Muhammad Raza Malik
Genesis
of the Solidarity Day
India
has been subjecting the people of occupied Kashmir to the worst form of state
terrorism since 1947 to suppress their struggle for securing their right to self-determination
and to get rid of its illegal occupation. During all this period,
Pakistan is the only country of the world that has extended all-out as well as
unconditional support to the just cause of the Kashmiris.
The
people of Indian occupied Kashmir intensified their liberation struggle in
1989, causing immense frustration to power corridors in India. In order to
crush this mass uprising, New Delhi dismissed the government of Farooq Abdullah
and imposed Governor’s Rule in occupied Kashmir, appointing Jagmohan Malhotra as
the Governor of the occupied territory on January 19, 1990. Jagmohan, who was
already notorious for his anti-Muslim bias and activities in India, immediately
after assuming charge, ordered the Indian police and troops to deal with the freedom-seeking
Kashmiri people strictly. The forces’ personnel unleashed a reign of terror across
the occupied territory and on the night of January 20, they molested several
women in Srinagar during house-to-house searches. The next morning as the people
came to know about the molestation of the women, they took to the streets in
the city in thousands to protest against the barbarity of the troops. The
occupation forces massacred over 50 people and injured hundreds of others by
opening indiscriminate fire on these protesters in Gaw Kadal area of the city. The
carnage caused resentment in Pakistan and the ensuing 5th February
was declared as a solidarity day all across the country. Since then, every
year, the day is being observed to express unity with the oppressed people of
Jammu and Kashmir at the state level. On this public holiday in Pakistan, seminars,
conferences and demonstrations are organised to highlight important aspects of
the Kashmir dispute and the gross human rights violations being committed by
Indian troops in occupied Kashmir. The
overseas Pakistanis and Kashmiris arrange special events in world capitals
to remind the international community that resolution of the lingering dispute
is imperative for ensuring peace and stability in South Asia.
History of Kashmir dispute
In
order to understand the importance of the Kashmir Solidarity Day one needs to
understand the history of India’s occupation on Kashmir, which dates back to
the partition of the Indian Subcontinent. According to Partition Plan in 1947,
the Indian British Colony was to be divided into two sovereign states - India and
Pakistan. Hindu-majority areas were to form India while the Muslim-majority
areas of Western provinces and East Bengal were to constitute Pakistan. The
partition plan had given the princely states the choice to accede either to
Pakistan or to India, keeping in view their geographic and demographic
considerations. As Jammu and Kashmir was a Muslim-majority state, with 87%
Muslim population, it had a natural tendency to accede to Pakistan. But the
then Hindu ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh and the Indian National Congress by
announcing Kashmir’s accession with India under a well thought out conspiracy ruined
the future of Kashmiri people. India landed its troops in the territory
by totally violating the Partition Plan and against the aspirations of the
Kashmiris.
Right from the day one, the people of Jammu and Kashmir never
accepted India’s illegal occupation of their motherland and they have been
struggling to liberate it from Indian subjugation. Their liberation struggle
forced India to seek the help of the international community to settle the
Kashmir dispute. Sensing a humiliating defeat to its forces, it approached the United Nations Security Council on January 1, 1948. The World Body in its successive resolutions, accepted
by both Pakistan and India, promised that a free and impartial plebiscite would
be conducted under
its supervision and the
people of Kashmir would be given the opportunity to decide their future
themselves. These
UN resolutions and the pledges made by Indian leadership remain unimplemented even
after the passing of several decades.
Factors behind solidarity
There
are many legitimate and genuine reasons for the people of Pakistan to express
solidarity with their subjugated Kashmiri brethren because both share strong
bonds in respect of religion, geography, culture, aspirations and economy. The
matter of fact is that the Kashmir dispute is considered both by Pakistanis and
Kashmiris as an unfinished agenda of the partition of the Indian subcontinent
and the liberation struggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir as an
inseparable part of Pakistan Movement.
The
number of Kashmiris who migrated to Pakistan from occupied Kashmir since 1947
due to Indian aggression is in hundreds of thousands, which shows emotional
attachment of Kashmiri people with Pakistan. Even when India’s first Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was asked a question in 1965 about holding of
plebiscite in Kashmir, he responded, “Kashmiris would vote to join Pakistan and
we would lose it. No Indian government responsible for agreeing to a plebiscite
would survive.” Also it was the ideological commonality that prompted the
Muslim Conference of Jammu and Kashmir to pass a resolution in its meeting in
Srinagar on 19th July 1947, whereby it was declared that Jammu and Kashmir
should become a part of Pakistan. This happened about a month before the
creation of Pakistan. The attachment of the people of Kashmir is manifest from
the fact that the Valley of Kashmir has been from time to time, reverberating
with the slogans of “Long Live Pakistan” and “We Want Pakistan.” Pakistani
flags are hoisted in Jammu and Kashmir on the national days of the country,
whereas such days of India are observed as black days.
