Iqbal Khan
The Hindu had reported that two days before the arrival of the Swedish Royal couple King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia, Stockholm sent its strongest message on Jammu and Kashmir thus far, urging the government to lift all restrictions placed in the former State, and calling for it to “involve” Kashmiris for a resolution of the issue. The statement, made by Ms. Linde in the Swedish Riksdag or Parliament on November 26 in reply to a question, came ahead of a week-long visit (December 1-6) by the Swedish delegation. “We emphasise the importance of respect for human rights, that an escalation of the situation in Kashmir is avoided and that a long-term political solution to the situation must involve Kashmir’s inhabitants. Dialogue between India and Pakistan is crucial. Sweden and the EU (European Union) urge the Indian government to lift the remaining restrictions imposed on Jammu and Kashmir. It is crucial that free movement and communication opportunities are restored,” the statement by Ms. Linde in the Riksdag said.
The Swedish statement follows statements of concern by other visiting European leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.
Dexter Filkins has reported for the New Yorker that Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government has cast two hundred million Muslims as internal enemies. Narendra Modi is also a hero of anti-Muslim bigots. Modi and his allies have squeezed, bullied, and smothered the press into endorsing what they call the “New India.” After the initial tumult subsided, though, the Times of India and other major newspapers began claiming that a majority of Kashmiris quietly supported Modi—they were just too frightened of militants to say so aloud.
Indian consul general in United States, Sandeep Chakravorty, has called for adopting ‘Israeli model’ in Kashmir. “It has happened in the Middle East. If the Israeli people can do it, we can also do it”. Both India and Israel have been using the bogey of Islamic terror to justify their security policies. He told Kashmiri Hindus and Indian nationals that India will build settlements modelled after Israel for the return of the Hindu population to Kashmir. Chakravorty asked those present to give the government some time to implement its plans in the valley.
This mind set is reflective of the fascist mind-set of the Indian government’s RSS ideology that has continued the siege of IOJK since August 05. Return of Kashmiri Pandits is being instrumentalized to justify this model. His comments drew the ire of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan who in a tweet on Wednesday said: “Shows the fascist mindset of the Indian govt’s RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] ideology that has continued the siege of IOJK [Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir] for over 100 days.”
India is hoping against the hope that the security situation will improve, allowing voluntarily displaced Hindu Pundits to return to their abandoned homes shortly. Interestingly Hurriyat leadership has never opposed return of Hindu Pundits. Pro-freedom leaders in Kashmir have repeatedly called for the return of Kashmiri Pandits, but have urged them to return as neighbours and not settlers. This indeed is the outline of a settler-colonial policy for the valley, which is the ultimate ambitions of the Indian state. Kashmiri Pandits are being coaxed to return as settlers. There is an evolving anxiety among Kashmiri Pandits that their pain is being weaponised to further the goals of the BJP-led government. The BJP-led government has repeatedly promised the return of the Hindu minority who left Kashmir during the height of the insurgency against Indian rule in the early 1990s. Number is around 100,000 Kashmiri Hindus.
According to Anadolu News Agency, diplomat’s remarks have also evoked responses that are reflective of the positions various groups have on the return of Kashmiri Hindus. Sanjay Tickoo, chairman of the Kashmir Pandit Sangharsh Samiti, who did not migrate, said the idea of Israeli-type settlements was “crazy”. “Do they think that with the abrogation of Article 370 they can do anything? We won’t allow such settlements”. Satish Mahaldar, a Kashmiri Pandit leader who migrated in 1990, said: “I condemn his remarks because they go against the very grain of our secular constitution. Miscreants are trying to divide us along communal lines. My Kashmir is not a place for such ideas.” Ashok Kaul, a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) representative in Kashmir, denied any plans of initiating Israel-style settlements. “We have always maintained that Kashmiri Pandits should return to their homeland with honour, dignity and with full security so that the previous (mass exodus) things should not happen again,” he said.
In an effort to recapture fast slipping away RSS narrative, roadshows are taking place in New York to promote a film on the experience of Kashmiri Pandits, which is being described as “India’s holocaust”. Theresa Matthew, a New York City-based activist with South Asia Solidarity Initiative (SASI), told MEE that though she was not surprised by the video, it was still “always breath-taking to witness the sheer peddling of lies by senior government officials. “The violent re-writing of the subcontinent’s history is angering, stunning and also tiring. It’s a familiar tactic that relies on nationalism, Brahmanism and Islamophobia. It has little to do with displaced Kashmiri Pandits,” Matthews told MEE. This attempt has attracted terse criticism from Kashmiri activists as right-wing propaganda. Some of such events are being organised jointly by the American Jewish Council and the Hindu Jewish Council. However, the World view on the situation in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir is different from Indian narrative.
Recently Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the United States Congress on the situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, reinforced internationally recognised disputed nature of the Jammu and Kashmir issue and highlighted gross human rights violations and the humanitarian crisis in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. “A call for an independent fact-finding mission to occupied Kashmir was made and the right of self-determination of Kashmiri people was also duly underscored during the Commission’s proceedings,” it added. Kashmiri and German human rights activists have also called upon the world not to ignore the abuses committed by the India forces in occupied Kashmir.
Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Young Men’s League (JKYML), Zahid Ashraf has lashed out at the obnoxious and diabolical statement of a former Indian army General against Kashmiri women during a TV talk show. General S P Sinha, during a talk show on an Indian channel, had called for rape and murder of Kashmiri women in occupied Kashmir. Moreover, 12th meeting of EU Kashmir Council was held during first week of November, its main theme was “Human Rights and Civil Liberties”. Conference expressed grave concerns over arbitrary arrests, mass rapes, unmarked mass graves, impunity to armed forces in Indian Occupied Kashmir. Another such vocal supporter is British politician George Galloway. He believes nations around the world will eventually reconfigure their ties with India. “They are not moving towards Modi’s India out of love but out of interest. And when a nation loses love, it loses soft power in the world,” he warned.
Modi’s unilateral decision to revoke Kashmir’s limited autonomy, and the blatant violation of human rights has tarnished his reputation in the world, and by extension India’s. Pakistan’s permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Munir Akram has urged that the international community must play its role to resolve the Kashmir dispute.
