Kashmiri Pandits by Dr. S M Yunus Gilani (JR210 YG01)

Kashmiri Pandits by Dr. S M Yunus Gilani )JR210 YG01)

Introduction

In January 2020, the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley has completed thirty years. The cultural and social roots of the Pandits were in the Kashmir Valley. Before escaping from there, he had to face extreme injustice, violence and humiliation. The main cause of this migration was the communalization of extremism in the Kashmir Valley in the 1990s. Since then, no government has made a serious effort to solve the problem of Pandits. But the communal elements have been continuously using the issue of Kashmiri Pandits to silence liberals and human rights activists. Whenever they talk about the plight of Muslim minorities in India, the underprivileged section immediately asks them "what about Kashmiri Pandits". Now the situation has become such that these minorities of Kashmir Valley are on the verge of losing their civil rights.

Pandits used as a ploy

Whenever there is communal violence in the country, human rights organizations demand justice and rehabilitation for the suffering minorities. Instead of supporting this demand, Hindu nationalists start shouting that where were you when Hindus were being driven away from Kashmir. It is obvious that the injustice done to one minority group in this process is being justified on the grounds that another minority group also had to undergo tragic circumstances. This is an attempt to normalize communal violence. It seems as if those who draw attention to the situation of Muslim minorities or talk about the rights of minorities are the only ones responsible for the present situation of Kashmiri Pandits.

Center rule

In these three decades, BJP, Congress and United Front have ruled the country from the center. At the time when Kashmiri Pandits escaped from the valley, there was President's rule in Jammu and Kashmir and there was Vishwanath Pratap Singh's government in Delhi. The BJP was supporting this government from outside. After this, the NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee ruled for almost sixteen years from 1998. Since 2014, the BJP government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ruling the country. This government enjoys a majority in Parliament. BJP's allies are also getting the benefit of power but they have no role in determining the policies of the government. Modi is the surveyor of this government and after him is the number of Home Minister Amit Shah. Those who are making a stir on the issue of Kashmiri Pandits, their sole purpose is to hide their communal intentions. What happened in Kashmir is certainly worrying and condemnable, but it is not right to blame Indian Muslims for that. Communal forces are indirectly and directly trying to blame the Muslims of India for the situation in Kashmir. The Government of India has taken several steps in the matter of Kashmir. These include removal of Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution and reducing the status of Kashmir from the state to Union Territory. All these steps have further undermined the possibility of Kashmiri Pandits returning to the valley as the valley is suffocated and the leaders of democracy are under house arrest under the PSA. Under this act, these people can be kept under house arrest for a long time without judicial review. Internet services are closed in the valley and democratic rights have been limited. Clearly, this has made any problem in the valley more difficult to solve.

Kashmir Issue

The problem of Kashmir is very complex. Extremism flourished there by suppressing the autonomy of the state government. The extremists also got the support of Pakistan. Meanwhile elements like al-Qaeda entered the valley. He was in free time after dealing with the Russian army in Afghanistan. He communalized the movement of Kashmiris. Initially, Kashmiriyat was the basis of Kashmiri extremism, which has nothing to do with Islam. Kashmiriyat is a synthesis of the teachings of Buddha and Sufi saints and the values of Vedanta. The period of torture of Kashmiri Pandits started only after elements like Al Qaeda entered the valley.

Prior to the exodus of the Pandits, they were requested by the Goodwill Mission to remain in the valley. Local Muslims also promised that they will stop the propaganda against the Pandits. At that time Jagmohan, who later became a minister in the NDA government, was the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Instead of conducting intensive campaign against extremists and providing security to the Pandits, they provided facilities for their mass exodus from the valley. Why was this done?

Instead of using the issue of Kashmiri Pandits to bring charges and counter-allegations and to put Indian Muslims and human rights activists in the dock, there is a need to solve this problem. The previous NDA government had proposed a separate residential area for the Pandits in the valley. Is this the solution to this problem? Pundits need justice. The government should set up a judicial commission that identifies the elements responsible for the exodus of the Pandits and should take legal steps that make the Pandits feel safe in the valley. Would the Pandits like to return to a Kashmir where democracy is being strangled and armed with automatic weapons are deployed at every corner? For the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, Kashmiriyat will have to be revived and an appropriate cultural and religious atmosphere will have to be created for them.

