Kashmir
Solidarity Day Revisited By Sajjad
Shaukat (JR128SS21)
Since 1990, the 5th
of February is being celebrated by Pakistanis and Kashmiris as the Kashmir
Solidarity Day to pay homage to Kahsmiri martyrs and to show solidarity with
the freedom fighters who are demanding their legitimate right of
self-determination, as recognized by the UN resolutions.
This time, this very day has come at
time when the people of Kashmir have accelerated their legitimate struggle in
the aftermath of the martyrdom of the young Kashmir leader Burhan Wani by the
Indian security forces in the Indian Held Kashmir in wake of continued sieges,
prolonged curfews, arrests and detentions of the Kashmiri leaders. Since July 8,
2016, Indian forces have martyred more than 1500 innocent persons who have been
protesting against the martyrdom of Burhan Wani.
During the partition of the
Sub-continent, the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) which
comprised Muslim majority decided to join Pakistan according to the British-led
formula. But, Dogra Raja, Sir Hari Singh, a Hindu (.Hari
Singh Nalwa was born in Gujranwala, in the Majha region of
Punjab to Gurdial Singh Uppal
and Dharam Kaur, in a Khatri family. After his father died in 1798, he was
raised by his mother. In 1801, at the age of ten, he took Amrit Sanchar and was
baptised as a Sikh.
)who was ruling over the J&K in connivance with the Indian Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru and Governor General Lord Mountbatten joined India.
The design to forcibly wrest Kashmir
began to unfold on August 16, 1947, with the announcement of the Radcliffe
Boundary Award. It gave the Gurdaspur District—a majority Muslim area to India
to provide a land route to the Indian armed forces to move into Kashmir. There
was a rebellion in the state forces, which revolted against the Maharaja and
were joined by Pathan tribesmen. Lord Mountbatten ordered armed forces to land
in Srinagar.
However, Indian forces invaded
Srinagar on October 27, 1947 and forcibly occupied Jammu and Kashmir in utter
violation of the partition plan and against the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
When Pakistan responded militarily
against the Indian aggression, on December 31, 1947, India made an appeal to
the UN Security Council to intervene and a ceasefire which ultimately came into
effect on January 01, 1949, following UN resolutions calling for a plebiscite
in Kashmir.
It is notable that the Security
Council adopted resolution 47 (1948) of 21 April 21, 1948, which promised a
plebiscite under UN auspices to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to
determine whether they wish to join Pakistan or India. On February 5, 1964,
India backed out of its promise of holding plebiscite. Instead, in March 1965,
the Indian Parliament passed a bill, declaring Kashmir a province of India-an
integral part of the Indian union.
The very tragedy of Kashmiris had
started after 1947 when they were denied their genuine right of
self-determination. They organised themselves against the injustices of India
and launched a war of liberation which New Delhi tried to suppress through
various forms of state terrorism.
Passing through various phases, the
struggle of Kashmiris which has become an interaction between the Indian state
terrorism led by the Indian security forces and war of liberation by the
freedom fighters keeps on going unabated.
It is mentionable that since 1947,
in order to maintain its illegal control, India has continued its repressive
regime in the Occupied Kashmir through various machinations. In this regard, as
already mentioned that India forcibly occupied Kashmir in gross violation of
the “Partition Plan of the Indian Subcontinent, but, through the
so-called-Instrument of Accession of October 27, 1947 which is illegal, and
remains controversial, New Delhi justifies its hold on the Kashmir.
Nevertheless, various forms of state
terrorism have been part of a deliberate campaign by the Indian army and
paramilitary forces against Muslim Kashmiris, especially since 1989. It has
been manifested in brutal tactics like crackdowns, curfews, illegal detentions,
massacre, targeted killings, sieges, burning the houses, torture,
disappearances, rape, breaking the legs, molestation of Muslim women and
killing of persons through fake encounter.
