Dr. Mehmood Hussain
Kashmir is known for its melodious beauty, lush green landscapes, snow caped mountains, gorgeous waterfalls and orchards of fruits.
That is why it is called the heavenly place on earth. Nevertheless, peoples of Kashmir are suffering from the illegal occupation of India. Kashmir is the highly militarized zone in the world due to nearly one million Indian paratroopers’ deployment in the area.
The question of Kashmir gained prominence in the August 1947, when the dominions of India and Pakistan gained independence from the tyranny of British Raj. The Independence Act of June 1947 gave a choice to the princely states of India to join either dominion based on the geographic, economic, cultural and religious affinity. Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan thus became natural based on the factors given in the independence Act. Moreover, the overwhelming Muslim majority was another determining factor to associate with Pakistan. But, Maharaja Harri Singh took an unfaithful decision to accede Kashmir with the Indian Union and sow the seeds of perpetual enmity and conflict. Peoples of Kashmir largely rejected the royal decision and started an indigenous movement to liberate the area from the Dogra rule, nonetheless they met with the state suppression. Meanwhile, the assistance of tribesmen of Pakistani tribal areas and the North Frontier Province now Khyber Pakhtunkhawa reinforced the movement, and liberation forces started to gain control of the area. Eventually, Maharaja signed an ‘Instrument of Accession’ with India on October 26, 1947 in an exchange of military assistance. Consequently, Indian military troops were airlifted in Srinagar starting an all-out war between India and Pakistan. India brought the issue to the United Nations Security Council on the accusation of Pakistani infiltration and requested to resolve the issue.
The dispute was first discussed in the 229th meeting of the United Nations Security Council held on January 17, 1948. The council decided to invite the leadership of Pakistan and India for direct talks under his guidance to find out some common ground to settle the dispute. The UNSC Resolution 47 of April 21, 1948 recognized the right to self-determination of Kashmiri peoples and urged both India and Pakistan to cease fighting, restore peace and develop conditions for an impartial and democratic plebiscite. Both India and Pakistan accepted the UNSC resolution and promised to act accordingly. But, nothing has been changed except fighting, killing, molesting Kashmiri women and injuries in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.
Since birth in 1947, India has been continuously bullying and threatening Pakistan. India never accepted Pakistan and always used overt and covert methods to create instability and chaos in the country. India is five times bigger state having border dispute with Pakistan, so this asymmetry relation forced Pakistan to adopt the external balancing. In early years, Pakistan joined the United States sponsored military alliances (SEATO and CENTO) to procure military weapons, training, equipment’s and economic assistance. During the cold war period, Pakistan became the ally of United States and India informally joined the Soviet Camp. The struggle for power and hegemony between the United States and the former Soviet Union gravely damaged the case of Kashmir. The former Soviet Union helped India to grow its military capabilities and used its influence in the United Nations Security Council in the favor of India. Meanwhile, the United States never proved itself a reliable and trustworthy partner. Whenever, it interests converged with Pakistan, Washington welcomed Pakistan and provided military and economic assistance, but once the United States accomplished its task, it left Islamabad in the midst of crisis and chaos.
The right to self-determination is an internationally recognized legal right of peoples to decide their own destiny in the international order. The end of the World War I offered substantial opportunity to peoples of oppressive areas occupied by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire to apply the principle of self-determination to form their own states. So, the emerging states were largely an outcome of this right and most of the major powers endorsed this right. Even after World War II, Pakistan and India gained independence on the basis of right to self-determination, but now India is reluctant to offer similar opportunity to the peoples of Kashmir. The United Nations charter has also accepted the principle of self-determination in the Article one. But, practically the United Nations has failed to accomplish this task and dispute of Kashmir and the Palestine is a testimony.
The powerful members of the United Nations are controlling the decision making process of this international body. India is an emerging military and economic power, so the western capitals are eager to get benefit from the Indian rise. The emerging Indian market has huge potential for foreign direct investment, technology transfer, trade and business opportunities. The 1.2 billion population equipped with higher education and technology skills is another strength of India to intimidate the world community to neglect the Kashmir issue. The collective economic and military interests of the global powers are blocking the road of the United Nations to play a positive role. Economic interests in the contemporary international relations are downplaying the importance of self-determination. The US-India alliance is another example of power politics, where the United States is helping India to build its economic and military capabilities to contain China. In response, India is benefited from the covert support of the United States over the Kashmir issue. After the abolition of Article 370 and 35A, India imposed an all-out lock down in the entire area, but the world community made no credible effort to refrain Indian not to change the political and demographic status of Kashmir. Except lip servicing, no state has announced to suspend the diplomatic, military and economic ties with India. The material benefits are important to the world rather raising voice for human rights and right to self-determination.
In short, it is painful to write that the contemporary world is preoccupied with the material benefits and values of human rights and self-determination are losing hope. Kashmir is the oldest agenda on the United Nations seeking proactive and emergency response. Peoples of Kashmir are suffering the psychological, sexual, infrastructure, and human losses from the Indian occupation and losing hope for justice and order. It is high time for the international community and the United Nations to set aside the agenda of materialism and save the Kashmiri’s from persecution and state sponsored terrorism.
Author: Dr. Mehmood Hussain (The Author is teaching International Relations in the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad. He writes on Kashmir Issue, Chinese Foreign Policy, South Asian International Relations, BRI and CPEC)
(The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights)