NOTWITHSTANDING the fact that Narendra Modi’s BJP failed to win even simple majority against its hope of winning two third of the Lok Sabha seats, he has been able to become Prime Minister of India for the third term with the support of his allies. The results of the elections were confirmation of the fact that people of India had rejected his style of governance premised on communal policies and unrestrained urge for silencing dissenting voices. People had also hoped that the shock that he received might force him to introspect over the causes of his failure and learn from the experience. It was further hoped that in the presence of a strong opposition he would be more discreet in pursuing his communal politics and bulldoze legislation like he did during his past two tenures. But it looks like that for now at least he has disappointed all those who perceived a change in his style of governance. He remains intolerant like ever before of the people dissenting with his policies and those who speak out against injustices and have the heft to acknowledge and tell the truth.
Reportedly Lieutenant Governor of Delhi has sanctioned prosecution of Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy and Shaukat Hussain a former professor in India-occupied Kashmir under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly making provocative speeches at an event in New Delhi in 2010 after fourteen years. That is really intriguing and ostensibly is a kind of typical ploy to harass and subdue dissenting voices. During his last two power stints he not only vitiated secular spirit of the Indian Constitution by turning India into a majoritarian state — the term that former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh used when writing about Modi’s communal policies in the backdrop of riots over the Indian Citizenship Act — but also dealt ruthlessly with his critics. He was particularly harsh on those who spoke about rights of the Muslims and unfurled realities about IIOJ&K.
Arundhati Roy in that particular event had stated a reality about IIOJ&K by saying “Kashmir has never been part of India” repudiating Indian claim of the state being integral part of India. An FIR registered in 2010 claimed that Roy and others in their speeches jeopardized public peace and security by advocating for separation of Kashmir from India. The reality is that Indian claim of Kashmir being its integral part has no moral or legal basis. According to UN resolutions the question of accession of the state to either Pakistan or India has to be decided through a plebiscite. India accepted the resolutions and its Prime Minister Nehru in several communications with his Pakistani counterpart assured adherence to the UN resolutions.
In his statements in the Indian parliament he also reiterated the implementation of UN resolutions in letter and spirit. However India reneged on its commitment and tried to have the question of accession of Kashmir resolved through the constitution adopted by constituent assembly of the occupied Kashmir in 1957 after which it started calling Kashmir as integral part of India. That move was repudiated by the UN through its resolutions 91 and 122, maintaining the issue could not be settled through any arrangement other than a UN sponsored plebiscite.
Arundhati Roy actually highlighted that truth and reality but it did not go well with those who had decided to repudiate the UN resolutions. Modi’s move in August 2019 to end special status of occupied Kashmir, its bifurcation into tow territories and their amalgamation in the Indian Union actually constituted the implementation of that illegal and immoral action of the constituent assembly of occupied Kashmir. That however has not changed the reality about Kashmir. The UN Security Council in the aftermath of the move by Modi unequivocally acknowledged that the Kashmir dispute must be resolved in consonance with UN resolutions. The fact that the people of Kashmir put up resistance against change in the special status of the state and a freedom struggle is still on effectively refutes the Indian stance.
Modi is a staunch disciple of RSS ideology of ‘Hindutva’ an essentially anti-Muslim philosophy. So hoping that he would be treading a different path from his previous stints is hoping against hope. As long as he is at the helm of affairs in India no improvement of relations between Pakistan and Indian can be expected. Rather we might witness further deterioration in relations between the two countries.
The dilemma is that neither the UN nor the global powers are interested in resolving the Kashmir dispute. While the UN is helpless because of US and its allies not interested in the implementation of UN resolutions the latter look at the Kashmir through the prism of their strategic and commercial interests. History is a witness to the fact that people cannot be subjugated through use of ruthless force and persecution ultimately has a boomerang effect. If India and its supporters fail to learn from history it could produce results which might prove disastrous for India and strategic interests of US and its allies in the region in the longer run.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Islamabad.
