February 5th is observed as Kashmir Day in Pakistan to express solidarity with the people of Indian-administered Kashmir. The observance of Kashmir Day is a symbol of the continued support of Pakistan for the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination, which is in line with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. On the contrary, India has put in every possible effort to destroy the distinctive identity of Kashmiris and forcibly assimilate Kashmiri Muslims into an Indian (Hindu) polity. Since 2019, the right-wing Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been engaging in demographic engineering in Jammu & Kashmir by taking legislative measures like the revocation of Article 370 and 35-A of the Indian constitution that gave special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Subsequently, the predominantly Muslim region was split into two federally administered territories, with the local population having little control over how their future would be determined. Retired Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak of India challenged the abrogation of Article 370 in the Supreme Court, saying that it is an attempt to give non-resident Kashmiris the status of “a permanent resident by stealth” The petition questioned the validity of the Jammu and Kashmir Re-organisation Act, 2019, and the abrogation of Article 370 but in January 2023, Indian Supreme Court dismissed the plea that challenged the delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Hindu nationalists, including Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, have been advocating a “solution” for the Kashmir dispute that is ‘in favour of India’ since the early 1950s. This “solution” involves neutralizing Kashmir’s Muslim-majority inhabitants through the settlement of Hindus from other parts of the country. In recent years, after the abrogation of Article 370, the Indian government passed new laws to grant domicile rights to Indian citizens in Indian-administered Kashmir. Under the new laws, all those who have resided in Kashmir for over 15 years were declared eligible for becoming permanent residents. Implementing India’s policy of granting citizenship to non-Kashmiris, the authorities began issuing domicile certificates to non-resident Indians and entitling them to residency rights and government jobs. According to the Tribune, a north Indian English daily, about 400,000 people were given domicile certificates in the span of a couple of months in year 2019. Human rights advocates and supporters of the right to self-determination freedom fear that the legislation to allow outsiders to buy land and property could further destabilize the region and set in motion a scheme to stifle the identity of the Kashmiri people.
UNSC owes it to the world not to let the impending risk of genocide in the Indian-administered Kashmir escalate.
There has been an influx of people who came to Kashmir in the last 15 years so the new legislation is likely to alter the demographic status of Jammu and Kashmir. Many people are concerned that this could influence the outcome of a plebiscite that was promised by the 1948 United Nations resolutions giving the Kashmiri people option of joining either Pakistan or India. The Kashmiris view the move as the beginning of settler colonialism intended to engineer a demographic shift in the only Muslim-majority region in India. On the other end, under Modi’s leadership, there has been an increase in the region’s militarization. The Indian government has loosened the regulations that soldiers needed to follow in order to acquire land and build “strategic areas,” which the locals consider to be settlements. The Indian military’s presence and increasing violence in the region have resulted in violations of fundamental freedoms such as peaceful assembly, health, education, expression, and religion. This arrangement can be compared to the West Bank where settlers reside in guarded compounds alongside disenfranchised natives.
The UN has failed to fulfil its responsibility to resolve the Kashmir dispute and UNSC has not taken any decisive action in response to India’s failure to comply with the UN Resolutions regarding the plebiscite. UNSC owes it to the world not to let the impending risk of genocide in the Indian-administered Kashmir escalate. UNMOGIP needs to expand and strengthen its monitoring mechanisms on the LOC and promptly report all violations to the Council. Pakistan should urge the UN General Assembly to play its due role in advancing the cause of peace and justice in Kashmir. One effective modality available to the Assembly in this regard is to invite the ICJ for its advisory opinion on the illegality of India’s recent actions seeking to alter the status of Kashmir.
Pakistan needs to carry out authentic data compilation with the help of international agencies regarding the ongoing demographic changes in Kashmir. There is a dire need to keep on highlighting the human rights violations being carried out by Indian forces. Amnesty International and International Crisis Group may help to gather the required data. India has a long history of violating people’s rights to self-determination and demographic engineering in Jammu & Kashmir is just another example of this trend.
The writer is Assistant Professor and Research Fellow at the University of Lahore. He may be reached at bilal.aslam @siss.uol.edu.pk