“Kashmir is Burning,” Masood Khan Tells Washington Audience
By Elaine Pasquini
Photos by Phil Pasquini
Washington, DC’s Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted an October 1 program featuring Masood Khan, a Pakistani diplomat serving as the 27th president of Pakistan-administered Kashmir; and journalist Raza Rumi, who is also president of INDUS–Mobilizing People’s Power, a Washington, DC-based non-profit research group.
On Aug. 5, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi unilaterally revoked Article 370 of India’s constitution which provided Kashmir its special autonomous status, and deployed tens of thousands of troops to the region.
“Prime Minister Modi has handed a gift to Pakistan by bringing the issue of Kashmir to the forefront, as it has not been before this event, and putting India on the defensive,” said Marvin G. Weinbaum, director of MEI’s Afghanistan and Pakistan Studies, who moderated the timely discussion. “However, the dividends from this have not been fully seen and, in some ways, as far as Pakistan is concerned, I have to be somewhat disappointed.”
President Khan updated the audience on the current conditions following India’s brutal invasion, occupation and colonization of the region on August 5. “Modi announced that from that date onward India would establish settlements in the occupied territories and bring Hindus from all over India and settle them there in order to reduce the Muslim majority to a minority,” he explained. “All of these steps taken by India under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi are illegal, unlawful and violate international law, existing UN Security Council resolutions, international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.”
For more than two months, Kashmiris have been suffering under a security lockdown, communication blockade, prolonged curfews, and a shortage of food, water and medical supplies. Schools are closed and the streets - patrolled by gun-toting Indian soldiers – are empty.
“Kashmir is burning,” the president said. “There is a genocide going on there. Indian soldiers are committing war crimes, brutalizing with impunity as they have been given immunity from prosecution.” In addition, Khan estimates that between 20,000 to 30,000 residents, including local community leaders, lawmakers, businessmen, students, activists and academics, have been arrested, imprisoned and tortured.
Noting there are some 20,000 Kashmiris in a land covering 85,000 square miles, the international community should be concerned and outraged, the diplomat said. Pakistan and India, both nuclear powers, have fought two wars over the region.
China, Iran, Turkey and Malaysia, he noted, are the only countries giving strong vocal support to the Kashmiris during this latest crisis. Other world powers have been silent or have offered muted criticism. On September 26, US President Donald J. Trump cavalierly quipped: “Those are two nuclear powers, gotta work it out,” ignoring the humanitarian crisis and sufferings of the Kashmiri people.
Indian leaders, Khan told the audience, “are threatening not only Kashmiris, but Indian Muslims. They want to cleanse South Asia of non-Hindus. This new doctrine of hatred, really garnered in fascism, is a threat not just for the people of Kashmir, but also for the people in India who are Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.”
Khan called for immediate peace talks to resolve the conflict under the auspices of the United Nations. “Please, do not let this massacre happen,” he implored.
Raza Rumi noted the importance of independent media coverage of the dire human rights situation occurring in the region. “The Indians have their side of the story. The Pakistanis have their side of the story and the Kashmiris have their own narrative. But I think the humanitarian crisis that is brewing underscores the urgency of the matter.”
Stressing the need to include the Kashmiri people in any diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation, Rumi stated: “In all of these narratives the voice of the Kashmiri people and what they want gets lost because of the humanitarian crisis and the siege.”
The program concluded with a highly charged question and answer session. Two audience members identifying themselves as Kashmiris questioned President Khan’s credentials and disputed some of his statements regarding the history of the region, events occurring in the 1940s, 1950s and 1980s, and even India’s current invasion and brutal occupation.
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