S Rahman
Every August 5, the world is reminded of Indian atrocities perpetrated on the majority Kahmiri Muslims whose lives have been rendered miserable by way of iron-hand tactics adopted by the haughty authorities and forces of India whose “illegally legalized” powers find no justification in the world’s legal-cum-constitutional history. It is no secret that Indian armed forces’ personnel as well as the paramilitary troops whose combined figure stands at around one plus million, have been conferred the powers of a soldier, a mercenary, a kidnapper and a judge.According to Kashmir Media service, since 1989, Indian forces have martyred 96,000 Kashmiris; widowed around 23,000 women; raped over 11250 women and girls and destroyed over 100,000 dwellings, including schools and houses. Besides that, the number of enforced disappearances and the concomitant issue of half widows has tended to escalate on a steady path. Mass graves is yet another concrete evidence of India’s hegemonic and tyrannical system that it has imposed on Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK).And, then Armed Forces Special Powers Acts (AFSPA) speaks volumes of brutal use of these “Special Powers” to crush the just and lawful struggle of Kashmiris for their right of self-determination although this right has been recognized in Article 1 of the U.N. Charter. Similarly, Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that, “All peoples have the right of self-determination which has also been upheld as a fundamental right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948”.
While subjugation of Kashmiri Muslims was going on for the last seven plus decades through military means, the government of New Delhi crossed all limits on August 5, 2019 by unlawfully legitimizing its blatant acts of aggression in the Held Valley, stripping the territory of its special disputed status, guaranteed by its own constitution. Pakistan is observing this black day (August 5) as Youme Istehsal (The Day of Exploitation).
As if the aforementioned, brazen illegalities were not enough, India divided the territory into two parts, declaring Ladakh and Jammu as Union territories, to be governed by New Delhi as a colonial power. The following year, New Delhi, defying its own constitution once again, introduced the Indian Domicile Law thus allowing non-Kashmiri Hindus (not Christians or Muslims) to acquire property and settle in the state, thus paving the way for a demographic apartheid in IIOJK in contravention of international law, especially Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
These illegal actions have been criticized by many international civil society and human rights organizations. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has clearly asked India to “fully respect the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir as protected under international law”. The Genocide Watch issued a genocide alert for IIOJK. OIC has repeatedly condemned the Indian actions and asked New Delhi government to allow the human rights observers to visit Kashmir. And, the UNSC (UN Security Council) has held three hearings since August 5, 2019 on the injustices committed in rapid succession against Kahmiris.
Additionally, through a Resolution adopted unanimously by the 47th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers, OIC categorically rejected India’s illegal and unilateral actions since August 5, 2019, and demanded that India cancel the issuance of domicile certificates to non-Kashmiris as well as other unilateral and illegal actions, including ‘Jammu & Kashmir Re-organization Order 2020’, ‘Jammu & Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate Rules 2020’, ‘Jammu and Kashmir Language Bill 2020’ and amendments to the landownership laws.
Modi Sarkar (Modi Government of India) has also trampled its famous Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru’s widely publicized statement that “Kashmir neither belonged to India nor to Pakistan but to Kashmiris i.e the people of Kashmir”. It was rather Nehru who took the lead in pledging to the United Nations Security Council that a plebiscite would be held in Kashmir to ascertain the will of the people of Kashmir.
The conferment of special status on Kashmir under Article 370 was, in fact, in line with this solemn pledge as well as in line with the Security Council resolutions accepting the right of self-determination of the people inhabiting the Valley.
Now that four years have gone by since the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35 A of the Indian constitution, Kashmiri Muslims continue to face abject misery at the hands of Indian tyrants and their merciless forces which have unleashed a reign of terror against them on one pretext or the other.
Pakistan has never left any stone unturned in highlighting the just Kashmir cause. At every international forum and in every global interaction, Pakistani leaders and diplomats try their utmost to make the world aware of the deceptive façade of India which is not ceasing its brutal policies in Kashmir. Pakistani Prime Ministers have also been submitting dossiers to the UN Secretary General in this regard. In 2016, the media delegation accompanying the then Prime Minister, Mian Nawaz Sharif, witnessed the handing over of a dossier on this subject. Pakistan has, in fact, been releasing comprehensive and well-researched dossiers. One such latest dossier covered 3432 cases of war crimes perpetrated by senior officers of the Indian occupying forces since 1989.
Pakistan continues to press upon the international community to take practical steps and hold India accountable for its gross and widespread human rights violations in IIOJK.
Pakistan has also urged the United Nations to persuade India for: (a) Complete cessation of military and paramilitary action by Indian forces against the people of Jammu and Kashmir; (b) Unconditional release of political prisoners; (c) Repeal of all draconian laws; (d) Revocation of Domicile Law and (e) Restoration of the Kashmiris’ right of peaceful association, assembly, and demonstration.