Pakistan’s unwavering support
On
the other side, the leadership of Pakistan has always represented the
aspirations of the Kashmiri people and never betrayed the faith reposed on it by
them. The commitment to the interest of the Kashmiri people had prompted the
father of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah to visit Jammu and
Kashmir three times before 1947 (in 1926, 1936 and 1944). During his visits, he
had tried to convince the Kashmiri leadership to become a part of the Pakistan
Movement as the people of the territory were civilizationally linked with the
Muslims of South Asia. He had also rightly termed Kashmir as the “Jugular Vein”
of Pakistan. Former Prime Minister, Zulfiqar
Ali Bhutto, had vowed to wage a thousand-year war for Kashmir. Prime
Minister, Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, and recently retired Army Chief, General
Raheel Sharif, time and again advocated settlement of the conflict over Kashmir
in accordance with the Kashmiris’ aspirations in line with the relevant UN
resolutions for ensuring durable peace in South Asia. Even the incumbent Chief
of Army Staff, Qamar Javed Bajwa, has expressed concern over the atrocities of
Indian troops in occupied Kashmir. It is also a fact that despite being the
victim of Indian military aggression for supporting the Kashmiris during the
past over seven decades, Pakistan never gave up its support to the Kashmir
cause and continues to advocate resolution of the dispute to the satisfaction
of the Kashmiri people.
Indian brutalities
Ironically,
India projects itself as the largest democracy of the world but it is using
every undemocratic method to continue its illegal hold on Jammu and Kashmir. On
one hand, it wants to compel Pakistan to give up its support to the Kashmiri
people, while on the other, it has been resorting to the worst kind of state
terrorism in occupied Kashmir to intimidate the Kashmiris into submission.
Since 1989, when the people of Kashmir gave impetus to their liberation
struggle, the unabated Indian state terrorism has resulted in the killing of
nearly one hundred thousand innocent Kashmiris and disappearance of thousands
in custody. This vicious cycle of killing has rendered over twenty-five
thousand women widowed and around a hundred and ten thousand children orphaned.
The
extrajudicial killing of popular youth leader, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, by Indian
troops on July 8, 2016, triggered massive anti-India and pro-freedom
demonstrations. However, India got unnerved by the mass uprising as it proved
its propaganda of Kashmir struggle being a terrorist activity false and
established the indigenous nature of the movement. Indian troops responded with
brute force, killing more than 115 innocent civilians, injuring over 16,000 and
blinding hundreds others by firing bullets, pellets and teargas shells on
peaceful protesters. More than ten thousand people including Hurriyet leaders,
activists and youth were detained and many of them were booked under the black
law, Public Safety Act. Earlier, Indian forces had reacted in the same brutal manner
to the forceful demonstrations during 2008 to 2010 - when hundreds of thousands
of people had thronged the streets of Srinagar and other towns of the occupied
territory with the demand of right to self-determination. It is unfortunate
that instead of taking the massive demonstrations as referendum against its
rule, New Delhi continues to suppress the aspirations of the Kashmiri people
through military might. It is also a reality that despite using all kinds of
brutal tactics, it has failed to suppress the freedom sentiment of the people
of Kashmir and they are determined to carry forward their ongoing freedom
movement to its logical conclusion at all costs.
Alongside
continuing its state terrorism, India is also staging election dramas from time
to time in occupied Kashmir to mislead the world opinion about the Kashmir
dispute and the prevailing deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied
territory. The Narendra Modi-led present Indian government is hell-bent upon
the complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India and changing its demographic
composition by abrogating Article 370 and Article 35-A of Indian constitution
that grant special status to the territory. It has started issuing domicile
certificates to non-Kashmiri Hindus to settle them in Jammu region to convert
the Muslim majority of the occupied territory into minority. The objective is to
change the Muslim majority character of the territory to minority. Unfortunately,
the international community is turning a blind eye to India’s actions in occupied
Kashmir resulting in the continued sufferings of the Kashmiri people.
Conclusion
Given
the fact that the Kashmir dispute involves two nuclear powers and a small
incident can prove disastrous for the entire South Asia, it is high time for
the world community to take steps towards addressing this contentious problem.
It needs to understand that due to the unrealistic and intransigent approach of
India, the peace of the entire region is at stake. 5th February is a reminder
to the world powers that they should use their influence on New Delhi to settle
the conflict over Kashmir. At the same time the supreme sacrifices of Kashmiri
people must be acknowledged and India should be censured for disrespecting the
UN resolutions and continued human rights violations in occupied Kashmir. The
5th February reminds the world about the urgency involved in an early
resolution of the Kashmir dispute for the global peace, security and
prosperity. All the peace and justice loving nations of the world must come together
to express practical solidarity with the oppressed people of occupied Kashmir.
_________________
(The
writer is working as Senior Editor at Kashmir Media Service, Islamabad, and can
be reached at razamalik849@yahoo.com)
