Reema Shaukat
KASHMIR freedom movement is portrayed as insurgent movement by India, thus claiming that the freedom fighters in Occupied Kashmir are terrorists and causing bloodshed in the Valley for years by training and recruiting young Kashmiri boys. However, reality is far different from this. For decades, these Kashmiris are fighting for their piece of land to be freed from illegal occupation and control by India which claims its due right over Kashmir since partition. But unfortunately, India on every platform has convinced the rest of the world that the Kashmiris are terrorists.
Since the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A, Kashmir Valley is under worst lockdown by Indian armed forces. But in the wake of these crisis, where people are suffering while going through worst humanitarian issues as India-occupied Kashmir is under curfew since 5th of August, India is portraying to world as its internal matter and managing to show world that everything is calm and peaceful in Kashmir. Whenever, such a situation emerges in any part of the world non state actors always get a chance to propagate their agenda and mislead. India is no exception in this regard and one can easily find links between Pulwama attack and the post attack developed crises.
The developing present situation in IoK is more alarming this time. It’s not about being the nuclear flashpoint between two nuclear armed neighbours in South Asia but the situation is alarming in every sense when hostile intentions of India are clearly visible. Be it on the name of demographic changes in Kashmir, leading to worst human rights violations, atrocities and inhumane tortures, and from getting Indian PM Modi with awards from Islamic countries, the emergent threats are always ignored. The threat from non-state actors has always existed in conflicted areas. Middle East situation is in front of all of us, how they suffered and still tackling with the menace of Daesh and Al-Qaeda. And knowing the evil mind-set of Indian leadership and with RSS ideology behind such situations, India is engaging non-state actors against Pakistan.
In the present Kashmir Saga, news has started coming about AQIS that as part of vile drive, Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri and new head of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind in IoK, are trying to provoke sentiments of Kashmiris against Pakistan. Propaganda campaign of AQIS is based on the exploitation of troubles for Kashmiris by India as the one to destabilize Pakistan. It is also worth noting that when same situation emerged in 2016, post Burhan Wani martyrdom, AQIS released a noxious statement accusing the Pakistani Government, army and intelligence agencies of being “traitors”, who betrayed Kashmiris for their own vested interests. The message titled ‘Jihad of Kashmir: A call to Reflection & Action’ was fabricated, prepared and released by AQIS on the directive of Indian agencies.
While the nefarious activities of Al Qaeda and its off shoots are known to all, which predominantly led to War on Terror and adversely affected Pakistan and Afghanistan, they didn’t stop despite being all efforts to exterminate them. Al-Qaeda with all its agenda to create violence and terror in region formed it’s another branch with name of Al Qaeda in Indian subcontinent commonly known as AQIS. This is an Islamist militant organization which aims to fight against Pakistan and other Muslim countries in order to form a greater Islamic state under the canopy of rules and laws by Al Qaeda. This organization was formed in September 2014. While announcing its formation through a video link Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s Chief announced that it took Al-Qaeda two years to gather various Jihadist factions in the new umbrella of Al Qaeda and in his speech he declared former Tehreek e Taliban Commander Asim Umar as the leader of AQIS and Usama Mahmoud was made spokesman of this group.
AQIS through its tricks grabbed many other smaller groups which were involved directly or indirectly for creating unrest in South Asian region. A Kashmiri militant group calling itself “Ansar ut-Tawhid wal Jihad in Kashmir” published a video expressing support for Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent. The group in this video offered to provide shelter to foreign fighters within AQIS as well as fight alongside it. AQIS has remained involved in number of militant activities in Pakistan in the past and it still continues to damage our homeland through different acts and propaganda. Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups are foes of Pakistan and Kashmir, therefore, all such deceptive propaganda and negative strategy to defame Pakistan and Kashmir struggle should be condemned.
Kashmir which is going through worst uprising in terms of humanitarian catastrophe and threatening security by Indian armed forces as more than 23 days have passed and people are forced to live life under curfew and India while giving a cover to its atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir is using organizations like AQIS to get legal and moral support for its human rights violation in the IoK. Whenever Pakistan has extended olive branch to India for peace in the region by resolving Kashmir dispute, India hits back Pakistan with all blazing guns. Be these are the threats of stopping water from Kashmir, false claims of surgical strikes, Uri and Pulwama crises, Indian frustrations are visible on Kashmir issue.
India never wants to lose its illegal occupation in Kashmir while it must remember that whatever propaganda technique or brutal action they adopt, Kashmiris are adding unprecedented sacrifices to the history of this conflict. Kashmiris have demonstrated their resilience and struggle under the oppressive rule of Indians. Presently, after all the mayhem India brought through draconian laws in Kashmir, streets of IoK resonate with slogans of Azadi and say No to India. India has violated all norms of international humanitarian law still plebiscite is being held every day in the IoK to rule out Indian oppression.
— The writer works for Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, a think-tank based in Islamabad.