Beginning of August 2019 all yatris, tourists & even Bihari labourers were evicted by the government ( governor raj) to pave way for scraping article 370 & crush the locals. The details of that week / month are easily available on all your news sites and still fresh in your memory...The same way in 1990 Kashmir pandits(hindus) were one night transported out under Governor’s rule while curfew had been clamped to “treat” local Muslims.The nonMuslims who refused to leave stay comfortable all through...“.... the then communal Governor of Kashmir Jagmohan, under a plan coerced the Pandits to migrate ... According to the plan, the pandit migration would help him in being successful to carry genocide of the Muslim youth of Kashmir and crush the “insurgency”. The migration was deemed necessary in order to have minimal collateral damage of the Kashmiri Pandits. The Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims were undistinguished as they shared the same attire, language, skin color and culture. Maybe the other Non Muslim minority of Kashmir i.e. the Sikhs were distinguished by their turbans and beards, hence they were not ordered to leave under clandestine plans. It is being stated that Jagmohan assured the Pandit leaders that once the genocide of youth and suppression of armed insurgency is over, they would be let to return to their homeland. A promise that was never honored and respected, resulting in the homelessness of Kashmiri Pandits.....”The age old wits were outwitted , befooled & rendered refugees & homeless in the country they “loved”...Also see how this famous KP viewd this Issue .(We may not be comfortable with all his views but it is good to know thier view from  their mouth/ pen)* ...https://www.maryscullyreports.com/sanjay-kak-on-the-exodus-of-kashmiri-pandits-from-kashmir/

Unanswered Questions  

“In January 2020, the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley has completed thirty years. The cultural and social roots of the Pandits were in the Kashmir Valley. Before escaping from there, he had to face extreme injustice, violence and humiliation. The main cause of this migration was the communalization of extremism in the Kashmir Valley in the 1990s. Since then, no government has made a serious effort to solve the problem of Pandits. But the communal elements have been continuously using the issue of Kashmiri Pandits to silence liberals and human rights activists. Whenever they talk about the plight of Muslim minorities in India, the underprivileged section immediately asks them "what about Kashmiri Pandits". Now the situation has become such that these minorities of Kashmir Valley are on the verge of losing their civil rights.”

            This begs several questions to be a answered:     

1.       What did the congress governments since 1948 to 2015 and the present day BJP government do for preventing their exodus? Whose responsibility it was to create peaceful understanding among these 2 Kashmiri residents? Main Indian govts or underdogged Kashmiri govts?

2.      How many Pundits were evacuated and how many Kashmiris killed in this period of 71 years?

3.      These Pundits migrated to their own country India, so why this loud hue and cry?

4.      What is your answer to the present curfew in Kashmir for these more than six months?

5.      Did you condemn Modi for his transferring this occupied area into open jail on Earth to promote atrocities and killings there for the last six months under 900,000 military men?

6.      IS THIS ENORMOUS MILITARY FORCE A PEACE KEEPING FORCE? THEN WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE THERE?? ARE THEY HUMANS OR BUTCHERS? WHY DID THESE PUNDITS CAUSED SENDING 900,000 WELL ARMED FORCES THERE.

7.      WHYDIDN'T THE INDIAN GOVTS ARRANGED THE PLEBISCITE VOTING THERE AS PROMISED TO UNO??

8.      YOU PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY SWALLOWED JUNAGADH, MANAWADER AND HYDERABAD STATES BEFORE AND NOW KASHMIR, WHY?? ARE YOU HINDUS PEACEFUL WHERE YOU RULE??

9.      WHY MUSLIMS, LIVING FOR CENTURIES IN INDIA ARE DENIED CITIZENSHIP, WHERE AS YOU INDIANS GET CITIZENSHIP IN 5 YEARS IN WESTERN COUNTRIES, WHY THIS PARITY?? ARE YOU NORMAL PEOPLE ON THIS PLANET??

10.  WHY DO YOU PEOPLE URGE TO DECIDE MUTUAL DISPUTES ON BATTLE FIELDS? CAN'T YOU DECIDE THESE DISPUTES PEACEFULLY THROUGH MUTUAL NEGOTIATIONS?? DO YOU HINDUS HAVE A SINCERE WILL TO DECIDE DISPUTES THROUGH MUTUAL NEGOTIATIONS??

11.  WILL YOU INDIANS ALLOW UNO TO RESOLVE THESE DISPUTES FOR THESE 2 COUNTRIES? IF NOT, WHY NOT??

WHY DON'T YOU INDIANS LIVE AND LET OTHERS LIVE IN PEACE?IS YOUR MIGHT IS RIGHT IN ALL SITUATIONS??

Kashmir (You Tube) Blog (JR 209)

This page will list all posting on the Kashmir blog on You Tube . The blog will be short presentations on : various aspects of the struggle for freedom by the Kashmiri people; human rights violations in Indian held Kashmir: Status of Muslims in particular and minorities in general in India .

