ISLAMABAD: The unresolved Kashmir dispute was a permanent threat to peace and prosperity in the region as Pakistan and India fought a series of wars since gaining their independence from Great Britain in 1947, largely over the Kashmir region at present, the relations of two nuclear states are not good enough, especially after the August, 5 unilateral decision by India.
There were numerous crimes against humanity, committed by the Indian occupation forces, including thousands of massacres since 1989, mass rape of Kashmir women of Kunan, Pashpora, the dilemma of “Half widows”, mass blinding and physical tortures, all documented by the international human rights organizations.
According to reporter, Indian occupied forces since 1989, had killed about 95,971 Kashmiris including,7,229 in custody, arrested 164,123, arson houses, shops, etc. 110,459, women widowed, 22,941, children orphaned, 107,857, women gang-raped/ Molested,11,247 including killings in fake encounters, extra-judicial operations, and custody.
More than 73 years have passed and the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) are still struggling to get their legitimate right of self-determination as promised by the world powers at their top forum, the United Nations (UN).
When the Kashmir dispute was intentionally crafted in 1947-1948, the United States, Britain, China, France, Canada, Argentina, Belgium, and Columbia championed the stand that the future status of Kashmir must be ascertained in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the people of the territory.
Accordingly, the UN Security Council on April 21, 1948, adopted a resolution. The basic formula for settlement of the issue was incorporated in the resolutions of the UN Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) adopted on August 13, 1948 and January 5, 1949.
These were not the routine resolutions as their provisions were negotiated in detail by the UN Commission with India and Pakistan after getting the consent of both the governments, constituting a binding and solemn international agreement about the settlement of the Kashmir dispute.
Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, a prominent Kashmiri leader, wrote in one of his articles. “We are dismayed by the lack of action by the world powers to help stop the carnage in Kashmir and by their virtual indifference to the situation in our land,”
Kashmir, he said, was the only international dispute where the solution of the conflict’s right to self-determination was suggested by the parties themselves, India and Pakistan.
After going through the decades-long physical and mental agony, now the people of IIOJK are facing the worst type of repression at the hands of the Modi-led fascist government which has stripped the held territory of its special status, on August 5 2019, by revoking Articles 370 and 35-A to change its demographic apartheid.
It is quite clear that New Delhi took this illegal, immoral, and unconstitutional action out of frustration as its around-the-clock curfew, communication blackouts, arrests and killings and forceful suppression of protesters fell flat before the indomitable spirit and struggle of the Kashmiri people, whose commitment gets stronger with every intensive move of the so-called secular state.
The world community knows very well the tragic story of the IIOJK where around one million Indian troops are continuously putting the innocent Kashmiris under siege, killing and raping children and women with impunity and denying every fundamental right.
Acknowledging the measures taken by Pakistan senior leader of All Pakistan Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Syed Mushtaq Gilani said Pakistan has exposed the ugly face of India and its so-called claim of being a secular state before the world.
Had Pakistan not adopted a proactive approach to effectively highlighting the lingering issue of Kashmir after the August 5 actions, he said, the world would have never realized the sinister designs of India in IIOJK.
“Now, it is the prime responsibility of the international community, especially the influential countries, to come forward and play their due role in giving the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir their legitimate right of self-determination, which has been denied since 1947,” he said in an interview with reporter.
Hurriyat leader, Altaf Ahmad Bhat while talking to reporter said that people of Kashmir are struggling against the Indian occupied forces since their intervention and will continue to fight against occupied till they achieve of a dream of independence from the clutches of Indian forces
He termed 2019’s move of scrapping the special status of IIOJK was aimed at suppressing Kashmiri’s struggle for independence that continued for the last 74 years and reached the turning point now however the people of IIOJK strongly rejected the annexation or division of the region.
“Not only those Kashmiris who were the part of the struggle against Indian atrocities and demanding the right to self-determination and referendum since the last many years opposed this move but also those who were part of Indian politics including Omer Abdullah, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Naghma Mufti, and Sajjad Mohan and many others didn’t accept this decision”, he observed.