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Resolution of Kashmir dispute will not fragment India
Asif Haroon Raja
Kashmir is the oldest unresolved issue of the world. People of Kashmir have been seeking their right of self determination for the last 63 years but India which is in illegal occupation of two-third of Kashmir territory since October 1947 refuses to listen to their pleadings. Indian security forces have been resorting to brutal tactics to keep the Kashmiris suppressed but despite draconian measures they have kept the issue alive. Failing to get their genuine demand met through peaceful means for 42 years, the Kashmiris in sheer frustration eventually decided to pick up arms and to force India to honor its pledges it had made to resolve the dispute.
In response to armed uprising in 1989, Indian forces unleashed a reign of terror. The Valley was turned into a killing field and Kashmiris were killed like flies. In the last two decades over 100,000 Kashmiris have been slaughtered, their homes and property destroyed, thousands of women raped, thousands maimed for life because of inhuman torture and thousands missing persons have either been secretly bumped off or are silently bearing worst kinds of torture in underground detention centres. Paradise on earth has been turned into a virtual hell.
Armed resistance has now been overtaken by unarmed movement but objective remains common. Every single Kashmiri seek independence from cruel clutches of India. In the last four months, they have killed 110 unarmed protestors, mostly teenage boys carrying stones in their fists. Playfields have been turned into graveyards. Schools are frequently raided and teachers and students of class 4th to 7th mercilessly beaten. 1500 Kashmiris including young boys and leaders of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) are under arrest and the valley remains under frequent curfews. Condition of detainees is reported to be precarious since they have been shifted to far off places and put in jails like hardened criminals and are denied medical care and given substandard food.
Reactivation of Kashmir front has put India on the defensive. Already reeling under the weight of Naxalites movement, which has the potential to bring down Brahman rule in India, together with dozens of other separatist movements in various parts of India, nonviolent movement in Kashmir spearheaded by the younger generation has added to its woes. The uprising is becoming more and more potent irrespective of savagery of the Indian security forces.
In their bid to quell the movement for right of self-determination, one of the cruel methods adopted by Indian police and paramilitary forces is to kill suspects in fake encounters and then quietly dump their bodies in unmarked graves. In last two decades 10,000 Kashmiris picked up by Indian intelligence agencies went missing. Missing persons are believed to be buried in the unmarked and mass graves which have been found in several parts of the valley. APHC leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has urged upon International Court of Justice and UN War Crimes Tribunal to institute a probe into unmarked and mass graves in Kashmir Valley. In this regard peaceful protests were held last Friday to press upon world bodies to conduct an inquest.
In 2009, International Peoples’ Tribunal on Human Rights & Justice Watchdog in its report had claimed to have found 2700 mass graves containing 2943 people in North Kashmir. The dead were victims of extra judicial killings, summary and arbitrary executions and massacres by India forces. Of these graves, 2373 were unnamed and 154 graves contained two bodies each and 23 graves had more than two bodies.
None can deny the hard fact that the Indian war machine has utterly failed to extinguish the smoldering flame of liberty in occupied Kashmir. The struggle for right of self-termination has transcended the limits of persecution inflicted upon Kashmiris by Indian security forces and has withstood the test of time. In their bid to cover their crimes and to malign Pakistan, the Indians have been resorting to propaganda campaign to give false impression to the world as if it is a secessionist movement duly abetted by Pakistan. American and western audiences have been skillfully cajoled and convinced that Islamic fundamentalism is a common denominator between Kashmiris and Pakistan. New rules chalked out by Washington in the aftermath of 9/11 to tackle global terrorism were fully exploited by India to convert Kashmir freedom struggle into terrorism and Pakistan’s moral, diplomatic and political support to Kashmiris into abetment and cross border terrorism.
The Indians have somehow remained obsessed with the thought that liberation of Kashmir will set in a chain reaction thereby tearing apart India into pieces. I would like to underscore that no amount of oppressive measures in Kashmir would check the surging tide of liberty. The struggle has indeed entered a decisive phase. As such, clinging on to Kashmir and following an ostrich like approach to the ground realities may eventually lead to disintegration of India. On the contrary, resolution of Kashmir issue in accordance with the popular sentiments of the people of Kashmir would prove to be harbinger of cohesion for India.
I would exhort the belligerents not to squander away hopes and aspirations of the people of Kashmir. Instead, they should be allowed to exercise their right to live the way that they want to. It must not be brushed aside as a territorial dispute but seen as an international issue since it has been duly recognized as such by United Nations. Peace euphoria that had been generated in 2004 as a result of Indo-Pakistan composite dialogue was a godsend opportunity to settle this longstanding dispute that has impoverished the great majority of the two countries. Alas! India has frittered away this chance since its traditional mindset once again came in the way of peace.
India must tone down its stated position that Kashmir is integral part of Indian Union since none outside India accept this illogical claim. Indian leaders must demonstrate greater flexibility to respect the changed international environments. No solution to Kashmir will prove lasting unless aspirations of the Kashmiri people are taken into account. Their right of self determination as provided in the UN resolutions must be granted to the Kashmiris. There has been much talk of confidence building measures. These CBMs will remain marginal if they acquire the status of an alternate for or a stratagem to skirt the core issue. The very steadfastness on part of India and Pakistan to directly and honestly address the issue would be the ultimate act of confidence building on the road to peace and affluence in the region.
Kashmir problem cannot be allowed to continue spilling blood and spreading hatred. The people of Kashmir have endured immeasurable pain and anguish and are still suffering unabated miseries. I pray to Allah for the old and the young that they do not keep dying like stray dogs on the pavements; for the women from being dishonored and widowed by men on horseback; and for children from getting maimed and orphaned. I earnestly yearn for the day when sunshine of happiness would once again envelope the vale of Kashmir and the people redeemed from Indian yoke of slavery.
The writer is a retired Brig and a defence analyst. Email: asifharoon7751@yahoo.com
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