Daily Times

The government in New Delhi has a strong contingent of Hindu Mahasabha members. This militant Hindu outfit organised a Martyrs’ Day on August 30, 1947, in Delhi. A leaflet of the organisation titled Remember the 30th of August 1947, advised its members as follows:

“When you have to observe ‘Martyrs’ Day’, the day should begin with the mass murder of Muslims, children and women alike. Forcible occupation of Muslim buildings should be your objective. Set fire to Muslim mohallas’ (quarter of the town) “but beware that fire does not spread to Hindu and Sikh localities”. (Source 228th Meeting of UN Security Council – Speech by Sir Zafrullah Khan January 17, 1948).

All these years since 1947, Hindu Mahasabha has worked hard to make its way into Kashmir Valley. Its members are embedded in the Indian security forces stationed in Kashmir and the administration. It is currently engaged in brutal acts of violence against Kashmiri Muslims in the Valley.

However, the targeting of people of Kashmiri origin all over India is the first occurrence of its kind in the history of the country. The evidence of brutality committed against Kashmiris at work, educational institutions and on the street, is easily available on social media or press. It is as if the hate that stirred against Muslims during Partition has stirred again, but is now directed only at Kashmiri Muslims.

For now the government of India is out to blame Pakistan for the suicide attack on the CRPF personnel in Pulwama. However, one would ask New Delhi if these security forces are at war with the people of Kashmir. There are countless instances of vile atrocities being committed against Kashmiris; including rape and gangrape, mass murder and blinding by pellet gun. How then can New Delhi expect them not to desire vengeance?

For now, India is caught between the politics of communalism at home and a truck-load of international obligations accepted at the United Nations

For now, India is caught between the politics of communalism at home and a truck-load of international obligations accepted at the United Nations (UN). It refers to Kashmir as an integral part of its territory, however, the facts do not endorse this claim. India has agreed to have a free and fair UN-supervised referendum in Kashmir. It has been duly cautioned by the UN Security Council, that the Government on the Indian side of Kashmir is not a representative government. There are two administrations on the Pakistani side of Kashmir.

The ‘integral part’ claim has also been rejected by the people and United Nations. Most recently the local government facilitated by the government of India has also rejected the Indian claim. A nine-member State Autonomy Committee constituted on November 29, 1996 published its report in July 2000. It concluded that the State has never merged with the Union of India. The accession was provisional and conditional and on three subjects only. More so, India has surrendered this conditional and limited accession at the UN Security Council for a UN-supervised vote.

Out of the five working groups set up on Kashmir by the Prime Minister (PM) of India in May 2006, one working group was set up to examine the “special status of Jammu and Kashmir within the Indian Union and methods of strengthening democracy, secularism and the rule of law in the state.” The former Chief Justice of India AM Ahmadi, was made its chair. There was a hue of genuineness around the effort of setting up these five working groups. Firstly, Jammu and Kashmir (Indian occupied) Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad announced the heads of these working group after holding a series of meetings with almost all political parties and groups in the state. Secondly, the government of Kashmir was to remain as the nodal point of coordination for these working groups.

Four other working groups on “good governance”, “measures to improve conditions of the people of Jammu and Kashmir affected by militancy and schemes to rehabilitate all orphans and widows affected by insurgency”, “recommend measures to simplify procedures to facilitate travel across the Line of Control, increase goods traffic and expand people-to-people contact, including promotion of pilgrimage and group tourism” and “balanced economic development, employment generation, balanced regional and sub-regional development, employment generation, within the state”, may have been set up with all the best intentions by former PM Manmohan Sigh, but the Hindu Mahasabha mindset embedded in Delhi used it as a means to consolidate its mischief in the valley and frustrate any improvement on the political front and in the lives of the people of Kashmir.

Now even more fundamentalist Hindus have joined in the violence to carry out the work listed in the pamphlet distributed by the Hindu Mahasabha in 1947 in Delhi. It seems like things will only get harder for Kashmiri Muslims.

The writer is the President of JKCHR – NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations. He is on UN Register as an Expert in Peace Keeping, Humanitarian Operations and Election Monitoring Missions. He has represented unrepresented peoples and nations at the Vienna UN World Conference on the Human Rights.

Published in Daily Times, February 26^th 2019.