Iqbal Khan
THE systemic state-sponsored discrimination against Kashmiri Muslims bears all the hallmarks of a genocide, according to the founder and president of Genocide Watch, a global organization that flags the intentional destruction of ethnic, racial and religious groups. “We believe that the Indian government’s actions in Kashmir have been an extreme case of persecution and could very well lead to genocide,” said D. Gregory H. Stanton, Founding President Genocide Watch. There are early warning signs of genocide now and that’s what we believe is the situation in Kashmir,” explained the American scholar, who is known for examining the stages of genocide in the nineties, which ultimately became known as his ‘10 stages of genocide’ theory.
Dr Stanton drafted the UNSC resolutions that created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Burundi Commission of Inquiry and the Central African Arms Flow Commission. Stanton has described the situation in occupied Kashmir as appalling.
“Kashmir is under military rule and it is a very clear pre-genocidal situation.” “So many of the early stages of genocide are already present. We don’t wait until it is a full out mass killing campaign to declare genocide”. Kashmir is like Bosnia of 1995.Twist of history has positioned President Biden, once again not to just raise his voice as he did for Bosnia in 1995 but also to save Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) from an impending genocide. In 1995, President Biden had pleaded the case of Bosnia in the US Senate and declared the situation there as genocide. Now he shoulders much higher responsibility, let it not be said that President of the US failed to match the stature of a global leader, informally embedded with the US Presidency.
People of Kashmir are facing unparalleled atrocities. Kashmir, too, needs Biden’s attention. By doing so, he would indeed be carrying through his campaign days’ promise of resolving Kashmir conflict. Unfortunately, both Obama and Trump administrations favoured India over the people of Kashmir. They did not protest over India’s violations of human rights or its plebiscite resolutions. That was tantamount to acquiescence in India’s illegal claim of sovereignty over Kashmir. They gave India a veto over any third-party intervention, knowing well that it would be employed to its disadvantage. Stanton said the US would have to employ economic persuasion to convince Prime Minister Modi to abandon his anti-Muslim campaign in Kashmir and across India. “We should condition our economic relations on the improvement of the political situation in India,” said Dr Stanton.
On 05 August 2019, India revoked Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status, clamped curfew and communication blackout on the territory and arrested thousands, sparking outrage and economic suffering. Since then, authorities have introduced new laws and implemented policies that critics say are part of a plan to colonise the volatile region with Indian settlers. It is ironic that a country that continues to flaunt its so-called vaccine diplomacy abroad has turned hospitals in IIOJK into graveyards, choking essential medical supplies, let alone the Covid vaccine. In many ways, India is becoming more and more like its new ally — Israel. The Jewish State also neglects the vaccine needs of the occupied Palestinian people living under its control despite claiming that their territory is an integral part of their political entity just like India does when it comes to the Kashmiris of IIOJK.
Frequent damning reports issued by almost all international HR watchdogs testify the fact that Indian army is involved in crimes against humanity. It is the moral duty of the world powers to bring the criminals of these war crimes before International Criminal Court. Despite all these atrocities committed on the innocent people of Kashmir, the people of Kashmir have never resigned to the military occupation of India. The demands of the people of Kashmir have international legitimacy. The right to self-determination was guaranteed by the United Nations as early as 1948. The world body has yet to fulfil those promises.
Raising of Kashmir issue at global level is important. We need to connect all the dots from personal level to political level. The strategic goals require a well thought-out plan for the narrative, expressions and political positioning for the sake of elevating Kashmiris and their lives. Also, there is need to strategise all awareness efforts to achieve and measure the effect of actionable items. Campaign should start asking the international community to impose economic sanctions on India; and urge all big multinational business conglomerates to precondition their investment in India with human rights situation in IIOJK. India’s economic well-being must be directly connected with granting Kashmiris their rights according to the UN resolutions.
According to Dr Fai, Kashmir conflict has many dimensions, political, diplomatic and humanitarian. But the goal of all these dimensions is just one: “to have a greater understanding of world powers to help Kashmiris exercise their right to self-determination as guaranteed under UN Security Council resolutions”. After abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A, the so-called accession of Kashmir became annexation. Legally speaking, it is now a total occupation. Now India is struggling to impose its will on the hapless people of Kashmir through draconian laws which have given total impunity to Indian army in Kashmir.
Recently, police in IIOJK has charged a man, Mushtaq Ahmad, seeking the body of his teenage son, who was slain by government forces, with conspiring to organise illegal processions under India’s harsh anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
This anti-terror law was amended in 2019 to allow the government to designate an individual as a terrorist. Police can detain a person for six months without producing any evidence, and the accused can subsequently be imprisoned for up to seven years. Remote burial was also part of this amendment, Rights activists have called the law draconian. “Police are seeking my silence,” “But I refuse to be silenced. I will keep seeking justice and my son’s body.”
Mushtaq Ahmed said. According to Dr Stanton, there is a very slim chance that the US government will adopt a stance asking India to restore fundament rights of hapless Kashmiri people, particularly at a time when Washington is trying to prop up New Delhi to negate Beijing’s growing influence in the region. “I’m afraid the Kashmir issue will stay on the back burner and we would like to get along with the Modi government. The best way to counter China for Biden would be to promote India at this point,” said Dr Stanton. Yet, let’s hope that the saner elements in Biden Administration would realise the necessity of resolution of Kashmir dispute.
—The Islamabad-based writer is a retired army officer and a regular contributor to the national press.