1.      Kashmir blog 2: This presents some actions that the Government of Pakistan needs to take to support the Kashmir cause  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RG6ZV0ncD8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzFd_GsdR40&t=7s

1.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMBbUMNfuHs  Kashmir blog: 1: Feb. 18, 2020: AAP electoral victory over BJP

 

 

Abstract from and Review of Book: Kashmir: A Paradise Lost by KHALID AKHTAR(JR208KA01)

Abstract from and Review of Book: Kashmir: A Paradise Lost by KHALID AKHTAR (JR 208 KA 01)

Abstract:

“The city was indeed a tourist hub but he saw only a gloom prevailing around him. He would often look up towards the sky and then gazed down at his shikara.

Be it spring or the season of autumn, the Nargis flowers never failed to blossom and the tall chinars always stood firm” (The Chinar Speaks) first chapter

Review

The book introduces you to the different sides of the conflict in Kashmir and the indomitable spirit of its inhabitants. There is no dearth of texts written on Kasmir and yet, the author has created indescribable versions of the crude emotions persisting in its people.

It portrays how Kashmir, which was once a paradise, has been calling out since long, In the form of its cloaked stories to regain its paradisiacal culture.

The author has beautifully sewn together, the tales of ground realities of the place. The stories boldly reflect how politics and conflicts of the state have brutally thrashed the life of common people who are caught in the middle of the long struggle.

With beautiful characters like that of Bashir or with Annan and with poignant stories like that of Shokat returning to his home- the emotions become vivid and make want to delve deep into the abyss of lost memories of the place. In short, with 14 short stories, this book aspires to uncover the unheard emotions of Kashmiris. Without a direct hit towards the discordant issues, the author has successfully described hueful nuances of those stories which have been muffled by the winds of propaganda.

Gawkadal massacre (JR207)

Gawkadal massacre (JR207)

Background: The Gawkadal massacre was named after the Gawkadal bridge in Srinagar, Kashmir, where, on 21 January 1990, the Indian paramilitary troops of the Central Reserve Police Force opened fire on a group of Kashmiri protesters in what has been described by some authors as "the worst massacre in Kashmiri history" along with the Bijbehara Massacre in 1993  At least 160 people were killed (according to survivors, the actual death toll may have been as high as 280) The massacre happened just a day after the Government of India appointed Jagmohan as the Governor for a second time in a bid to control the mass protests by Kashmiris.

Incident: Violence erupted in the Kashmir region of India Jammu and Kashmir in November 1989, though unrest had been building in the state since the 1987 elections, which some believed were rigged by the Indian government and the National Conference to ensure the defeat of a coalition of pro-independence and pro-autonomy parties.  Following the December, 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of Indian Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and in wake of militancy forcing Kashmiri Hindu families to migrate,  government decided to take a harder stance against the separatist rebellion. To that end, despite fierce opposition from the state government, New Delhi appointed Jagmohan, a known forceful administrator, governor of the state. As a result, the state government, then led by Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah resigned in protest, and the state went under President's rule.  On 19 January 1990, the night Jagmohan was appointed governor, Indian security forces conducted extensive house-to-house searches in Siringar in an effort to find illegal weapons and root out any hidden militants.  Hundreds of people were arrested. Both Jagmohan and Abdullah deny any involvement in the decision to carry out the raid

Aftermath: As word of the raids spread the next morning (20 January 1990), thousands of Kashmiris took to the streets in protest, demanding independence. Jagmohan responded by putting the city under curfew. That evening, a large group of protesters shouting pro-independence slogans, reached Srinagar's wooden Gawkadal Bridge. According to the J & K police, on approaching the wooden bridge a large crowd of demonstrators started pelting stones, after which the security forces fired on the crowd, leading to the death of several protestors  Indian authorities put the official death toll for the massacre at 28  International human rights organisations and scholars estimate that at least 50, and likely over 100 protesters were killed—some by gunshot wounds, other by drowning after they jumped into the river in fear.  

In the aftermath of the massacre, more demonstrations followed, and in January 1990, Indian paramilitary forces are believed to have killed around 300 protesters.  As a Human Rights Watch stated in a report from May, 1991, "In the weeks that followed [the Gawakadal massacre] as security forces fired on crowds of marchers and as militants intensified their attacks against the police and those suspected of aiding them, Kashmir’s civil war began in earnest. 

Justice: No known action was ever taken against the CRPF forces officials responsible for the massacre, or against the officers present at Gawkadal that night. No government investigation was ever ordered into the incident. Fifteen years later, the police case was closed and those involved in the massacre were declared untraceable. No challan has been produced against any person in court.  Police registered the FIR (No.3/90) at the Kralkhud police station. It was registered against an atrocious ‘mob’. Nothing was written against the action of the CRPF and the police. The case stands closed and the culprits are untraceable.