According to a report on human
rights violations in the Indian Occupied Kashmir, since 1989, there have been
deaths of 1,00000 innocent Kashmiris, 7,023 custodial killings, 1,22,771
arrests, 1,05,996 destruction of houses or buildings, 22,776 women widowed,
1,07,466 children orphaned and 10,086 women gang-raped/molested. Indian brutal
securities forces have continue these atrocities.
In fact, Indian forces have employed
various draconian laws like the Jammu and Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act, and the
Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act and Public Safety Act in
killing the Kashmiri people, and for the arbitrarily arrest of any individual
for an indefinite period.
Besides Human Rights Watch, in its
various reports, Amnesty International has also pointed out grave human rights
violations in the Indian controlled Kashmir, indicating, “The Muslim majority
population in the Kashmir Valley suffers from the repressive tactics of the
security forces”.
In its report on July 2, 2015, the
Amnesty International has highlighted extrajudicial killings of the innocent
persons at the hands of Indian security forces in the Indian Held Kashmir. The
report points out, “Tens of thousands of security forces are deployed in
Indian-administered Kashmir…the Armed Forces Special Powers Act allows troops
to shoot to kill suspected militants or arrest them without a warrant…not a
single member of the armed forces has been tried in a civilian court for
violating human rights in Kashmir…this lack of accountability has in turn
facilitated other serious abuses…India has martyred one 100,000 people. More
than 8,000 disappeared (while) in the custody of army and state police.”
In this respect, European Union has
passed a resolution about human rights abuses committed by Indian forces in the
Indian held Kashmir.
It is of particular attention that
in 2008, a rights group reported unmarked graves in 55 villages across the
northern regions of the Indian-held Kashmir. Then researchers and other groups
reported finding thousands of mass graves without markers. In this respect, in
August, 2011, Indian Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission officially
acknowledged in its report that innocent civilians killed in the two-decade
conflict have been buried in unmarked graves.
Foreign sources and human rights
organisations have revealed that unnamed graves include those innocent persons,
killed by the Indian military and paramilitary troops in the fake encounters
including those who were tortured to death by the Indian secret agency RAW. In
the recent past, more unmarked graves have been discovered.
It is worth-mentioning that report
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released on
June 14, 2018-“Situation in Kashmir”
pointed out Indian atrocities in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). It said: “From July 2016, the High
Commissioner for Human Rights has on numerous occasions requested the
Governments of India and Pakistan that his Office be given unconditional access
to Kashmir to assess the human rights situation. India rejected this request;
while Pakistan offered access…The refusal to allow unhindered access to United
Nations team into Indian-Administered-Kashmir gave rise to an idea of “Remote
Monitoring”. The report was then compiled by doing “remote monitoring” on the
situation of Human Rights in Kashmir. The report by the independent authority
is an eye-opener for many. The focus of the report is on the situation of human
rights in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir from July 2016 to April 2018.
During this period ‘OHCHR’ received reports of allegations of widespread and
serious human rights violations by Indian security forces that led to numerous
civilian casualties.
It is noteworthy that in his address
at the
73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 29, 2018, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said, “The
neighbouring country [India] rejected the Pakistani offer of resuming peace
talks on ‘flimsy grounds…We are ready to talk to India on all issues but with
respect…Kashmir issue is the biggest obstacle to regional peace…the Indian
forces subjecting Kashmiris to atrocities for seven decades. India should not
test Pakistan’s patience…we will respond to Indian aggression…The latest UN
report on the occupied Kashmir has exposed Indian atrocities on innocent
civilians…the meeting between the Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers
would’ve been a great opportunity for dialogue. But, the Modi government chose
politics over dialogue…India would have to bear the brunt of Pakistan’s retaliation
if it makes the mistake of any misadventure on the Line of Control (LoC)”.
It is also of
particular attention that pointing out June
14 [2018] UN report that calls for the establishment of a ‘commission of
inquiry’ to investigate the grave human rights violations in Indian Occupied
Kashmir, United Nations Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres expressed the hope on January 18, this year that Pakistan and
India would be able to engage in a “meaningful dialogue” to resolve their
disputes. The report also emphasised that a dialogue includes the people
of Kashmir to resolve their problem. Guterres
said that he has been offering his good offices in relation to the dialogue
between the two countries that until now had no condition of success.
