Tragedy: Hope for a Peaceful Solution
By Dr Ghulam N. Mir
Chicago, Illinois
Little has changed since we last spoke at the ISNA convention. The needle on the liberation has not moved an iota. The only thing that has changed is that many more lives of innocent Kashmiri have been lost, many more people have been victimized and many more atrocities committed by the occupation forces.And frankly, not much can be expected, not only from the Government of India, but even from the world community.
The world is in a pitiable state of its own, international law and order is in a downward spiral. Nations are falling into the hands of despots and demagogues. International political institutions are merely going through the motions and barely surviving. To expect them to resolve vexing issues like Kashmir is an exercise in futility. There are no credible functioning international institutions left that would discuss, adjudicate and act to resolve the issues of violations of human and political rights perpetrated by tyrannies, particularly in Muslim nations.
It is 70 years since the birth of a free India and 72 years since the birth of the United Nations and 70 years of illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. No one outside of Kashmir really cares. Neither has India been able to pacify Kashmir over the last 70 years, nor has the UN been able to help settle the conflict and establish a permanent state of peace in the region. All the Kashmiris have seen is death, destruction, atrocities and denial of human rights.
Kashmir has been a geopolitical bone of contention between India and Pakistan. Pakistan believes Kashmir naturally belongs with Pakistan, because it is predominantly Muslim by religion and contiguous geographically. To Pakistan it makes perfect sense. It would make a more perfect nation. It is consistent with the accepted conceptual and legal basis of the creation of Pakistan. India believes Kashmir belongs to India because it serves its economic, geopolitical and hegemonic interests. Kashmiris are proud of being Kashmiris.
Kashmiris love Pakistan and many, if not all, do believe in being part of such a perfect union. They don’t hate Indians, but they do not like the policies of the government of India, what they did in 1947 – everything from its unsolicited intrusion and occupation, as well as all the lies, deceit and a web of the evil and diabolical scheme it spun to justify its despicable 1947 invasion and continued occupation. Kashmiris were coming out of a long period of dark ages of their own at that time - like all other civilized nations have gone through, including Indians.
Indian invasion was nothing, but an inhuman and cynical ploy. They devised it on their own in collaboration with the colonialist master, Great Britain. Contrary to their lies, falsehoods and fabrications, there was no true invitation and no “instrument of accession” from the abdicating Maharaja Hari Singh who was fleeing for his life from Kashmir. The renowned British historian Alastair Lamb has authoritatively rejected this Indian claim. It is they, the gang of Nehru, Velebhabhai Patel and VP Menon of India, who fabricated this myth.
Kashmir is a colony of India, no less than India was a colony of the Britain until 1947. India is a neo-colonialist almost in the image of its former British colonialist. Now that the Congress party has been rendered to the margin, the party of Narender Modi has unleashed his ideological Hindutva wrath on the minorities, particularly Muslims, and also Sikhs, Dalits and Christians. It is a bad situation there. India is causing pain not only for Kashmiris and Pakistan; it is a pain for many of its neighbors, like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh too. It has continued to make land incursions into its giant neighbor, China.
Kashmir is a large, resourceful, cultured and multicultural nation. It needs no Indian interference. It fulfills all the parameters of a viable sovereign state per UN charter. To deny that right of sovereignty to 13 million Kashmiris is a travesty of justice. It violates the letter and intent of the UN charter. By refusing to implement the UN Security Council resolutions of 1948, 1949, 1953 and 1957, India is an outlaw. These resolutions demand cessation of the military actions, demilitarization and allowing the people of Kashmir to decide their future through an unfettered referendum or plebiscite under UN supervision. The UNSC resolution #122, adopted unanimously on a vote of 10/none on January 24, 1957, specifically rejected the farcical state assembly election conducted by the National Conference. This election was conducted at the behest of India under occupation of a quarter million Indian forces. It was meant to dodge the UNSC-ordered and UN-supervised plebiscite, not to choose lawmakers, but to decide the fundamental question of the affiliation of the vast territories of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian occupation of Kashmir is by far the most consequential political blunder the Indian government has made. Its catastrophic consequences they obviously did not anticipate. And to this day they seem to be blind to the outcome of the terrible tragedy of their own making. A wanton blunder so monumental that it has led to three major wars. And there is more than a fair chance a much more devastating war in future will follow. Only, the next time around, it may not be a conventional war. Pakistan has developed nuclear capability to match Indian nuclear weaponry. Sad and shameful as the nuclear arsenal may be, it has been promoted and accepted by big powers. Pakistan is only the last nation to have the dubious distinction of joining the so-called nuclear club. The next South Asian war may well be a nuclear holocaust, a war of mutual annihilation, a war of mutually assured destruction.
