Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad
IT is an extremely shocking that the Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made life hell for all the minority communities in India, with Muslims being their main target. It is an ugly change from the pre-partition days when Hindus and Muslims had lived together fairly peacefully for centuries. When it comes to persecuting Muslims in India-occupied Kashmir, Narendra Modi has crossed all limits of legality, humanity and decency. Over eight hundred thousand disorderly Indian soldiers have been let loose on eight million besieged Kashmiri Muslims. These butchers have been using pellet guns, arresting and torturing youths, raping women and depriving people of even food and medical services during more than one year curfew. It is possible to develop a reasonable working relationship with Modi now when he stands trapped through his own drastic measures and could be looking for a way out. Basically, Modi had followed the Israeli model in Kashmir, hoping he will get just as much western backing as Israel did, which is his wishful thinking. Still, because of its massive population, India provides a big market for Western products and also serves as an ally against China which is considered a threat to Western civilization. It is because of this that the Western world has not taken any meaningful measures against India despite its illegal and inhuman acts in occupied Kashmir and elsewhere in India.
Pakistan has done all it could do on the diplomatic front to attract world attention to the atrocities committed by the Indian army which has unleashed a reign of terror on the eight million Muslims in occupied Kashmir. However, apart from lip-service, neither the United Nations nor the powerful Western countries, have done anything meaningful to bring relief to the Kashmiris. After all, if the US and its Western allies had any sympathy for the Muslims, they would not have devastated Iraq, Syria and Libya. To add to the tragedy, even some Muslim states which had previously supported the Kashmir cause are now non-committal because of their close business relations with India. The biggest hurdle to decent relations between India and Pakistan has always been the Kashmir issue. On the one hand, millions of Muslims are being persecuted there and, on the other, the rivers flowing into Pakistan originate there. The two countries have fought a few wars over the Kashmir issue. However, now that these countries are nuclear-armed, another war between them would only lead to massive self-destruction and become an obstacle in rest of the world attaining many of its growth goals.
India today is passing through a strange situation as, on the one hand, the vast majority of Indians are silent and indifferent to what is going on against religious minorities under BJP’s rule and, on the other, other political parties claiming to be secular and democratic are unable to save India from transforming to a Nazi and Fascist state. Simla Agreement of July 1972 would lead to a more cooperative attitude on the part of India and her acceptance of the necessity of peace in the subcontinent. The agreement expressed the re-solve of both governments to “put an end to the conflict and confrontation that had hitherto marred their relations” and asserted their determination that “the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations shall govern the relations between the two countries.” Let the Kashmiri people decide the fate of Kashmir through the referendum of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions. Napoleon Bonaparte Said: – “There are but two powers in the world. The Sword and the Mind. In the long term, the sword is always beaten by the mind”. Now, to survive in India, Muslims have to cultivate close relations with other oppressed minority groups to build a stronger voice for their common protection. Also, they should form alliances with other minorities, especially Sikhs, who think favourably of Muslims after the opening of the Kartarpur Rahdari in Pakistan. And near the next elections, Muslims must form election alliances with other minority communities, including Sikhs and moderate Hindu parties. There are signs that even moderate Hindus are fed up with the extremist BJP which has spoiled the ‘Shining India’ image and has also destroyed the economy. Hopefully, a combination of these factors will result in ousting the extremist BJP in the next elections and bring to power moderate leaders who will gradually reverse the negative trends.
Over 560 princely states acceded to India by 15 August. The exceptions were Junagadh, Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir. The state of Jammu and Kashmir was contiguous to both India and Pakistan, but its Hindu ruler chose to remain initially independent. Following a Pakistani tribal invasion, he acceded to India on 26 October 1947, and the state was disputed between India and Pakistan. The state of Junagadh initially acceded to Pakistan but faced a revolt from its Hindu population. Following a breakdown of law and order, its Dewan requested India to take over the administration on 8 November 1947. India conducted a referendum in the state on 20 February 1948, in which the people voted overwhelmingly to join India. The state of Hyderabad, with the majority Hindu population but Muslim ruler faced intense turmoil and sectarian violence. India intervened in the state on 13 September 1948, following which the ruler of the state signed the Instrument of Accession, joining India. Between October 1947 and March 1948 the rulers of several Muslim-majority states signed instruments of accession to join Pakistan. These included Amb, Bahawalpur, Chitral, Dir, Kalat, Khairpur, Kharan, Las Bela, Makran and Swat. Based on Indian Independence Act of 1947, approved by the United Kingdom Parliament on July 18th, 1947, that the matter of Jammu and Kashmir may be taken to International Court of Justice, this would open up entire division of the two States, however, much debate would be required before moving the case to the International Court of Justice to examine the pros and cons of this decision, however, this would bring the matter into international media and the illegal capturing of Muslim-dominated area by the Indian government.
—The writer is former Federal Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan and currently Chairman National Democratic Foundation.