Some online authentic sources
suggest that recent wave of Kashmiri intifada has witnessed repression of
Indian armed forces; large numbers of the dead and injured have been
youngsters. The pellet guns used by security forces have damaged the faces of
1600 people and more than 1100 people have partially or wholly lost their
eyesight making 2016 as the year of dead eyes.
In 2017, reports also disclosed
that
Indian security forces have also used chemical weapons against the Kashmiri
civilians in violation of international law and Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Due
to mounting causalities in IOK, Indian security forces have started giving
collective punishment to Kashmiri civilians. In a development on July 4, 2017,
the Indian Army had destroyed houses in Pulwama and killed 3 Kashmiri
civilians. Upon recovery of the bodies, it was discovered that they were burnt
beyond recognition.
Sources
report that Indian Army is emulating Israeli tactics by using white phosphorus
bombs to destroy houses of Kashmiris suspected of harboring Mujahideen. The
same tactics was used by Israel during its attacks on Gaza and it seems that
these weapons have been provided by Israel to India for use in IOK.
As a matter of fact, Indian
authorities are not willing to talk with Kashmiri people on political grounds.
New Delhi reached to a conclusion that only bullet is the right way of dealing
with Kashmiris, demanding their right of self-determination. Surprisingly,
Indian successive governments are trying to ignore the dynamics of the freedom
movement of Kashmiris for the sake of their alien rule.
Failed in suppressing the
Kashmir movement, Indian central government imposed President’s rule in Jammu
and Kashmir which started from December 20, 2018. The main purpose is to
accelerate atrocities on the Kashmiris who are demanding their genuine right of
self-determination.
And New Delhi is still showing
its intransigence in order to resolve Kashmir issue with Pakistan by neglecting
the fact that Kashmir remains a nuclear flashpoint between both the
neighbouring countries. While, by manipulating the false flag terror attacks at
a military base in Uri and Baramulla, the BJP-led Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has intensified war-hysteria against Pakistan. Indian forces have continued violation of the
LoC by shelling in Pakistani side of Azad Kashmir and Pakistan’s Army has been
compelled to give a matching response. New Delhi’s main aim is to deflect the
attention of the international community from the new phase of Kashmiri Intifada,
while in this regard; pressure has been mounting on the Modi government both
domestically and internationally to resolve the dispute of Kashmir with
Pakistan.
Notably, Egbert Jahn in his
book, “Kashmir: Flashpoint for a Nuclear War or Even a Third World War?” has
pointed out, “The Kashmir conflict is embedded in the wider conflict over the
incomplete creation of nations and states on the Indian subcontinent, which
during the east-west conflict even threatened at times to escalate into a
nuclear world war between Pakistan and the USA on the one side and India and
the USSR on the other. Until now, there have been three wars between India and
Pakistan over the Jammu and Kashmir: in 1947–49, 1965 and 1999… finally, the
Indo-Chinese border war of 1962…after these wars…and could unexpectedly again
lead to a regional and under certain circumstances…even a major nuclear war or
a Third World War.”
Undoubtedly, by exposing the myth of
Indian claim of the largest democracy and double standard of the US-led Western
countries which still remain silent over the Indian injustices, Kashmiris,
living both sides of the LoC observe the Kashmir
Solidarity Day to pay homage to Kahsmiri martyrs and to show solidarity with
the freedom fighters, and to protest against the Indian illegal
occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. On this very day, Pakistanis and Kashmiris
across the globe express solidarity with the freedom fighters of Kashmir,
demanding their legitimate right of self-determination from India which
continues various forms of state terrorism in order to suppress their popular
movement. The observance of the Kashmir
Solidarity Day keeps the issue of Kashmir alive, as the struggle of the
Kashmiris for liberation of their land continues unabated.
Sajjad Shaukat writes on
international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants,
Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations
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