The way new India has been conducting itself since 1947 it is being seen as a cancer by its neighbors. Its brutal occupation with 700,000 soldiers in Kashmir and the daily and ongoing atrocities against unarmed innocent men, women and children are appalling. Its soldiers and their officers use rape as part of their systematic war strategy, just as the Serbians used against Bosnian Muslims in the early 80s. In addition, the military officers make money by loot and pillage. We also know for a fact that the higher-ranking officers pack their pockets and fill their coffers back home in India from scooping off from the vast military coffers while on their tour of duty in Kashmir. We know it for a fact. Their foot soldiers commit suicides and homicides among their ranks because of the physical and mental exhaustion of patrolling the streets, chasing protesters and carrying heavy gear. But their officers are addicted to the extra cash and other shameful privileges they enjoy.
Indian rulers have no compunction to kill and commit war crimes against the Geneva Conventions in occupied Kashmir. Their mad men in politics, civil administration, police and armed forces can use any excuse to commit murder and mayhem. And if they don’t find one, they devise one, so they can kill to quench their thirst for Kashmiri Muslims blood.
On May 28, 2017, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat. said, “I would have been happy if the protesters were firing the weapons at the armed forces instead of throwing stones”. Does it not speak of a sick mentality of a sick nation? Can you imagine what the top military brass must be discussing and plotting in their headquarters against the Kashmiris?
So, what are the Kashmiris under occupation thinking? What do they want? What would they settle for by way of a solution to their future? All you have to do is to read the news stories from Kashmir. Read Greater Kashmir, Kashmir Times, BBC News and Guardian, just to name a few. You will get an idea. 70 years on, Indian is nowhere close to silencing the voices and cries for freedom. It is not even close. It is just the opposite. On a scale of 1-10 hatred of Indian rule is 10. Hatred of Indian military has always been 10. Distrust of Indian government has always exceeded 10. Disappointment with the world powers, including the UN, is high. Towards the US there obviously is a sense of betrayal. The US was once a Kashmir supporter, but that support has been inconsistent. With increasing business interests in India, we believe that there is a paradox—Indians are more influential on US foreign policy, but at the same time American leverage is much more substantial. India is absolutely dependent on US now because of lucrative IT deals. India would face a financial collapse if the Kashmir situation went into a free fall. Neither Indians, nor Americans, can afford to let the Kashmir situation get out of control. Pakistan is intricately and inseparably intertwined with Kashmir and India. It is also vitally important for any resolution of Afghanistan imbroglio for the US. Kashmiris have no choice but to hang tough, keep making the sacrifices, keep suffering and hope for the best solution to emerge. As long as Indian forces remain in Kashmir, Kashmiris will whole-heartedly resent their presence. Every time India loses a sports event, even if it is not against Pakistan, Kashmiris will celebrate, to Indians’ chagrin and each time Pakistani flags will flutter in the winds of hope in Kashmir and Pakistan zindabad slogans will echo in the valleys of Kashmir. We know it drives Modi loyalist and Indian hooligans crazy. They have the force of arms and we have the power of voices and the basis of truth.
There is no military solution to the Kashmir issue. Everyone knows that by now. All three parties know it and the whole world knows it. The Indian forces have to leave; Kashmir has to be united to make it a whole again. Peace cannot come until it is demilitarized and a plebiscite is held under UN supervision.
May the force of truth be with us and power of God be with the meek and the ultimate victory and peace prevail in Kashmir and the region. (The author is President, World Kashmir Awareness Forum)
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