Daily Times

Every year on July 19, Kashmiris living across the globe observe “Kashmir’s Accession to Pakistan Day”.

77 years ago, at the time of the sub-continent partition, the Princely state of Kashmir ruled by the then ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, was given the choice to decide the valley’s fate. Keeping in view the will of millions of Kashmiris, a resolution was unanimously passed on 19th July 1947 during a meeting of the All Jammu and Kashmir Conference, advocating for Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan.

However, the Maharaja in connivance with Lord Mountbatten and Jawaharlal Nehru, betrayed the people of Kashmir and joined India. Hari Singh not only robbed the Kashmiris of their political rights but also shaped the future political and security dynamics of South Asia, making it a highly volatile region. Later, the United Nations Security Council’s resolution 47 recognised the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination and promised a plebiscite.

77 years down the lane, the promise of giving Kashmiris their due right to self-determination still seems like a distant dream. Since its forced occupation of Kashmir, India has left no stone unturned to oppress the innocent Kashmiris and crush their freedom movement.

77 years down the lane, the promise of giving Kashmiris their due right to self-determination still seems like a distant dream.

While India shamelessly claims Kashmir to be its integral part, successive Indian governments have engaged in different forms of state terrorism ranging from curfews, internet crackdowns, and home demolitions to rapes, extrajudicial killings, torture, and illegal detentions of freedom fighters and leaders. Owing to the state’s inhumanity, more than 3.5 million Kashmiris have migrated either to the Pakistan part of Kashmir or to other parts of the world since October 1947. According to an estimate, 500,000 innocent Kashmiris have lost their lives, leaving thousands of women and children widowed and orphaned.

As if this was not enough for the already suffering Kashmiris, the Modi government set new records of barbarism; revocation of Articles 35A and 370, converting Kashmir into an open-air prison by deploying more than 90,000 troops and allowing demographic changes in the valley. Experts believe that issuing domiciles to non-Kashmiris and permitting land purchases in the region is a part of Modi’s long-term strategy; alter the demographic composition of Kashmir, hold a plebiscite and fully integrate the occupied Kashmir into India.

In its atrocities against the Kashmiri politicians, India illegally sentenced Yasin Malik to life imprisonment in a fictitious terror funding case in 2022.

The recent plea of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seeking the death penalty for Yasin Malik speaks volumes about the Indian government’s desperation to permanently silence the torchbearers of the freedom movement. It is pertinent to mention that Yasin Malik has been consistently denied the right to a fair trial, legal access and physical presence during case hearings.

The state’s actions are politically motivated and are retaliatory towards the Hurriyat Leader for raising his voice against Indian cruelty and for demanding Kashmir’s freedom. Another Kashmiri politician, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, is also wrongfully convicted of terror funding and has been in jail since 2019.

He achieved victory in the 2024 elections despite his incarceration and was only allowed two hours of parole custody to take the oath. His victory reflects a stark contradiction between the government’s claims and public opinion and raises questions on the legitimacy of the charges. Furthermore, it also compounds the alienation of the Kashmiri population, potentially exacerbating existing tensions.

Different human rights organizations have time and again called out India’s barbaric actions in Kashmir. Pakistan has also repeatedly raised objections on multiple platforms, condemning India’s heinous crimes and urging the international community to intervene and uphold the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination.

However, in a world driven by capitalism, ethical considerations are often sidelined. India’s biggest consumer market has sealed the lips of those at the helm of affairs, thus granting it complete impunity.

The writer is a freelance columnist.