G-20 event in India-occupied Kashmir is illegal
INDIAN occupation in the erstwhile Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir has been continuing ever since October 1947. Over the years, India has been disregarding and relegating the Constitution of the occupied Jammu and Kashmir until it unilaterally and illegally downgraded the statehood of the state and annexed it within its Union in August 2019. For the first time in the history of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), New Delhi has been organizing a major international event on the soil of this occupied State. From the essence of international law and other covenants, organizing such events in occupied parts of any state is illegal. India is organizing this event in IIOJK with the sole objective of diverting the attention of international community from its illegal occupation and massive human rights violation, it is perpetrating there since decades. Besides, it is an attempt of India to project to world that, IIOJK is part of India and there is normalcy in the occupied state.
In reality, the event organization of G-20 in IIOJK is an attempt of undermining the right of self-determination of the people of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Self-determination is an inherent right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Indeed, the UN Charter is distinguished with this exceptional humanitarian clause; the ‘right of self-determination’ which is unique in nature and can be attributed to Divinity. Since the decolonisation of the subcontinent in 1947, the people of Jammu and Kashmir are demanding their right of self-determination. Kashmiri trace back this prized right from the resolutions of the United Nations which were derivative of it and got accredited from the Charter of this world body. Owing to its paramount significance, the right of self-determination was secured in Article 1 of the UN Charter with a universal application, where Kashmiris cannot be made as an exception but kept deprived of this right for ever. The global decolonization, started immediately after establishment of the United Nations (UN) in 1945 owed a lot to the right of self-determination.
This right is the legal right of the people for deciding their future. It is the essence of international law, arising from customary international law, secured in a number of international treaties and agreements. Kashmiri’s right of self-determination is also secured in UN resolutions, treaties and commitments of Indian leadership. In the light of UN mandated right to self-determination, the people of Jammu and Kashmir too had a right to determine their own destiny, their own political status and their own economic, cultural and social development model. The United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) through its Resolution of 5 January 1949 guaranteed a free and fair plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir with the sole objective of granting the people of Jammu and Kashmir their right to self-determination. This is the inalienable right; the people of Jammu and Kashmir had in 1947 and valid today in 2023.
Besides, Article 49 of the Fourth (4th) Geneva Convention-1949 provides adequate protection to local civil population of any occupying territory with respect to the right over their land and security against making any demographic changes in the composition of the original population. Article 49 (6) of the 4th Geneva Convention exclusively deal with the Protection of civil population in the time of war. Since 1990, the occupied state of Jammu and Kashmir has been a war zone with an overwhelming military presence of over 900,000 Indian troops. Indian security forces have been involved in a massive killing of Kashmiri masses with total impunity under repressive Indian laws. Over 100,000 Kashmiris have been killed since 1990 at the hands of Indian security forces. For last over three decades, India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir has the highest troops concentration level in the world with the status of an active war zone.
Article 49 (6) of the 4th Geneva Convention prohibits the transfer by an occupying power of its own civilian population in the area it occupies or colonizes which India is massively undertaking since 2020. The Article stipulates that the “Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies”. By any definition, India-occupied parts of Jammu and Kashmir became an ‘occupied territory’ on the day, Indian Army invaded it on 27 October 1947. This invasion was made by India in contradiction and violation to the basic principles of partition of India and Indian Independence Act-1947. As an occupying state, India has no authority to transfer its own population into the occupied parts of the state, forcibly or otherwise.
Imposition of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act-2019 and Adaptation of State Laws Order-2020 are meant to legalize the demographic changes in occupied parts of the Jammu and Kashmir state. The debating point is that can Indian state legalize any act by making changes in its own Constitution which contradicts International Law and internationally ratified conventions, covenants and agreements. By any definition, Kashmir is an international dispute with dozens of UN resolutions, demanding its solution through a free and fair plebiscite. How can India devise these strategies in occupied Jammu and Kashmir which is not part of it? In ‘The Wall Case’ of July 9th 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) “resolved that Article 49(6) prohibits not only forced transfers, but also any measures taken by an occupying power in order to organize or encourage transfer parts of its own population into the occupied territory”.
Through organising G-20 event in IIOJK, India is showcasing of Kashmir to international community from multiple aspects; showing normalcy of human rights, authenticating its claim over IIOJK, validating its illegal aspect of demographic changes in IIOJK and asking for tourism and investment to international community in the occupied parts of the state as its integral area. The question arises, what efforts Pakistan has made to diplomatically convince the participating countries about the ground realities, disputed nature and legal status of IIOJK. It is worth mentioning that some of the key Muslim states and China are part of G-20 states. Mere issuing the statements from foreign office may not be sufficient to stop the conduct of G-20 event in IIOJK. After all, Jammu and Kashmir is an issue of national security of Pakistan.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
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