THOUGH Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi apparently tried to use the fraudulent Delhi conclave of Thursday to get a stamp of approval for his illegal actions in Occupied Kashmir from mostly known puppets but the drama ended in fiasco due to ill-intentions of the host and apprehensions of a serious backlash from people of Kashmir, who have vowed they would not spare those compromising on their aspirations and interests.
The meeting with selected politicians from Occupied Kashmir was the first one after New Delhi stripped the disputed region’s semi-autonomy and jailed almost all mainstream Kashmiri leaders.
According to media reports, Modi attempted to give a lollipop to the participants by giving them a vague assurance that the statehood of the area (now declared a union territory) would be restored at an appropriate time and that for now they should build consensus on delimitation but in their remarks afterwards the participants said they reiterated their demand that Modi should reverse his 2019 changes.
The meeting was in continuation of sham and fraudulent actions that India has been taking vis-à-vis Jammu and Kashmir since 1947 when the illegal Instrument of Accession was executed by the Maharaja after the entry of first Indian troops in J&K and according to all independent versions the so-called IoA was obtained under duress and bad faith.
In subsequent years, instead of granting the right of self-determination to people of J&K as committed by India itself and the United Nations, New Delhi has vainly been trying to mislead the international public opinion by engaging its puppets in political process, holding fake elections and a series of meaningless talks with Pakistan without discussing the real issue at stake.
India also imposed draconian laws to crush the voice of Kashmiris for right of self-determination but miserably failed and the Modi Government crossed all limits by illegally annexing the territory, removing its special status by abrogating the Articles-370 and 35-A of the Indian Constitution.
The legitimacy of August 2019 actions has been questioned and resisted by Kashmiris and New Delhi is under intense international pressure for its illegal actions in contravention of the UN Security Council resolutions.
The severity of reaction by all segments of Kashmiris is evident from the longest clamp down in the area, total blackout of information and arrest/jailing of the true leadership of Kashmiris.
In this backdrop, Indian Prime Minister tried to release pressure by inviting selected Kashmiri leaders for a meeting that had no fixed agenda.
However, instead of getting any semblance of legitimacy for his illegal actions, the Modi Government stood further exposed before the world community because of the nature and outcome of the meeting.
In the first place, the meeting lost credence as APHC leadership, which represents Kashmiris in real sense of the word, was still languishing in notorious Tihar jail of Delhi and dozens of other concentration centres for raising their voice for rights of Kashmiris and highlighting atrocities being committed by Indian troops in the occupied territory.
As has been pinpointed by AJK President Sardar Masood Khan, those invited for the so-called conclave were the people who have been compromising from generation to generation on the rights and the freedom of the Kashmiri people.
These were the people who have long been used by India to convey the false impression of political process, elections and democracy in the region.
They are the people who played the role of facilitators in consolidating the illegal occupation of Kashmir by India for the lust of power.
It is rightly said that Articles 370 and 35-A were an arrangement between two states which has been sabotaged by India and now occupied Kashmir has been virtually made an administrative unit of the Union of India.
It is not the question of restoring just ‘statehood’ of the region but restoration of its special status and final resolution of the conflict as per aspirations of Kashmiris.
The non-committal attitude of the Indian authorities on the question of restoration of special status made it clear that the real objective was to get moral and political support for proposed delimitations ahead of sham elections.
Apart from demanding reversal of illegal actions, the participants also questioned the motives of delimitations only in Occupied Kashmir whereas elsewhere in India these are to be done in 2026.
Some participants also asked Prime Minister Modi to talk to Pakistan to find a permanent and durable solution to the longstanding dispute.
This is a stark reminder to Modi that the issue cannot and will not be resolved by depriving the territory of its special status, its illegal merger, malicious bifurcation of the region and settling of four million Indian Hindu citizens in Occupied Kashmir to change the demography of the state.
