5TH FEBRUARY:
THE DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH
KASHMIRIS!
M Raza Malik
Pakistanis, at home and across the
globe, observe the Kashmir Solidarity Day on 5th February, every year, to renew
the pledge to continue their all out support to their Kashmiri brethren who are
engaged in a peaceful struggle to secure their inalienable right to
self-determination.
The
observance of the day since 1991 is aimed at conveying a loud and clear message
to usurper India that the Kashmiris are not alone in their just struggle and
sooner or later it will have to recognise their right to choose their fate by
themselves as granted by the UN resolutions. Another objective of the
commemoration of Kashmir Solidarity Day is to remind the world community of its
obligations towards bringing about a peaceful resolution of the long-standing
Kashmir dispute in accordance with the Kashmiris’ aspirations.
There are many legitimate and genuine
reasons for the people of Pakistan to express solidarity with their oppressed
Kashmiri brethren because both share strong bonds in respect of religion,
geography, culture, aspirations and economy. The day is marked by seminars,
conferences, demonstrations and rallies in Pakistan and other parts of the
world to highlight important aspects of the Kashmir dispute and the state
terrorism unleashed by India in the occupied territory. Through these
activities, the international community is reminded that the unresolved
conflict over Kashmir posed a threat to peace and stability in South Asia and
the world at large.
It is a historical fact that India had
illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir by landing its troops in Srinagar on 27th
October, 1947, against the wishes of the Kashmiri people and in total disregard
to the Partition Plan of the Indian subcontinent that had resulted in the
formation of two new independent counties - Pakistan and India. The Partition
Plan had given all the Princely States the choice to accede to either of the
two countries. Being a Muslim majority State, Jammu and Kashmir was destined to
become part of Pakistan, but Indian rulers in connivance with the British
rulers and Maharaja Hari Singh destroyed the future of millions of Kashmiris
under the so-called “Instrument of Accession” document - existence of which is
rejected by many neutral observers including renowned British historian,
Alistair Lamb.
Since that day, India’s brutal
occupation has been the cause of continued sufferings of the people of Jammu
and Kashmir. Due to the atrocities of Indian troops, hundreds of thousands of
Kashmiri people have migrated to Pakistan from the occupied territory since
1947 and main driving force behind their movement has been their strong
emotional attachment to the country. This affiliation has been accepted even by
the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, when he was asked a
question in 1965 about holding of plebiscite in Kashmir, he had responded,
“Kashmiris would vote to join Pakistan and we would lose it. No Indian
government responsible for agreeing to a plebiscite would survive.”
Similarly, the ideological commonality
between Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir can well be gauged from the fact that
the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference had passed a resolution in its meeting
in Srinagar on 19th July 1947, in favour of accession of Jammu and Kashmir to
Pakistan. This development had happened about a month before the creation of
Pakistan.
The slogans like “Long Live Pakistan”
and “We want Pakistan” raised by the people of the occupied territory from time
to time depict the unfathomable affection of the Kashmiris with Pakistan.
Pakistani flags are hoisted in Jammu and Kashmir on the national days of the
country, whereas such days of India are observed as black days.
The leaders of Pakistan never
disappointed the Kashmiri people for the faith they repose on them. It was his
commitment to the interests of the Kashmiri people that drove Quaid-e-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah to visit Jammu and Kashmir three times before 1947 (in
1926, 1936 and 1944). He had rightly said that Kashmir is the “Jugular Vein” of
Pakistan. Former Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, had vowed to wage a
thousand-year war for Kashmir.
The government of Pakistan has always
extended unconditional moral, political and diplomatic support to the
Kashmiris’ liberation struggle and advocated the peaceful settlement of the
Kashmir dispute in line with the relevant UN resolutions as per the aspirations
of Kashmiri people. President, Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister, Raja Pervaiz
Ashraf, and other political leaders of Pakistan in their meetings with the
visiting delegation of the All Parties Hurriyet Conference in December 2012,
assured the visitors that any resolution contrary to the wishes of Kashmiris
will not be acceptable to their country.
This continued support to
the Kashmir cause has invited the Indian wrath during the past sixty-five years
and Pakistan has to spend a major chunk of its financial resources on defence.
Despite its difficulties and in presence of international pressure, Pakistan
had to conduct nuclear tests in 1998 after India showed its clear intentions of
military aggression against it.
Ironically, India presents itself as the
largest democracy of the world, but it has been using every undemocratic method
to continue its illegal hold on Kashmir. On one side, it wants to compel
Pakistan to give up its support to the Kashmiri people, while on the other, it
has been resorting to the worst kind of state terrorism in occupied Kashmir to
intimidate the Kashmiris into submission. Since 1989, when the people of
Kashmir intensified their liberation struggle, the unabated state terrorism has
resulted in the killing of nearly one lac innocent Kashmiris and disappearance
of thousands in custody. This vicious cycle of killing has rendered over
twenty-five thousand women widowed and around a hundred and ten thousand
children orphaned.
There is no denying the fact that Indian
brutalities have failed to suppress the freedom sentiment of the people of
Kashmir. The forceful anti-India and pro-liberation demonstrations during
2008-2010 - when hundreds of thousands of people had thronged the streets of
Srinagar and other towns of the occupied territory with the demand of right to
self-determination - painted the real picture of the situation. However,
instead of showing respect to the sentiments of these people, Indian troops and
police personnel responded with bullets, teargas shells and batons. In 2010
alone, Indian forces had killed over 120 innocent people including women and
children besides injuring thousands of others within a period of just few
months.
Unfortunately, the world community could
not rise to the occasion and its response to brutal killings by Indian forces
in Kashmir was not up to the mark, as it failed to hold India responsible for
the massacre of unarmed Kashmiris and as a result not a single trooper or
policeman could be brought to justice so far.
Keeping in view the fact that the
Kashmir dispute involves two nuclear-armed countries and a small incident could
prove disastrous for the entire South Asia, it is high time for the world
community to take steps to address this contentious problem. It needs to
understand that due to the unrealistic and intransigent approach of India, the
peace and stability of the entire South Asia are at stake. 5th February is a
reminder to the world powers that they should use their influence on New Delhi
to settle the conflict over Kashmir. At the same time the supreme sacrifices of
Kashmiri people needed to be acknowledged besides India warrants to be censured
for disrespecting the UN resolutions and continued human rights violations in
occupied Kashmir. The 5th February reminds the world about the urgency involved
in an early resolution of the Kashmir dispute for the global peace, security
and prosperity.
_________________
(The writer is working as Senior Editor at Kashmir Media
Service, Islamabad, and can be reached at razamalik849@yahoo.com)
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