Eye witness account: For Muhammad Farooq Wani, 61—the lone survivor of the Gaw Kadal massacre of January 21, 1990—the anniversary of the gory incident reopens his wounds.
“It was like hell,” Wani says, as he recalls the massacre in which 51 persons were killed when New Delhi had sent in Jagmohan as Governor of J&K to quell pro-freedom protests.
On January 20, 1990, the troopers of paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had barged into several houses in an old city locality called Chota Bazar and conducted wanton arrests besides molesting some women. Apprehending protests against the incident, the administration led by Jagmohan imposed restrictions in Srinagar on January 21, 1990 Wani was then working as Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) in the Public Health Engineering department. On the ill-fated day, there was water crisis in Old City and Wani’s immediate officer had instructed him to collect a curfew pass from Deputy Commissioner’s office here to visit the affected areas.

Wani was stopped by CRPF troopers near Jehangir Chowk and directed to take another route to the DC office. “As curfew was strictly imposed, I decided to go to my uncle’s home at Mandar Bagh and subsequently reach the DC office from there,” he told Greater Kashmir.
He says as he passed through the deserted lanes of Lal Chowk, he saw hundreds of people including women peacefully protesting at Gaw Kadal against the Chotta Bazar incident.
“The procession started to march towards Gaw Kadal (bridge) and I just tried to make my way through it. Suddenly, the CRPF troopers opened fire on the procession,” Wani recalls. “There were injured people all around. Sensing intentions of the CRPF troopers, I tried to jump into Chuntkul water channel from Gaw Kadal. Suddenly a man pushed me from behind. I remained in the bridge only while he jumped into Chuntkul,” he recalls.
Laying flat on Gaw Kadal, Wani witnessed the first massacre of Kashmiris, which is being remembered every year as the Gaw Kadal massacre.
“The injured were wreathing in pain and asking for water. It was horrible to see troopers laughing and kicking the injured. Suddenly, they started to pump bullets on heads of the injured persons, killing them instantly,” Wani said, as his face seethes in anger and eyes become moist. “I could see blood all around and hear last moans of death everywhere.”
Trapped among the bodies, Wani was yet to see the worst. In the melee, he says, a Kangri (traditional Kashmiri firepot) of a protestor, who was among the dead later, had broken. “My face started to burn as it touched hot ash and charcoal of the Kangri. I tried to roll my head to other side but unfortunately a trooper spotted me,” he says. “The trooper shouted ‘Sir Yeh Zinda Hai’ (Sir he is still alive) while pointing towards me among the bodies.” 
As a stein gun totting CRPF officer rushed toward Wani, he says he become nervous.
“He aimed his gun towards me and I pleaded ‘Sir, please don’t shoot, I am an officer on duty.’ But he came close and hit me on my face,” Wani says. “The officer told me ‘Yahan Pakistan Mangta Hai’ (Do you want Pakistan in Kashmir?). I thought he does not understand English. I told him ‘Bhagwaan ki Kasam Hai, Mujhe Goli Mat Maro, Mein Duty Pe Hoon (Please don’t shoot at me, I am on duty).”
Narrating this sequence, Wani pauses and abruptly starts again. “The officer indiscriminately opened fire on me. There was burning sensation on my back. I recited Kalima and remembered my family including two little daughters,” Wani says.
“I had received most of the bullets on my back and right arm and was gradually losing sensation,” he says.
Wani’s diminishing hope for survival got revived when three constables of Jammu and Kashmir police reached the spot.
“On seeing the bodies, the cops became emotional and anger against the massacre was palpable on their faces. However, the CRPF troopers fired in the air and slapped the cops, chasing them away from the spot,” he says.
With each passing second and blood oozing from his wounds, Wani was fast losing hope for survival. In the meantime, another CRPF officer reached the spot. “He spotted me alive and placed his gun on my head. He placed his finger on trigger and was about to fire but he was interrupted by the CRPF officer who had fired at me. ‘Goli Zaya Mat Karo, Isko Aisay Hi Marnay Do (Don’t waste your bullets. Let him die like this,” recounts Wani. “Before leaving he kicked my face very hard.”
For around half-an hour, Wani said all he could hear was thumping sound of troopers’ boots and chirping of birds. “Suddenly, CRPF brought a truck and started loading bodies in it. I pleaded with a trooper to place me in the truck with the bodies. He held my muffler and dragged me like an animal into the truck,” Wani says.
After travelling for some five minutes, the truck reached the Police Control Room here. Still in the vehicle, Wani says he “got a sort of energy” after hearing conservations around in Kashmiri. “Somebody lifted the tarpaulin from back side of the truck and started to unload the bodies. Finding me alive, a Kashmir policeman instantly called a doctor posted at PCR who declared that I had the chances of survival if I could be operated upon immediately,” he says.
Within few minutes, Wani was rushed to SMHS hospital where he was operated upon for around three hours under supervision of a team of doctors. “I had received 16 bullets mostly on my back. After operation, many people whom I even didn’t know, kissed and hugged me,” he says.
He vividly remembers a teenager who held his blood soaked shoes with his chest. “He stood beside me in the hospital. I told him to call my residence landline and tell my family that I will be home next day. However, he could not control his emotions and told my sister about the incident. She had fainted and then he narrated the incident to my wife. She rushed to the hospital,” he says.
Wani was later shifted to Bone and Joints Hospital and admitted in a separate post operative room. He says a team of international journalists led by Mark Tully came to Srinagar to interact with survivors of the massacre. “Dr Farooq Ahmad Ashai introduced these journalists to me as I could speak in English. The team wept after hearing my ordeal and reported it in various international newspapers and magazines,” he says.
Though official figures put the number of fatalities at 21, human rights groups say 51 persons were killed in the massacre.
Police in FIR no 3/90 registered at Kralkhud Police Station under RPC 307, 148, 149, 188 and 153 stated that the CRPF troopers had opened fire to stop “unruly mob raising anti-India and anti-forces slogans” heading towards Lal Chowk at Gaw Kadal.
24 years down the line since the incident, Wani has served on various posts including Managing Director JK Cements and Chief Engineer (PWD) 
“It is painful that the accused CRPF troopers are yet to be punished. It is ironical that police has till date not even recorded my statement despite being the lone survivor of the massacre. I am ready to testify against the accused even now,” he says.
Wani says he was offered reward for bravery by Hamid-ul-lah Khan, advisor to then Governor Jagmohan. “I told him I don’t need any reward but I only want punishment to the accused troopers who fired upon and killed unarmed protestors,” he says. “This will be the biggest tribute to the victims,” he says, taking a deep breath.

