By Dr. Mehmood Hussain
Kashmir, a place known for its melodious beauty, is under the illegitimate occupation of India since August 1947. Both Pakistan and India thrice engaged into military adventurism, but failed to completely integrate the area with the either side.
Though as a result of 1947-48 war, Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan, but the two antagonist neighbors rejected to accept the status quo and are struggling to annex the entire Jammu and Kashmir. In 1949, the Indian constitution granted the special status to the Jammu and Kashmir under the Article 370 and 35A, accepting its semi-autonomous status except in four domains; telecommunications, defense, currency and foreign relations. Yet the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the special status on August 5, 2019.
The revocation of Article 370 and 35A not only eroded the autonomy of Kashmir, simultaneously it transformed the status quo of Indian Occupied Kashmir. Under the new decree, India has integrated the entire area with the Union territory and began a new era of ethnic cleansing and demographic change.
The decision has largely been rejected by the Kashmiri peoples and Pakistan but nothing substantial has been done on both sides. Since August 5, 2019, Kashmir has been under complete lock down and nearly eight million peoples are caged at home. Telecommunication and internet facilities has been suspended and a ban is in place on assembly and mass gatherings.
This strategy of Narendra Modi gave no other choice to Kashmiris but to suffer from physical and psychological trauma. Kashmiri’s are not allowed to leave their house, to gather in mosque for prayer and to demonstrate against the brutal rule of Narendra Modi.
In the meantime, India has divided Kashmir into the two Union territories directly administered from New Delhi. In the new arrangement, Jammu and Kashmir is one territory, and Ladakh is the separate territory. R K Mathur and Girish Chandra Murmu were appointed as lieutenant governors of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir respectively. India proclaimed that the new arrangement is necessary for infrastructure development and equal opportunities for Kashmiris. Now the peoples of Kashmir will have more roads, railways, schools, and industrial development. Yet, the new setup will have serious implications for locals.
Pakistan overtly rejected the Indian decision by claiming that Kashmir is a disputed territory and India cannot take any unilateral decision to alter its geography. Islamabad vowed its full support for the peoples of Kashmir and downgraded the diplomatic ties with India by calling back its high commissioner from New Delhi and expelling the Indian one.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa assured the peoples of Kashmir for all out support. The civil-military leadership reaffirmed the unshakeable support of Pakistan and vowed to exercise all possible options to counter the illegitimate steps.
The United Nations Security Council also held an emergency meeting to review the emerging situation in Indian held Kashmir and urged both countries to show maximum restraint and to resolve the dispute through peaceful means. The Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan addressed the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and warned the global community for not taking any credible action against Indian decision in the Jammu & Kashmir. He said that India has made its mind to commit genocide in Kashmir and world must stop Narendra Modi to do so.
On domestic front, Pakistani government, political parties and general public also criticized Indian decision and they are observing Kashmir hour on every Friday to express their solidarity with the peoples of occupied Kashmir.
It’s been a year now that Peoples of Jammu and Kashmir are living in all out hell. They are locked down, deprived from basic rights including the right to free movement, health, education, assembly and to express free voice.
The mainstream political leadership including Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Syed Ali Gillani, Yaseen Malik, Asiya Andrabi and many more to count are put behind the bars. Kashmir has been suffering from the shortage of food and medical supplies, civilians are being humiliated in front of public.
To further consolidate its control, India has carefully passed the new domicile law. The new law provided an opportunity to Indian citizens lived in Kashmir for 15 years to claim a domicile certificate for residency benefits. It also offer similar opportunity to citizen who studied in Kashmir for seven years. Children of central government officials worked in Jammu and Kashmir for at least 10 years can also have a domicile certificate even not setting their foot in the area.
The new law further alienated the Kashmiri peoples and exposed the design of Narendra Modi for demographic change in Kashmir. The Hinduvta led BJP is following the similar pattern of ethnic cleansing and genocide committed in Jammu region in 1948, when Maharaja forces with the aide of RSS gangs persecuted more than 2,37,000 Muslims.
The draconian laws prevailing in Jammu & Kashmir provide sweeping powers to paramilitary forces to book Kashmiri citizens for interrogation, extrajudicial killing and mass murder. Indian government has further enlarged the draconian tactics through the murdering innocent civilians including the killing of 65 year old Bashir Ahmed, whose only witness was his three year grandchild. This cold blood murder was most horrific in recent history triggering criticism in India and abroad.
On the other side, Pakistan has done nothing except lip servicing. Public condemnations and protests made no serious impact on the situation. Pakistan failed to internationalize the Kashmir dispute. The weak economic condition and fragile domestic politics restrained the government to take any bold decision.
The inability of Pakistani government to rescue Kashmiri’s living in complete lock down gave birth to third option. Now peoples in Pakistan administered Kashmir and Indian held Jammu & Kashmir started discussing the idea of an independent Kashmir.
Peoples living on both sides of Line of Control are now overtly supporting the forces of Independent Kashmir and arguing that they must be given an opportunity to live independently. This third option will have far reaching impacts on final settlement of Kashmir as the true aspirations of Kashmiri’s will be very difficult to ignore for India and Pakistan. Kashmir is burning and it is dire need of the hour to take an immediate and decisive action to resolve it once for all.
Author: Mehmood Hussain – PhD, Jilin University China, Assistant Professor of IR, University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan
(The views expressed in this article belong only to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights).
Image source: Time Magazine