Muhammad
Raza Malik
(( Kashmiris
have been rendering unparalleled sacrifices since 1947 in their indigenous
struggle to get freedom from the illegal occupation of India. During all this
period, Pakistan is the only country of the world that has extended all-out
support to the just cause of the Kashmiri people. The government and people of
Pakistan, at home and across the world, observe the Kashmir Solidarity Day on
5th February, every year, to reaffirm the pledge to continue their support to
their Kashmiri brethren who are carrying on a peaceful struggle to achieve
their inalienable right to self-determination promised to them by the
international community including India.
The
observance of the day since 1990 is aimed at conveying a strong message to
usurper India that the Kashmiris are not alone in their just struggle and
sooner or later it will have to give them their right to choose their fate by
themselves as granted by the UN resolutions. Pakistanis on this day hold
seminars, conferences and demonstrations. Through these activities important
aspects of the Kashmir dispute and the gross human rights violations being
perpetrated by Indian troops in occupied Kashmir are highlighted. At the same
time, the world community is reminded that settlement of the Kashmir dispute is
imperative for sustainable peace and stability in South Asia.
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. 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. Many neutral observers including renowned British historian, Alistair
Lamb, reject the existence of any such document with the argument that had it
been there, India would have made it pubic at some national or international forum.
Since
1947, 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 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 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 cohesion 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 “Pakistan Zindabad”
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 betrayed the faith reposed on them by the Kashmiri
people. It was his commitment to the interests of the Kashmiri people that drove
father of the nation, 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 Army Chief,
General Raheel Sharif, has time and again called for settlement of the conflict
over Kashmir in accordance with the Kashmiris’ aspirations for ensuring durable
peace in South Asia. Prime Minister, Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, right from assuming
office in June 2013 has been calling for settling all outstanding issues
between Pakistan and India including the conflict over Kashmir through peaceful
dialogue process. He participated in the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra Modi
with the hope that the move would help the two countries end their differences.
Later, he even refused to resume talks with India which were suspended by New
Delhi in August 2014 on the pretext of meetings in the Indian capital between Pakistani
High Commissioner, Abdul Basit and the Kashmiri Hurriyet leaders. This shows
that Pakistan would not engage with India at the cost of the interests of
Kashmiri people.
The
deplorable aspect of the matter is that on one side, India wants to put pressure
on Pakistan so that it stops supporting the Kashmir cause, while on the other,
it has been employing brutal tactics to suppress the Kashmiris’ just struggle
for securing their right to self-determination. Since 1989, when the people of
Kashmir intensified their liberation struggle, Indian troops have killed nearly
one lac innocent Kashmiris and subjected thousands to custodial disappearance.
During the mass uprising in occupied Kashmir from 2008 to 2010, hundred of
thousands of people took to the streets in Srinagar and other towns of occupied
Kashmir with the demand of their inalienable right. However, instead of showing
respect to the sentiments of these people, Indian forces’ personnel responded
with use of brute force, killing over two hundred people during the period. At
the same time New Delhi is staging election dramas in occupied Kashmir to
mislead the world opinion about the Kashmir dispute and the prevailing
deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied territory. The present
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, even takes a more harsh stand. He talks
of abrogating the Article 370 of Indian Constitution that gives special status
to Jammu and Kashmir. He has a totally anti-Kashmir agenda of a complete
integration of the territory with India and also to change the demographic
composition of Jammu and Kashmir. Unfortunately, the international community is
turning a blind eye to India’s actions in Kashmir resulting in the continued
sufferings of the Kashmiri people.
In
view of this harsh reality that the Kashmir has become a nuclear flashpoint as
it involves two nuclear-armed neighbours - Pakistan and India - it is
responsibility of the world community to realize the sensitivity of the issue.
It must take cognizance of the fact that due to India’s unrealistic and
intransigent attitude, the peace and stability of the entire South Asia are at
stake.
These
are the reasons for observance of the Kashmir Solidarity Day. 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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