Kashmir and ICC (JR 206)

Kashmir and ICC (JR 206)

1.       ICC: ICC The Kashmiri Diaspora or just like Ghana and Argentina and all together 56 countries have gone to ICC on the  Rohingya issue. Either option would work

2.       Kurile Dispute and its relevance to Kashmir: The Second World War left behind many problems inherited from history, not least in Asia in respect of multiple disputed territories. One of them concerns four islands in the Kurile chain that are claimed by Japan but occupied by Russia as successor state of the Soviet Union. Despite the passage of over 70 years, this dispute has defied solution and prevented the conclusion of a Russo-Japanese peace treaty to draw a final curtain over the detritus of the war. The Kuriles are an archipelago of some 56 islands spanning about 1,800 km from Japan’s Hokkaido to Russia’s Kamchatka. All of them are under Russian jurisdiction but Japan claims the two large southernmost islands, Etorofu and Kunashiri, and two others, Shikotan and Habomai, as its ‘northern territories’. These islands were occupied by the Soviet Union in August 1945, after which the entire Japanese population, numbering less than 20,000, was evicted. The islands are now populated by the various ethnic groups of the former Soviet Union, but only eight of them are actually inhabited. Mr. Abe’s wish to engage with Russia stems from the rapid rise of China, which spends three times more on defence than Japan, and the perceived threat from North Korea, which recently fired two ballistic missiles over Japan as a taunt to the U.S. Russia is now seen in Japan as the lesser enemy, and improving relations with Moscow might drive a wedge in the growing quasi-alliance between Russia and China, a break-up desired by the U.S.-led Western alliance. Tokyo notes that the Russian far east is endowed with plentiful natural resources which are in need of investments, but is hampered by a small population, whereas China has 100 million citizens along that shared land border. Japan has no territorial or demographic ambitions in Russia other than the Kuriles, and has the capacity to transform the vast contiguous areas of Russia. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that both Japan and Russia see merit in pursuing greater collaboration  At Vladivostok last September, Mr. Abe declared that Japan-Russia relations held “unlimited potential” and that the absence of a peace treaty was “an abnormal state of affairs”. Mr. Putin agreed, noting that the Russian and Japanese militaries had cooperated for the first time, and urged the immediate conclusion of a peace treaty without preconditions. Japan demurred on the grounds that the Kurile islands dispute had to be settled first before the issue was foreclosed. Nonetheless, Mr. Abe stated that “Japan-Russia relations are advancing at a degree never seen before.” The interactions between Japan and Russia probably hold scant interest for the Indian public. Nevertheless, although no two international problems are analogous, there are important lessons to be drawn from the manner in which traditionally hostile neighbours can identify common interests and explore unorthodox avenues along which to proceed in search of innovative solutions to apparently insoluble disputes. This requires strong leadership and a bold imagination. Neither India nor Pakistan lacks either attribute. Kashmir is essentially a territorial dispute of almost equal vintage as the Kuriles. But if both sides keep waiting for the most propitious time to make the first move, it will never come about.

