WHILST talking to the representatives of All Parties Hurriyat Conference AJK Chapter on Sunday, OIC’s Special Envoy on Jammu and Kashmir Yousef Aldobeay reiterated support to Kashmiris in their legitimate struggle for right to self-determination.
He said Kashmir issue is similar to the Palestine issue as human rights of people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine are being violated and they are facing threat of demographic changes.
The OIC’s Special Envoy on Jammu and Kashmir has played a very significant leadership role in steering the Organisation’s principled position on this issue, and his latest statement of equating the miseries of Kashmiri and Palestinian people is a right assessment of the ground situation.
Ironically, Modi is completely emulating the policies of Israel to crush the freedom movement of Kashmiri people.
On August 5, 2019, the Modi regime, whose fervent adherents make no secret of their goal of transforming India into a Hindu Rashtra, abolished the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir, and read down Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that conferred special status on the territory.
While several reasons have been advanced to explain why the Modi regime took this drastic step, one particular reason – a settler-colonial policy to change the demography of the area by settling Hindus from other parts of the country there – has received a fair amount of attention.
Changing the demography of a disputed territory is contrary to international laws and the UNSC resolutions which accept the right of self-determination of Kashmiri people.
It is a matter of satisfaction that the platform of OIC has repeatedly been raising voice for the rights of Kashmiri people but mere statements will not be enough to bring ease in their lives.
The OIC will have to collectively come up with a strategy that pressurizes the Indian government to do away with its persecution campaign in the illegally occupied territory and allow the conduct of plebiscite under the auspices of the UN so that the Kashmiris can decide their future as promised to them.
As Pakistan is hosting the next meeting of OIC Foreign Ministers next year, it will be an opportune time to give a clear message to the Indian government to either grant Kashmiris their due rights or face consequences in the form of no economic and trade relations with the Muslim world.
