IN a move that has raised concerns and condemnation, India’s lower house of parliament, Lok Sabha, has passed two bills aimed at amending the socio-political landscape of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill have sparked controversy as these are aimed at diluting the Muslim majority representation in the legislative assembly.
We have no doubt in saying that the recent legislation is also part of a grand strategy on the part of the Modi Government to suppress the Muslim population in IIOJK. India keeps coming up with controversial legislation one after another to achieve its sordid designs in the occupied territory. Amidst the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Muslims in IIOJK and the issuance of hundreds of thousands of fake identity documents to non-Kashmiris, the introduction of these bills should raise serious concerns about the direction the region is heading. The domicile law, in particular, has come under scrutiny for its potential to alter the demographic composition of the occupied territory. The law is a blatant violation of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention. Article 49 of the convention explicitly prohibits the transfer of a population into the territory occupied by a foreign power. By introducing these laws, India wants to provincialize IIOJK and undermine the principles established by the Geneva Convention. India’s motive behind the legislative changes is to convert the Muslim majority into a minority, potentially influencing the outcome of any future UN-sponsored referendum. Unquestionably, these actions on the part of Modi government align with the objectives of organizations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which seeks to establish a Hindu state. Several human rights organizations have expressed their concerns over the Indian actions in the occupied territory but responsibility rests with the major capitals and the United Nations to play their part in getting stopped the Indian illegal actions and ensure that the Kashmiri people get their right to self determination as promised to them in several Security Council resolutions.