3.      ICJ on right of self determination (Chagos): Mar, 4, 2019: The International Court of Justice has given a near-unanimous opinion that the separation in 1965 of the Chagos archipelago from the then British colony of Mauritius was contrary to the right of self determination, and that accordingly the de-colonization of Mauritius by the United Kingdom had not been in accordance with international law. The ICJ held that Britain’s continued administration of the archipelago was an internationally wrongful act, which should cease as soon as possible. The Chagos Archipelago consists of a number of islands and atolls in the Indian Ocean. The largest island is Diego Garcia, which accounts for more than half of the archipelago’s total land area. Mauritius is located about 2,200 km south-west of the Chagos archipelago. Between 1814 and 1965, the Chagos archipelago was administered by the United Kingdom as a dependency of the colony of Mauritius. In 1964, there were discussions between America and Britain regarding the use by the United States of certain British-owned islands in the Indian Ocean, in particular in establishing an American base on Diego Garcia. It was agreed that the United Kingdom would be responsible for acquiring land, resettling the population and providing compensation at its expense; and that Britain would assess the feasibility of the transfer of the administration of Diego Garcia and the other islands of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius.  The ICJ reviewed the various UK and ECHR cases brought by Chagossians seeking the right to return to the archipelago, and noted that:: To date, the Chagossians remain dispersed in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Mauritius and Seychelles. By virtue of United Kingdom law and judicial decisions of that country, they are not allowed to return to the Chagos Archipelago. The first substantive issue was to what extent was there a customary right in international law to self-determination in 1965-8. The ICJ noted the obligation (under Chapter XI of the UN Charter) for UN Member States administering territories with peoples without full self-government to develop the self-government of those peoples. The ICJ held that it followed that: the legal régime of non-self-governing territories, as set out in Chapter XI of the Charter, was based on the progressive development of their institutions so as to lead the populations concerned to exercise their right to self-determination. The adoption of UN resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, which affirmed that “[a]ll peoples have the right to self-determination” represented “a defining moment in the consolidation of State practice on decolonization “the General Assembly has a long and consistent record in seeking to bring colonialism to an end” rather than being about a resolution of a territorial dispute between two states. This evaded the inevitable consequence of its finding that decolonization process concerned was illegal, meaning that either the UK has no sovereignty over the archipelago, or it does have sovereignty but is obliged to hand over sovereignty to Mauritius. General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) clarifies the content and scope of the right to self-determination. The Court notes that the decolonization process accelerated in 1960, with 18 countries, including 17 in Africa, gaining independence. During the 1960s, the peoples of an additional 28 non-self-governing-territories exercised their right to self-determination and achieved independence. There was a “clear relationship between resolution 1514 (XV) and the process of decolonization following its adoption.” Accordingly, resolution 1514 (XV) indicated that self determination was a customary norm in international law.The ICJ went on to hold that both State practice and opinio juris at the relevant time confirm the customary law character of the right to territorial integrity of a non-self-governing territory as a corollary of the right to self-determination. It therefore followed that any detachment by the administering Power of part of a non-self-governing territory, unless based on the freely expressed and genuine will of the people of the territory concerned, is contrary to the right to self-determination.The second issue was whether the detachment of the Chagos archipelago had been done in accordance with international law. The ICJ held that at the time of its detachment from Mauritius in 1965, the Chagos Archipelago was clearly an integral part of that non-self-governing territory. The ICJ considered the background to the agreement of the Mauritius Council of Ministers in 1965 to that detachment and held that it is not possible to talk of an international agreement, when one of the parties to it, Mauritius, which is said to have ceded the territory to the United Kingdom, was under the authority of the latter. So heightened scrutiny should be given to the issue of consent in a situation where a part of a non-self-governing territory is separated to create a new colony. The Court considered that this detachment was not based on the free and genuine expression of the will of the people concerned.Hence, the United Kingdom was obliged under international law as at 1965 to respect the territorial integrity of its colonies, and accordingly, as a result of the Chagos Archipelago’s unlawful detachment and its incorporation into a new colony, known as the BIOT, the process of decolonization of Mauritius was not lawfully completed when Mauritius acceded to independence in 1968. With respect to the third substantive issue, the ICJ in short order held that The Court having found that the decolonization of Mauritius was not conducted in a manner consistent with the right of peoples to self-determination, it follows that the United Kingdom’s continued administration of the Chagos Archipelago constitutes a wrongful act entailing the international responsibility of that State… Accordingly, the United Kingdom is under an obligation to bring an end to its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible, thereby enabling Mauritius to complete the decolonization of its territory in a manner consistent with the right of peoples to self-determination. This has implications for Indian Occupied Kashmir .Wonder if Pakistan will take up this issue

Are Indian Nukes in Unsafe Hands? By Sajjad Shaukat (JR202S69

Are Indian Nukes in Unsafe Hands? By Sajjad Shaukat (JR202S69

                                              

In the recent years, various conferences and seminars have been held regarding the security of nuclear weapons and radioactive materials, as the participant countries were worried that terrorist outfits like the Islamic State group (Also known as Daesh, ISIS and ISIL) may get these fatal weapons and can use against a state actor or any country to create misunderstanding, which may culminate into an atomic war.

