The Kashmir issue is a long-standing dispute between Pakistan, India and China. It started in October 1947, when Raja Hari Singh, the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, declared the controversial accession of the princely state of Kashmir to India. The accession was against the wishes of the people living in the vast territory of over two hundred thousand square kilometres.
This forceful accession of Muslim-majority area to India was immensely protested by the local people. India resorted to force to curb the voices of three million people in Jammu and Kashmir, in the First Kashmir War (1947-1949).
However, the UN intervened in the matter, after it was approached by Pakistan and India. The UN Security Council issued Resolution (47) in 1948 and asked India to appoint a plebiscite administrator, nominated by the UN, who would conduct a free and impartial plebiscite.
Despite many promises made by the Indian government, especially by Jawaharlal Nehru, during the 1950s, the right of self-determination has been denied by them, until today.
The Indian government has continuously defied the UN charter, Geneva Convention, and many bilateral arrangements, such as Karachi Agreement (1949), Shimla Pact (1972) and Lahore Declaration (1999) by not conducting the plebiscite; violating the human rights; violating the Line of Control (LOC) and not agreeing to be a part of peaceful and meaningful dialogues.
The deep silence of the international community, on seven-decades-long atrocities of Indian forces, in Kashmir, vociferates that the matter has been politicised by them to serve their political interests in the South Asian region
Recently, on August 5 this year, the Indian government, through a presidential order, snatched the special status of Kashmir, granted under article 370. The Lok Sabah, India’s lower house, overwhelmingly voted in favour of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill with 370 to 70.
Currently, the entire valley is under lockdown by around one hundred thousand personnel. The fresh menace of violence and torture on women and children has been reported by international media, Amnesty International and the UN’s human rights wing.
The deep silence of the international community, on seven-decades-long atrocities of Indian forces, in Kashmir, vociferates that the matter has been politicised by them to serve their political interests in the South Asian region.
On the other hand, Pakistan has already faced the violent Indian aggression thrice in the shape of full-fledged wars. The limited-war by India, across the LOC, is no time-bound.
Pakistan still believes in a peaceful solution of Kashmir issue, as per the will of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and in the light of more than a dozen resolutions of the UN on the matter.
But, the post-August 5 scenario is challenging for Pakistan at political as well as diplomatic level. The words of Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, taken from his article, “Whatever it takes,” published by DAWN, well defined the current scenario. He wrote, “We can’t betray the Kashmir cause, especially after the loss of the majority of Pakistan’s population in 1971. It will render a country a failed state without meaning, purpose, a moral foundation and a future worth having.”
There is a dire need to academically trace the causes and consequences of historic and renewed Indian inhumane actions and motives of Hindutva nationalism. India is now ready to spread this by the admission of Kashmir in its union territory and introduction of illegal Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the country. This should, in turn, guide Pakistan’s future course of action.
The writer is a lecturer at the Department of Management Sciences, National University of Modern Languages (NUML)