Reema Shaukat
July 19, is of special significance in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. On this day Muslims of Kashmir took the decision of accession to Pakistan to protect their religious, geographical, economic and political rights. Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947, whereas the general council of All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference decided to accede to Pakistan much earlier on 19th July 1947, through a unanimous resolution. But regrettably, more than sixty eight years have passed but our poor Kashmiri brethren are fighting for their legitimate right of freedom and accession to Pakistan. History has witnessed many freedom movements world over. The struggles sooner or later succeeded with varying price tag ranging from few hundred to some thousands lives. Unfortunately, there is a freedom movement which is on for the more than six decades and is still anticipating its triumph. This movement has legal backing of no less than UN and Security Council’s repeated resolutions. The price paid so far is over 100,000 lives and hundreds of thousands of gang rapes in addition to other human rights violations. The movement is termed as Kashmir freedom Movement.
Going a little back in history will help the audience to understand the Kashmir predicament. During the partition of the Sub-continent, the people of Muslim majority State of Jammu and Kashmir decided to join Pakistan according to the British-led formula. But, Dogra Raja Hari Singh, then Hindu ruler of J&K, in connivance with the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Governor General Lord Mountbatten joined India. The real design to forcibly gain Kashmir began to unfold on August 16, 1947, with the announcement of the Red Cliff Boundary Award. It gave the Gurdaspur District, a majority Muslim area, to India to provide a land route to the Indian armed forces to move into Kashmir. This led to a rebellion by State forces, which stood against the Maharaja and were joined by Pathan tribesmen. When Pakistan responded militarily against the Indian aggression, on December 31, 1947, India made an appeal to the UN Security Council to intervene and a ceasefire ultimately came into effect on January 01, 1949, following UN resolutions calling for a plebiscite in Kashmir. On February 5, 1964, India backed out of its promise of holding plebiscite. Instead, in March 1965, the Indian Parliament passed a bill, declaring Kashmir a province of India, an integral part of the Indian union.
The bloody tragedy of poor Kashmiris had started after 1947 when they were denied their legitimate and UN approved right of self-determination. As a natural outcome of Indian injustice, people of IOK organized themselves and launched a war of liberation which India tried to crush through coercion and brutalities. Later, in 1988, Indian positioned a very large number of Armed Forces to suppress Kashmir struggle on gun point. Since then, Indian Occupied Kashmir has become a region where sun rises with gloominess. With advent of Indian occupational forces the ethnic cleansing campaign against the Kashmiri people has intensified manifolds. So far, more than 100,000 killings have been done by Indian occupational forces. The number is growing logarithmically as Indians are using increasingly brutal methods to suppress the people of IOK and their legal struggle for freedom. The phenomenon of religious persecution against the Muslims of IOK is also not new like rest of India. The huge Indian occupational forces under the cover of Armed Forces Special Protection Act (AFSPA) and other black laws frequently engage in religious cleansing of Muslims.
The present wave of violence in Kashmir erupted after the death of 22 years old youth leader of Hizbul Mujahedeen Burhan Muzaffar Wani,who was killed by special Indian forces in Bumdoora village of Anantnag district on 8th of July with other two young fellows. Kashmir which is under curfew since Wani’s death and protests by mob, is going through worst turmoil in history claiming 45 lives and many injured till date. After Burhan’s death, Kashmir againis going through vilest uprising since early 90’s when Ashfaq Majeed, another youth leader was assassinated and Kashmir crises triggered at that time too. Hanging of Afzal Guru has changed the freedom struggle for Kashmir and Kashmiri youth particularly are seen more passionate and obsessed for freedom. Covering the body of Burhan Wani in Pakistani flag and chanting slogans for independence shows their zeal to be part of Pakistan at any cost. Leaders are centre of gravity for their movement and several Kashmiri political parties have joined hands to form All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) to steer the political struggle for self-determination. India has been victimizing Kashmiri leaders every off and on through dirty tactics to break their will and resolve. They have been repeatedly harassed and physically intimidated. Instead of accepting the existing reality, India has always sought to blame Pakistan for allegedly promoting the Kashmiri uprising. These Indian accusations against Pakistan are a manoeuvre to delude the international community on Kashmir issue and a cover to hide its state sponsored mayhems on innocent people of IOK.
Off late, the international human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, has called for revoking of AFSPA and urged investigations for the human rights violations in J&K by an “independent and impartial” authority. Amnesty International and Human Rights watchdog have appealed India to stop atrocities and violence in IOK. Pakistan has always extended full diplomatic support on Kashmir cause and a peaceful negotiated settlement must come up by UN now. Every year on 19 July, Kashmiris, living on both sides of the LoC and in other parts of the globe remind UN and international community of their responsibility to solve chronic Kashmir issue as per the resolutions of UN. It is feared that if Kashmir voice is still unheard to international community for more than six decades, it must be ready for intense resistance by Kashmiris at any timeand lest not forget a quote by Tawakkol Karman, a human rights activist who rightly said;
“Peace does not mean just to stop wars, but also to stop oppression and injustice”
