Daily Times

It is a well-known fact that the people of the Indian occupied the State of Jammu and Kashmir are carrying out their legitimate and peaceful struggle since 1987 to get their right to self-determination as per the UNSC Resolutions of 1948/49. Since the start of the freedom struggle (1987), India has deployed above 700, 000 security forces in the Kashmir valley, who have committed endless atrocities and human rights violations as has been reported by many HR organizations and the UN report released in June 2018.

On August 5. 2019, the Modi government has broken all records of committing HR violations and genocide in the occupied state of Jammu and Kashmir by clamping the curfew; blocking the telephone and internet communications; arresting all leaders and 11000 young men and putting them in the Indian jails. The lockdown and genocide have been continuing for the last 78 days. This has been done to crush the freedom struggle by killing and maiming the young male population. It is apprehended that those in the jails would be killed and shown as missing. People under curfew in the valley are now dying out of hunger and lack of medical treatment.

While the Modi government is conducting the genocide in the Muslim majority Kashmir valley since August 5, 2019,–to crush the Kashmiris’ peaceful struggle–it has not taken any such action against India’s northeastern Christian majority state of Nagaland, wherein Nagaland people are fighting for their independence since 1950. Now, spearheaded by the National Student’s Federation (NSF), these people have declared Nagaland’s independence from India on August 15, 2019, and hoisted its flag, as published by the National Courier and the Global Village Spare newspapers dated August 16, 2019. The Indian media had kept quiet about it as India didn’t want to attract any hype.

The question arises that why has the Modi government not taken any Kashmir-like extreme action against the Christian-majority Naga people. The following seem to be the reasons. Firstly, the Modi and BJP are against the Muslims in India because they want to reverse the history of the Muslim rule in India. The demolition of the Babri Mosque, the lynching of the Muslims by the Hindu mobs on the pretext of cow slaughtering, and the lockdown and genocide in the Muslim majority Kashmir valley for the last 78 days are a clear proof. That is why, as per the New York Times dated June 25, 2019, in its annual report for 2019, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom listed India among the worst countries in the world for religious freedom.

Secondly, the Modi government has not taken any extreme action against the Christian-majority Nagaland because they are not against the Christian minority to the extent as they are against the Muslims. Moreover, Modi understands that if he takes such action against the Nagaland Christians, the US and other Western major powers might come to Nagaland’s help, as was done in the case of separating the Christian majority East Timor from Indonesia.

The Modi and the BJP are against the Muslims in India because they want to reverse the history of the Muslim rule in India

Thirdly, while the people of Kashmir are carrying out their freedom struggle without any weapons, the Naga insurgents are well-armed, and if extreme action is taken against them, they can cause equal harm to the Indian security forces. And there are chances that all northeastern seven sister states, fighting for their separation from India, might cooperate in fighting and all states might also declare their independence together.

Fourthly, Modi knew that Pakistan cannot afford a military confrontation with India due to its economic constraints. Otherwise, if Pakistan had created a threat of war by just moving its forces on the border, it would have compelled India to lift the curfew and release the arrested Kashmiris. Moreover, India knew that the divided, but India friendly Muslim world also cannot support the Kashmiris by presenting a united front.

Fifthly, Modi also knew that due to India’s strategic partnership with the US and Russia, the western countries and Russia will not support Pakistan and the Kashmiris by taking any concrete action in the UNSC, except asking India to lift the curfew and communication blockade and taking care of the HR violations in Kashmir.

Therefore, it appears that Modi has chosen an India-favourable environment to grab the occupied part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir on a permanent basis, by carrying out genocide in the state with a plan to kill or maim all active young persons engaged in the freedom struggle, although there is a strong possibility that due to Kashmiris’ complete alienation from India, Modi might not fully succeed in his game plan.

The writer is a former Research Fellow of Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Islamabad and Senior Research Fellow of Strategic Vision Institute (SVI), Islamabad