In this regard, the US former President Barack Obama had hosted the fourth Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on March 31, 2016 to check the spread of nuclear weapons, showing concerns about the ambitions of terrorist groups such as the ISIS in acquiring a nuclear weapon or radioactive materials.

In this respect, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is organizing the third International Conference on Nuclear Security: Sustaining and Strengthening Efforts (ICONS 2020) at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, from 10 to 14 February 2020. The previous conference, held in 2016, attracted over 2000 participants, including 47 government ministers, from 139 Member States and 29 intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. The conference provides a forum to formulate and exchange views for nuclear security.

It is notable that in its report, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) disclosed on June 18, 2018 that estimated 110-130 Indian nuclear bombs are stored in six or so government–run sites across India. Within the next five years to one decade, as many as 60 reactors will also be functional in India with the active cooperation of the US led Western and far eastern allies.

In the past, several incidents of leakage and theft in addition to alarming episodes of lax security on existing nuclear sites in view of a history of civil tumult have occurred in India. India is notorious for highly lax security of its nuclear facilities. The episode of October 8, 2014 at Kalpakkam, when a soldier of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) responsible for protecting nuclear materials, went on a rampage to destroy the security of the facility leading to nuclear material theft by criminals.

Indian media reported on July 5, last year that the Kolkata police have arrested five men with 1 kg of uranium valued at around Rs. 3 crores ($440,000).

The Times of India elaborated that the men had come to Kolkata in the state of West Bengal to try to sell the substance. Police were quoted as saying that two packets of a “yellow-coloured substance” were seized.

By pursuing the double standards of America and some Western countries in its worst form, the US President Donald Trump has favoured India, while opposing the nuclear weapons of Pakistan. Trump has brushed aside the ground realities that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi led by the ruling extremist party BJP has been implementing anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan agenda.

While, Indian past record proves various kinds of security and safety lapses regarding various nuclear plants and the related sensitive materials, including events of leakage, nuclear theft, smuggling and killing.

In November, 2009, more than 90 Indian workers suffered radiation due to contamination of drinking water at the Kaiga Atomic Power Station in Karnataka.

On July 27, 1991, a similar event occurred at the heavy water plant run by the Department of Atomic Energy at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan. Nuclear radiation had affected and injured many laborers there.

In July 1998, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seized eight Kg. of nuclear material from three engineers in Chennai, which was stolen from an atomic research center.

On November 7, 2000, IAEA disclosed that Indian police had seized 57 pounds of uranium and arrested two men for illicit trafficking of radioactive material. IAEA had revealed that Indian civil nuclear facilities were vulnerable to thefts.

On January 26, 2003, CNN pointed out that Indian company, NEC Engineers Private Ltd. shipped 10 consignments to Iraq, containing highly sensitive equipments entailing titanium vessels and centrifugal pumps.

In December 2006, a container packed with radioactive material had been stolen from an Indian fortified research atomic facility near Mumbai.

In June 2009, India’s nuclear scientist, Lokanathan Mahalingam missed from the scenario and after a couple of days; his dead body was recovered from the Kali River. Indian police concocted a story that Mahalingam had committed suicide by jumping into the river. It is a big joke to hide some real facts behind his death because wisdom proves that if an educated person decides to commit suicide, he will definitely adopt a soft way to eliminate his life. Afterwards, Dr. Haleema Saadia said that death of the scientist was a conspiracy.

However, such events in connection with nuclear material continued unabated in India, putting the security of atomic weapons and their related components, including the lives of workers at high risk.

In this context, the more dangerous development is that in the start of November, 2019, international media pointed out cyber-attack on an India nuclear power plan.

In this connection, The Washington Post wrote on November 4, 2019: “The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has now confirmed that there was a cyberattack on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) in Tamil Nadu, India, in September. The nuclear power plant’s administrative network was breached in the attack…KKNPP plant officials had initially denied  suffering an attack…The KKNPP is the biggest nuclear power plant in India…VirusTotal, a virus scanning website owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has indicated  that a large amount of data from the KKNPP’s administrative network has been stolen. If this is true, subsequent attacks on the nuclear power plant could target its critical systems more effectively. Cyberattacks on nuclear power plants could have physical effects, especially if the network that runs the machines and software controlling the nuclear reactor are compromised. This can be used to facilitate sabotage, theft of nuclear materials, or—in the worst-case scenario—a reactor meltdown. In a densely populated country like India, any radiation release from a nuclear facility would be a major disaster”.

