Once, Abraham Lincoln said, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” This applies aptly to the Indian fanatic Prime Minister Narendra Modi –the leader of the extremist ruling party BJP.
In this regard, the Modi-led government unilaterally abrogated the special status of the disputed territory of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on August 5, 2019, when their parliament revoked articles 35A and 370 of the Constitution. The act split IIOJK into two territories that were to be ruled directly by New Delhi. The purpose was to turn a Muslim majority into a minority. Other moves such as amendment of the law, allowing Indian citizens to buy land in the IIOJK and the issuance of domicile certificates to more than 600,000 non-Kashmiris were part of the same scheme.
Now, more than 18 months have passed but India has continued the lockdown in the IIOJK. New Delhi has deployed more than 900,000 military troops who have martyred thousands of innocent Kashmiris through brutal tactics like the use of pellet guns and phosphorus bombs. They have even continued shelling inside the Pakistani side of Kashmir by violating the ceasefire agreement. In support of this, other Indian rulers are also escalating tensions with Pakistan to divert attention from the drastic situation of IIOJK and its other internal issues
The Kashmiri tragedy started after 1947 when they were denied their right to self-determination which was recognised by the UN resolutions. On February 5, 1964, India backed out of its promise of holding a plebiscite in accordance with the UN Security Council’s resolution of April 21, 1948. Instead, in March 1965, the Indian Parliament passed a bill which declared Kashmir as an integral part of the Indian union.
Since 1989, the Kashmiris have already been enduring various forms of state terrorism; no Indian soldier has ever been taken to task. Hence, since the military clampdown started, the Indian armed forces accelerated the employment of cruel tactics. Almost, 100,000 Kashmiris have died in the past 30 years.
Despite the ban on journalists’ entry in the IIOJK, some reports and images are appearing in the world and on social media that show extrajudicial killings of the innocent people by the ruthless Indian forces. This dreadful practice could be judged from the martyrdom of a 65 year old individual, Bashir Ahmed Khan, on July 1, last year. He was dragged out of his car and shot dead by paramilitary troopers in Sopore, Srinagar. His three-year-old toddler grandson, who was travelling with him, was later pictured sitting on his chest.
Amnesty International said, “It is a breach of the best interests of the child principle as required to be the basis of any action by authorities under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which India is a state party.” The UNO stated, “Whosoever responsible for the killing in Sopore, has to be made to account for it.” Clearly, this merciless event displays that New Delhi does not have any qualms about murdering any Kashmiri civilian.
Taking cognizance of the Kashmiris’ plight, UN human rights experts called on India and the international community to take urgent action to address the alarming human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir on August 4, 2020. They asked to investigate all cases of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and arbitrary detentions.
Last year, Amnesty International said that it was, “stopping its work in India because the government has frozen its bank accounts for highlighting rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir…the government had sought to punish it for that”. In the recent past, the UN Security Council, in its meetings, has reiterated that the Kashmir issue requires to be settled according to the related Security Council resolutions thrice. Furthermore, several British parliamentarians strongly agreed with Pakistan’s positions on the Modi government’s brutal treatment of the residents of the Indian occupied territory and gross human rights violations. Even the European Parliament has repeatedly indicated that the people of IIOJK had been subjected to intolerable suppression of their freedom and fundamental rights.
In the latest statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who urged the resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN resolutions, warned that any military confrontation between two nuclear powers—Pakistan and India—would be a disaster for both countries and the whole world. He added, “His good offices are always available for mediation.”
As part of Islamabad’s diplomatic efforts, the New York State Assembly had passed a resolution on February 3, this year to observe February 5, 2021 as the Kashmir-American Day. The day was observed to express wholehearted support for the Pakistani nation in the just struggle for the Kashmiri people and in securing their inalienable right to self-determination under the UN resolutions.
Moreover, Indian fake news, websites and accounts on social media against Pakistan and IIOJK have come to the limelight of the global media. In recent revelations, the EU DisinfoLab disclosed the leaked WhatsApp chats of the Indian Channel Republic TV, Arnab Goswami, who exposed the sinister designs of the Modi’s government to blame Pakistan for the false Pulwama attack and a failed air strike on Balakot in 2019.Now, Indian perennial state terrorism and lockdown in the IIOJK is not internal issue of New Delhi, as it is an international one.