of thousands of Muslims. According to a retired brigadier general whom I spoke with, "Pakistan will no longer stand idly by and watch India continue to slaughter innocent Muslims."

In Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf is the fourth military ruler in the nation's 55-year history. He has tightened his dictatorial grip by claiming victory in a sham referendum a few weeks ago -- a plebiscite boycotted by 33 of Pakistan's major political parties.

It was only on my recent travels that I realized why the people of Pakistan have not spoken out against this tyrant. In a country where the literacy rate is under 20 percent and unemployment nears 40 percent, it should come as no surprise that the standard of living for most of Pakistan's people is abhorrent. All of the people I interviewed stated that they are so worried about getting food into their families' stomachs that they would not care even if George Bush were the ruler of Pakistan.

In any event, the only plausible solution to the current crisis is to free the people of Kashmir from occupation.

Arsalan Tariq Iftikhar is the Midwest communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

###