Nevertheless, it has raised serious questions and worries—hacking of India’s nuclear information and its repercussions for the world?—sensitive information now available to hackers in black market— is the world safe?—sitting on the edge of catastrophe—IAEA must look into command and control system of India, recommending an action against New Delhi.

It is noteworthy that during his first visit to New Delhi, on November 6, 2010. President Obama announced the measures, America would take regarding removal of Indian space and defence companies from a restricted “entities list”, and supported Indian demand membership of four key global nuclear nonproliferation regimes. Despite, Indian violations of various international agreements and its refusal to sign Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and Additional Protocol with the IAEA, Washington signed a pact of nuclear civil technology with New Delhi in 2008. During American President Obama’s second visit to India, on January 25, 2016, the US and India announced a breakthrough on the pact which would allow American companies to supply New Delhi with civilian nuclear technology.

Notably, America is a potential military supplier to India. US also pressurized IAEA and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to grant a waiver to New Delhi for obtaining civil nuclear trade on larger scale.

Although these atomic weapons or radioactive materials seem to be mysterious, yet still could be within the reach of some Hindu terrorists with the help of Indian RAW which might have also got these destructive arms from Israeli Mossad.

Sources suggest that with the disintegration of the Soviet Union, weapons of mass destruction or nuclear weapons and their components are easier to acquire. The fears are widespread that unemployed Russian scientists might have provided expertise material about these devices to some sovereign and non-sovereign entities. Hindu terrorists could also get these destructive weapons from Israel as strong Indo-Israeli lobbies are collectively working particularly in the US against the interests of Muslims by manipulating the war against terrorism. Such chemical and radiological materials could also be smuggled inside India by the Hindu fanatics. And they can also buy nuclear devices covertly from the global black market.

Frustrated in isolating Islamabad, RAW in connivance with Mossad might have also prepared a most dangerous plan to use nuclear weapons or dirty nuclear bombs inside the US homeland or any major European country to implicate Pakistan for having allegedly used these weapons through some Taliban militants.

Particularly, RAW and Mossad may also employ these fatal weapons against NATO forces in Afghanistan, as India and Israel want to prolong the stay of the US-led NATO troops in Afghanistan which has become the center of their covert activities against Pakistan, Russia, China and Iran. Terrorists of the ISIS which are strategic assets of the CIA may be used by RAW and Mossad for employment of these unconventional weapons. While, India, Israel and America are also playing double game against one another, hence, by utilizing the vicious circle of terrorism, New Delhi can alone use these weapons through Afghanistan-based Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and ISIS which are also being backed by RAW, CIA and Mossad, and have claimed responsibility for several terror assaults inside Pakistan and Afghanistan, including the recent ones. So, RAW’s sole aim will be to provoke Americans and its allies against Islamabad which is challenging Indian hegemony in the region. Thus, RAW could create a dangerous misunderstanding in which US could use small nuclear weapons against Pakistan or could ask the latter of rollback its atomic programme.

At present, almost 100 have been passed. Indian forces have continued military clampdown in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). On August 5, 2019, New Delhi unilaterally annexed the IOK, revoking articles 35A and 370 of the Constitution which gave a special status to Kashmir. While, Indian extremist rulers are also escalating tensions with Pakistan to divert attention from the drastic situation of the Indian Held Kashmir, and without bothering for anomic war, their forces have continued shelling inside Pakistani side of Kashmir by violating the ceasefire agreement in relation to the Line of Control (LoC).

As regards Modi’s victory in the elections 2019, analysts opined, “Modi’s election win is a victory for far right Hindu nationalism…India’s secular democracy is under threat…BJP’s record in 2015-2019 has been divisive to say the least. The party has marginalised religious minorities, especially Muslims, from public life with many; as a result, being lynched by Hindu nationalists in the name of cow protection…Jingoism and Islamophobia have propelled the BJP to an even stronger showing than in 2014. A Modi victory puts India’s 200 million Muslims in danger…Modi is part of the large Hindu supremacist family…In his home state of Odisha, he furthered India’s sectarian divide, pushed the idea of Hindu supremacy and with that, violence against Muslims, Christians and other minorities…Modi is radicalising Muslims.”

Undoubtedly, we can conclude that Indian insecure nuclear programme is threatening regional and global peace. Therefore, world’s various forums such as EU, UNO and especially IAEA should take cognizance of New Delhi in this regard.

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

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com