Every year on February 5, Pakistan observes Kashmir Solidarity Day to express solidarity, affinity, and unwavering support with the resilient Kashmiris of Indian Ilegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K), who are braving out the state-sponsored terrorism and persecution by India, for the past seven and half decades.
Pakistan’s stance towards IIOJ&K is anchored on a fundamental principle, which states that the only realistic and permanent solution to the unresolved Kashmir Issue is by affording the people of Kashmir their right to self-determination, according to UN resolutions.
Indian offences in IIOJ&K and mainland India indicate a deliberate cleansing of Muslims to accomplish Sadhvi Saraswati’s long-held dream of establishing a ‘Brahminical State’ in which India would be a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ by 2023.
This feature brings to fore the reality of India’s so-called secularism. Religious nationalism in India, commonly known as Hindutva has plagued Indian secular dream, as right leaning Hindu activists are purging the minorities or dissident voices, in a remorseful fashion.
India has violated more internationally recognized and globally accepted treaties in IIOJ&K than one could imagine, including the 1948 UNSC Resolution mandating a referendum and the Geneva Conventions, which prevent an occupational army from moving the civilian population into controlled territory. Similarly, the revocation of Article 370 is an egregious breach of UNSC resolutions 38, 47, 51, 91, and 122 passed on Kashmir. Furthermore, India’s unilateral attempt to change the status quo in IIOJ&K opposes the 1972 Simla Agreement, signed by Pakistan and India.
India under the BJP Government, has jailed approximately five hundred crucial Kashmiri political leaders and workers to silence protests against unlawful actions of abolishing Article 370 from Indian Constitution. All this mirrors Modi’s fascist designs to exert as a regional hegemon. India is also attempting political engineering in IIOJ&K by forming the Apni Party- a pro-Government party comprising breakaway factions of the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party. This exercise is intended to prevent the establishment of a unified front against the BJP administration, by wedging a divide and causing the ideological fractures.
India is altering the demography of IIOJ&K by introducing land laws, which are aimed to establishing Hindu supremacy in IIOJ&K.
The “Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization Order-2020,” “Jammu & Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate Rules-2020,” and “Jammu and Kashmir Language Bill-2020″ are intended to shift the demography of IIOJ&K from a Muslim majority state to a Hindu majority land. Obliteration of the distinct identity of IIOJ&K is a clear violation of international law, particularly with reference to Fourth Geneva Convention.
With the adoption of domicile legislation, demographic apartheid in IIOJ&K has commenced, and delimitation of parliamentary constituencies has exacerbated the widespread worries among Kashmiris, who have been mistreated by India since 1947. The regulations should be viewed as a first step toward systematic ethnic cleansing/genocide of Kashmiri Muslims.
India’s currently serving PM, Narendra Modi, is following in Hitler’s footsteps by enacting the Nuremberg Laws, which segregated, incarcerated and marginalized Jews, eventually leading to the Holocaust. History is testament that Indian Government also denied appropriate funeral rights to the family of senior Kashmiri politician Syed Ali Gillani, following his demise in 2021.
Indian efforts to discredit the 76-year-old legitimate freedom struggle through the mantra of terrorism remain futile, as Kashmir’s freedom struggle has endured decades of suppression but has only grown more strong due to the sacrifices of resilient Kashmiris like Burhan Wani and Riyaz Naikoo, who have rekindled the new Kashmir Intifada in IIOJ&K, not likely to fade away, any time sooner.
For more than seven decades, Indian occupation forces have treated Kashmiris inhumanely, which has caused public dissatisfaction and revolt against Indian hegemony. Since last three decades, credible international organizations have recorded thousands of incidents of brutal treatment, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial murders, and violence in the IIOJ&K, including civilians slain in false encounters and misidentified as militants.
International Human Rights Organizations have also highlighted human rights violations in Kashmir, exposing India’s phony democratic and secular facade.
According to the recent dossier on HRVs in IIOJ&K, Indian atrocities since 1989 have included over 96,000 extra-judicial killings, approximately 164,078 instances involving arbitrary detention and torture, over 25,000 pellet gun injuries, approximately 23,000 women widowed, and more than 108,000 children orphaned. During cordon and search operations, the Indian Occupation Forces (IOF) damaged more than 110,451 Kashmiri properties. In addition, 7,225 people have been killed in custody.
Kashmir is the largest human prison currently, which is being administrated by fascist Modi regime. It is experiencing an ongoing holocaust in which 230,000 to 500,000 people have been cruelly killed. According to statistics provided by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), at least 782 operations have been undertaken in Kashmir, resulting in many human rights abuses.
Rape, the most bizarre and deranged kind of tyranny, is employed by Indian troops, as a state-sponsored weapon. According to a study by Asia Watch, “Rapes and sexual abuse are being frequently conducted by Indian security personnel, as means to punish and humiliate Muslim community in IIOJ&K.” According to a study carried out by Doctors Without Borders, “Kashmir has the highest rate of sexual violence in any conflict region, and Police and security forces perpetrate the vast majority of assault.” Asia Watch, Physicians for Human Rights, South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy, and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly highlighted such crimes. In 2018, the first-ever UNHR 49-page report on Kashmir asked for an international investigation into several violations, citing persistent impunity for sexual abuse as a major issue in Indian-held Kashmir.
India’s coercive tactics in IIOJ&K, require urgent international notice and remedy.
India’s continued contempt for UN resolutions, international conventions, and agreements has resulted in a terrible living situation in which Kashmiris are being denied fundamental human rights and subjected to systematic atrocities. The changing of demographics through discriminatory legislation, the rejection of self-determination, and the harsh suppression of dissident voices, are all apparent signs of a deliberate endeavor to modify the region’s cultural and religious fabric. The experience of Kashmiris, who face violence, re-location, and denial of their basic freedoms, highlights the need for a just and long-term solution.
The international community must take a moral stance against the horrific human rights atrocities taking place in IIOJ&K. The United Nations, global leaders, and human rights organizations must take an active role in holding the perpetrators of these atrocities accountable and fighting for the achievement of the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination.
