S Rahman
AS Prime Minister Imran Khan enjoys immense goodwill at the global level, he has never ever overlooked any opportunity to highlight Kashmir cause in an iconoclastic manner, markedly different from the hackneyed and lackadaisical style of his predecessors.
May it be the United Nations General Assembly or any other international forum, the PM has made it a point to tell the world in categorical terms to wake up to the alarming Kashmir situation that might end up in a catastrophe. Yes, there is no doubt that a catastrophe is in the making, given the brutal intensification of cruelties in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K), especially after the revocation of special status of Kashmir on August 5 last through unconstitutional means i.e through the repeal of Articles 370 and 35-A of the Indian Constitution.
It is heartening to note that the government, diplomats, media and diaspora of Pakistan in influential world capitals have joined hands under the leadership of Imran Khan to wake up the world community from hibernation.
It is about time they abandon this majestic indifference towards a dangerous situation which has been, time and again, declared a nuclear flashpoint in the backdrop of two major wars fought between India and Pakistan, on Kashmir.
Obviously the prefix ‘nuclear’ attached to the term ‘flashpoint’ has its roots in the globally-acknowledged reality that both Pakistan and India are in the possession of nuclear weapons side by side with having their delivery systems. And the world knows it very well that India has always been looking for pretexts and lame excuses to incite aggression in this volatile region.
The blatant ceasefire violations at the Line of Control (LoC) by Indian forces has become an order of the day, resulting in the martyrdom of innocent Pakistanis, off and on. Not only that, in addition to committing aggression at LoC, India has also shown this brazenness at working boundary.
But, whenever, the UNMOGIP (United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan) team has requested New Delhi to allow them inspection of those areas, the Government of India has refused to grant the UNMOGIP request on one pretext or the other. In order to say no to UN Military Observers, India takes refuge behind misinterpretations of UNMOGIP mandate.
On the other hand, Pakistan has always cooperated with the UN Observers and other international teams coming to inspect these areas. It is on record that Pakistani authorities even arranged a tour of European diplomats to see the proofs of ceasefire violations for themselves as committed unjustifiably and shamelessly by India.
At this point, one must also appreciate the role of President Masood Khan and Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider of Azad Kashmir who are moving day in and day out, in the country and abroad, for quite some time to awaken the world conscience towards the human tragedy that has crossed tolerable limits in IOJ&K during the reign of RSS disciple, Nirandera Modi, the Prime Minister of India from BJP.
Imbued with the spirit of contempt and hatred for minorities, RSS and its disciples look down at non-Hindus, especially Muslims with contempt, describing them as lowly ones who ought to be converted or subdued, whatever violent means have to be employed. Indian society is replete with instances of perpetration of violence against Muslims.
The worst hit are the Muslims of Kashmir. Their first crime is that they are Muslims. As such, they are unacceptable to the RSS and BJP followers of Hindutva (Hindu supremacy). Yet bigger crime of theirs is the demand for plebiscite under the aegis of United Nations, as per Security Council resolutions. And those among Kashmiri Muslims who go a bit further in demanding freedom, simultaneously condemning Kashmir Valley’s fake accession to India, are the most hated category of people.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, during his last address to the UN General Assembly, gave a thorough analysis of all these macabre happenings in the backdrop of Islamophobia.
The best thing about this address was the logical way of explaining the whole phenomenon, departing from the outdated methodology of elaborating things in narrower perspectives.
In fact, Imran Khan has an edge over many other Pakistani politicians, that of understanding the themes of the western world. He knows how to communicate with the world leaders having a say in the global affairs. This, in turn, makes Pakistan’s Kashmir case yet clearer to the world community.
In the end, a statement given on the record, by Pakistani Army’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) will throw further light on the state of Pakistan’s principled point of view on Kashmir. According to COAS, ‘Pakistan will never abandon Kashmir. We are ready to give sacrifice for our Kashmiri brothers and we will fufill our duty till the last bullet, last soldier and the last breath. And we are ready to go to any extent’.
