INDIAN Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, visited Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on March 7, 2024. It marked the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to IIOJK since India abrogated Articles 370 and 35-A (Special Status of IIOJK) on August 5, 2019. All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and other Kashmiri political parties boycotted the visit and announced a complete shutdown of the occupied state. Nevertheless, Srinagar, the capital city of IIOJK, was heavily controlled by Indian occupation forces, resembling a garrison. The BJP Government planned a rally titled ‘Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir’ at Bakshi Stadium. According to Indian media reports, Mr. Modi announced various developmental projects for IIOJK, including tourism and agricultural packages. Through this visit, Mr. Modi urged people to vote for BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections due in April 2024. However, these packages are viewed as attempts to bribe the people with deceptive claims and promises. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are fed up with Indian occupation and human rights violations.
Indeed, the State of Jammu and Kashmir has a long history of remaining under foreign occupation, tyranny and resistance by Kashmiris against subjugation. India invaded Jammu and Kashmir on 27 October, 1947 in complete disregard to Indian Independence Act, the UN Charter and above all, against the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The people of Kashmir were poised to be part of Pakistan, therefore, started a struggle against the Maharaja Hari Singh, once the Indian military invaded the state. Soon after invasion India tried to justify its illegitimate occupation of the state through litigious Instrument of Accession. Later on, India took the case to the UN on 01 January 1948, where it was decided through a number of resolutions that, future of the state will be decided through plebiscite under UN supervision. After initial acceptance of UN resolutions, India subsequently delayed the implementation of the resolutions and later refused to conduct the plebiscite.
In the mid-1950s, India began referring to it as its integral part. After the Simla Agreement in 1972, India declared it a bilateral issue between Pakistan and India. In 1990, India used force to suppress the popular movement of Kashmiris seeking self-determination. A massive deployment of Indian forces (900,000) has been stationed in IIOJK since then, resulting in the killing of Kashmiris with impunity. In August 2019, India illegally and unilaterally annexed IIOJK into the Indian Union. Since then, IIOJK has been under constant siege and curfew. For many decades, India has inaccurately portrayed IIOJK as its integral part.
There was a basic contradiction between what India proclaimed and what the Indian Constitution warrants. Article 370 of Indian Constitution, which India abrogated on 05 August 2019 was drafted in part XXI of the Indian Constitution clearly says that linkage between India and IIOJK is; temporary, transitional and special provisional. No integral Indian state has been ruled through this article, which clearly depicted that Kashmir is not an integral part of the Indian Union. Rather resolving the Kashmir dispute as per UN resolutions, India abrogated Article 370, thus committed another violation of UN resolutions, its own Constitution as well as the Constitution of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The British Parliament formally passed the “Indian Independence Act”, on 17 July 1947, according to which, the partition was to be implemented from 15 August 1947. Partition of India was implemented as per Article 1 of the Independence Act. As per Article 7 of the Act, it was clearly stated that from 15 August 1947, “the suzerainty of His Majesty over the Indian States lapse and with it lapse all treaties and agreements in force at the date of the passing of this Act between His Majesty and the rulers of Indian states”.
As per Indian Independence Act, all agreements of British governments with either rulers or states also lapsed on 15th of August 1947. Since the state of Jammu and Kashmir was a Princely State with a special autonomous status, therefore, it can be very conveniently said that on 15th day of August 1947, the Maharaja Sir Hari Singh was not the legal ruler of the state of Jammu and Kashmir as all his treaties with British India lapsed on that day. Once he was not a legal ruler of the state, he had no right to sign the Instrument of Accession (if at all he signed that) with the new Indian dominion. The Indian claim that its forces landed at Srinagar Airport on 27 October 1947, only after signatures on Instrument of Accession by Maharaja and the Indian government, is also unsubstantiated.
Practically and legally, India re-occupied IIOJK on August 5, 2019, which constitutes a grave violation of UNSC resolutions (91 and 122). Indeed, India rei-nvaded IIOJK on August 5, 2019. The most significant aspect of this entire episode is that the Kashmiris of IIOJK have neither accepted Indian rule nor its constitutional provisions over their state. Despite remaining under siege since August 5, 2019, the people of IIOJK are not ready to concede to India’s illegal annexation of the state as union territories.
Instead of visiting the occupied state for his election campaign and bribing the people, Modi should announce the restoration of the pre-August 5, 2019 special status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Indeed, the UN and the international community must emphasize to India the importance of stopping human rights violations and making demographic changes in IIOJK as confidence-building measures before granting Kashmiris their right to self-determination.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
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