By: Muhammad Mobeen ul Haq
Kashmir has always been a Bloodstained conflict zone over the last seven decades Amid the interests of politicians and the countries intervening in this region. It has always been Kashmiris who have suffered from great agony; pain and blood rather this excruciating pain cannot be described in words.
Ever since the fascist regime of BJP abrogated the article (370 And 35A) revoking the special status; Also, the war crimes exponentially increased. The primary ambition was to convert the Muslim majority into the minority. Kashmiri who was abroad raised their voice in available capacity to gain international support to prevent India from ongoing atrocities but all went in vain. Even after the great speeches by Pakistan PM and the Turkish president in the UN in favor of Kashmir, The heartless world did nothing while atrocities kept going; and the people of occupying valley bore the brunt of unprecedented bloodshed. The failure of the UN in getting India to resolve this bloodiest conflict of history is disrespecting humanity while Pakistan failed to sort out this issue and it only a paid lip service which is tantamount to succumb to India. Pakistan did not get any whopping support barring China. This diplomatic defeat depicts the lackadaisical diplomacy on the part of Pakistan. Undoubtedly, the Kashmir issue has no military solution as both sides are nuclear-armed states so this issue has already a great threat to the enduring peace of the world, in other words, it is a nuclear flashpoint.
Occupied Kashmir is the heaviest militarized zone of the world, but Kashmiris are still looking forward towards big powers and the UN with the hope that they will intervene and prevent India from these ongoing 7 decades-old atrocities.
Political leadership and hundreds of political prisoners and youth are languishing in jails or under house detention and the health condition of many among them is a constant source of worry
India is still keeping digital blackout to conceal its heinous war crimes. The whole world has witnessed the pain and agony of lockdown which Kashmiris are afflicting for nearly seven decades; now the world has to take strong steps to save Kashmiris from the extreme bane of state-sponsored terrorism of India.
The Kashmiri leadership should be consulted prior to any talks with India, and the government of Pakistan must take into confidence the leaders on both sides of the LoC, particularly the All Parties Hurriyat Conference so that a consensus strategy is adopted keeping in view of India’s past record.
On the one hand, India talks about holding negotiations, and on the other, its 900,000 troops have besieged eight million population of Occupied Kashmir for the last 600 days, and besides usurping all their fundamental and civil rights, the youth are being killed in fake encounters on daily basis. HOW can one imagine living in a curfew for years? It has been well over a year since India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir turned into the world’s largest jails. Narendra Modi, who can aptly be considered the ‘Indian Hitler’, has sparked a new devilish spirit, injecting Hindutva into the blood of his blindly arrogant and violent followers, who now want ‘white brides’ from Kashmir. The recent talk of ‘burying the past and moving forward’ did indicate Pakistan’s clear peaceful intentions, but this may not be effective in dealing with a neighbor like India. ‘No trade with India’ is a much better policy. The government of India must be asked in clear terms to set things right in occupied Kashmir. Or, else, we would soon be observing another anniversary of the lockdown.
The recent rise in killings of Kashmiris in J&K is a grim reminder of the need to resolve the Kashmir conflict urgently and prevent the region from getting consumed by it. The fast-changing geopolitical reality of the region also points to the need for urgent conflict resolution. The silencing of guns on the LoC by India and Pakistan provided much-needed relief to the residents of LoC, living constantly under its shadow. The thaw in India-Pakistan relations was always a welcome development for the people of J&K who see it as a harbinger of engagement and dialogue between the two neighbors and the way forward for resolution of the Kashmir dispute. But sadly not much has moved forward since, or improved for the people of J&K. Instead, the oppressive situation on the ground continues unabated. Political leadership and hundreds of political prisoners and youth are languishing in jails or under house detention and the health condition of many among them is a constant source of worry; Yasin Malik, a heart patient, needs immediate replacement of the 25-year-old heart valve, as per his family sources, while Shabir Shah’s health has deteriorated in jail as he suffers from various ailments. Despite repeated appeals from all sections of society and international human rights organizations, political prisoners and youth have not been released so far, even on humanitarian grounds in times of the Covid pandemic.
The passing and implementation of laws aimed at demographic change, post-August 2019’s unilateral decision by the Government of India to scrap article 370 and 35A and downgrade and break up J&K into two union territories ruled by New Delhi, has led to the fear of loss of identity among the people of J&K, which is deeply disturbing them.” The statement spoke of great anguish at the loss of employment guarantees, land rights, and exploitation of natural resources by outsiders, post the enactment of these new laws. As a consequence, there is a tremendous rise in psychological ailments among people and an alarming rise in the incidence of suicides. Hence, the world has to resolve this longstanding conundrum or else no peace can be restored in South Asia as long as the Kashmir issue is resolved.
The writer is a freelance columnist, he can be reached at [email protected]
