Zaheer Bhatti
THE Pakistani Foreign Minister warning of an accidental war if Modi continued his dastard act and demographic plan in India-occupied Kashmir is only one notch closer to reality but the Pakistani Prime Minister talking extempore at the United Nations, made history amid unprecedented repeated applause, in making the Kashmir case unambiguously to the world. In a mix of realism and emotion, Imran Khan warned the world of a point of no return if it did not act in time to lend dignity to humanity and accord the Kashmiris who were paying in blood, their right to self- determination according to standing UN Resolutions. As for India, it would be fallacious for it for the time being to trigger something and give Pakistan an excuse to hit back and proliferate the conflict. It will instead opt to take the criticism globally and stubbornly continue consolidating its apparent gains, taking clue from and encouraged by Israeli annexation of Arab Lands, and inaction by the World Body.
While it remains to be seen to what extent Imran Khan has been able to blunt or dent Modi’s terrorism rhetoric with his reasoned speech, it is important to vigorously follow up and expound on Pakistani PM’s submissions to the world nations, through chosen diplomats, analysts, parliamentarians and civil society icons. Pakistan at this juncture needs to correct some analysts confusing lukewarm response of leadership in the resourceful Islamic world and the 57-nation strong Organization of Islamic Cooperation, with that of the Ummah which is the 1.5 billion strong Muslim world overwhelmingly supporting the Kashmir cause, and the unifying force potentially at call to join Jihad-fee-sabeel-Allah.
Rest of the world which is obviously not privy to whatever may have actually happened at the time of partition of the subcontinent needs to be brought abreast. The departing British Colonial rulers must take the blame and responsibility for leaving the most vital agenda item of the divide unresolved which was impacting the lifeline of Pakistan being a lower riparian entity. An agrarian Pakistan shouldn’t have been left to the mercy of a belligerent neighbour remote-controlling its water resources and refusing to digest its Independence, which calls for the British to make amends for this grave error, by siding with the UN-mandated Plebiscite in Kashmir. Recent history has proven that Western Imperialism seeking to establish its hegemony finds resurging Islam as the main hurdle, which is why George Bush after nine eleven subconsciously termed the event as the clash of civilizations, whereas in fact the campaign against Islam had commenced after the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1967 reaching a crescendo with the staging of 9/11.Putting it bluntly, Kashmir and Palestine are allowed to bleed with no solution because these are issues which if solved would benefit the Muslim world, but carving out Independent States out of Muslim countries is accomplished in a jiffy; like Bangladesh out of Pakistan, East Timor out of Indonesia and Southern Sudan out of Sudan.
The American President indeed inflates Imran Khan’s ego by appreciating his leadership qualities which should not detract the Pakistani Premier from the ultimate goal of achieving freedom for the Kashmiris for whom Trump has after 55 days of the siege barely paid lip service to lifting of curfew and release of detained youth and Kashmiri leadership. My sense of despondency leads me to the Bosnian model in which the West similarly agitated against Bosnian ethnic cleansing operations but was eventually found complicit in allowing Srebrenica massacre of Muslims by the Serbian Army which lynched and even buried women and children alive. It was clear that the Bosnian Muslims crime was their historical Ottoman heritage, just as the Kashmir’s lineage of its Muslim identity in India-occupied Kashmir. Pitching Muslims against Muslims to weaken their collective strength in which Muslims have been sucked in, has been the successful Zionist campaign starting with Palestine, igniting war in the Middle East, then Bosnia, Myanmar (former Burma), Libya, Sudan, Indonesia, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Yemen and now Afghanistan, and seeking to rein in Pakistan; it’s all against Muslims.
The impact of recent actions by the Indian Government upon the rights of Kashmiris signified by several countries demanding end to the Indian siege, notice by the European Union of the grave situation in Kashmir and a rejoinder by noted American Senators to Trump calling for intervention on the Indian clampdown, besides concern from the UN over killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces and Natayahu’s threatened annexation of Jordanian Valley sternly rejected by Saudi Arabia, is indeed headway of some consolation in contrast to total apathy in the past. But mere expression of deep concern over the situation in India-occupied Kashmir by United Nations Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet falls far short of practical indulgence by the World Body which calls for action.
Not forgetting Trump’s anti-Muslim conduct recognizing Jerusalem the Seat of Palestine as the Capital of Israel his offer of mediation clearly runs at cross purposes. On the one hand he calls off the vital peace dialogue with the Taliban in Afghanistan on the pretext of the Taliban attack in Kabul causing a solitary American casualty among a number of locals and on the other, has the cheek to urge direct Pakistan-India dialogue ignoring massacre of Kashmiris by India and the US-based ‘Genocide Watch’ releasing horrendous details alerting the world on 22 August over signs of early stages of the genocide process in India-occupied Kashmir. How can the US President not see patent State terrorism in Netanyahu’s persecution of Palestinians, Modi’s mass murders and illegal merger of the disputed territory of Kashmir, intolerance of Indian Muslims, espionage, sabotage and killings inside Pakistan, his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pompously boasting of killing 1000 Afghan Taliban in 10 days in Afghanistan and call off the peace process with the Taliban over casualty of an odd American soldier in Afghanistan as if Kashmiris, Palestinians, Pakistanis, Muslims in India, Myanmar, Afghanistan and elsewhere were children of a lesser God!
—The writer is a media professional, member of Pioneering team of PTV and a veteran ex Director Programmes.
