Daily Times

Every year we go through the motions of Kashmir Solidarity Day – with the president and prime minister issuing statements and making speeches, people taking out rallies and the army promising to stand by Kashmiris till the dawn of freedom – yet nothing really changes. Only this year things have changed. It was India that upset the status quo, and it was for the worse for the people of the occupied valley. Pakistan did what it could, and indeed continues to do so, yet it’s clear that there’s only so much purposeful diplomacy is going to achieve.

Prominent human rights organisations have said their bit against India’s stranglehold on Kashmir since stripping it of the special status, which is appreciated, but on the whole it has been disheartening to see that the international community cares for more for India’s lucrative market than torture, rape, murder, harassment and lockdown of Kashmiris. The silence of India’s own otherwise very active social society, too, was something of a letdown. They came out strong later against BJP’s citizen amendment bill (CAA), but there was nothing of the sort as Modi brutalised, and continues to brutalise, Kashmir.

But nothing has hurt both Pakistan and the Kashmiris more than the non-reaction from most of the Muslim world. Only Malaysia, Turkey and Iran came out in support of the Kashmiris and openly condemned the Indian government. So how good did the PM look turning down the invitation of the first two recently to attend a seminar that was, among other things, meant to take up all the problems in Kashmir? And that too on the bidding of friends who’ve decided not to comment on Kashmir which, in effect, means looking the other way as Delhi rolls out its plans.

In order to make any sort of progress, especially since the Indian government has decided to take matters to a new level of confrontation, it is necessary to change our approach. The world has stood by as the BJP administration first blinded half the valley with pellet guns, then imposed the most severe shutdown on Kashmiris since Partition; paralysing life as well as commerce. We must, then, give more serious thought to forming alliances with countries that share our vision and stand on our side when we need it the most. We do our share of lending all support possible where and when we can. But politics and diplomacy are about reciprocity. Perhaps it’s time we went out in the market as a player that means business. But till we work this out Kashmir, it seems, will bleed yet more. *