Ambreen Umar
A seminar took place in National Press Club Islamabad in which the central theme of discussion was how Kashmir conflict can affect the future of Pakistan andwhat is the position of Pakistan in the bilelateral relations withAfghanistan. The Director General of Pakistan House (Think tank), Rana AtherJaved, was invited as a chief guest while the seminar was hosted by well renowned analyst Tazeen Akhtar. Other guests included Secretary National Press Club Anwar Raza, Kashmiri Hurriyet leader Abdul Hameed Lone, syed Manzoor Shah.
While addressing the seminar chief guest DG Rana Athar Javed argues that prior to August 5th of 2019 the conditions in Kashmir were already on the edge of knife. Modi winning the elections for the second time only exacerbated the situation to a much larger extent. It has been nearly 190 days of the curfew being imposed on the unarmed Kashmiris, more atrocious action committed by Indian government is that Kashmiris are being put in a complete communication black out thus having no contact with the international community. Abrogation of article 370 and 35-Ahas further aggravated the Kashmir crisis.
The Kashmir youth has become a subject to constant torture and detention while young girls are being abducted and raped by the Indian security forces, along with forcing information out of the male members of the family. International media has been very vocal about these problems. To increase the Indian influence and change the demography of Kashmir, the retired Indian army officers are given the opportunities to establish their businesses and settle on the Kashmiri lands. This is an alarming situation on which Pakistan must keep raising its voice and continue to attract international community’s attention towards this issue.
This vicious side of Indian government must be exposed. On the other hand, the silence of international community is an evidence of their vested interests with India. IT sector, software sector and through Google Indiahas control over the internet and communication channels. India also dominates the social media platforms, due to which it is able to rigorously use these platforms to promote its own draconian narrative on Kashmir. This agenda of the Indian government is a threat to peace and stability of the region. Pakistan does not have much access to the international community neither it is easy to gain such influence.
According to UN, India can be brought onto the table to discuss Kashmir issue but only with the mediation of third party but only if the parties to the conflict have the true intentions to resolve the conflict. Thereis also a chance that the Indian leadership participating in the negotiations might be responsible for engendering the conflict in Kashmir and thus pocketing more time under the shield of UN peace talks in order to prevent the public opinion turning against them and disrupting their influence over the government. It is about time that the torture Kashmiris have been facing for generations must be exposed to the international community.
Looking upon the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, it is evident that in past couple of years Pakistan has achieved success in strengthening their ties and eliminating the hurdles that have been a point of contention between the States. Firstly, there is a need to understand that the narrative of Pakistan on Afghanistan is that Pakistan will not engaged in any armed conflicts. Secondly, the world needs to acknowledge that Pakistan does not support Afghan Taliban or their propaganda. Although, Pakistan is merely acting as a mediator in the peace talks between Afghan Taliban and the USA.
It was pointed out that the motivation of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) behind attacking Pakistan is the lack of strict border control on Afghan side. TTP has started attacking Pakistani citizens and forces once again causing life and economic loss which is not tolerated by any country around the word. It was argued that Pakistan must increase its forces along the border. Considering the length of the border, the number of check posts is very less despite the fact Pakistani armed forces are carrying out 24 hours strict surveillance which has been a reason for controlling the situation on the Pak-Afghan border. This is also a reason for which the USA and the Britain have declared these areas save for tourism. Afghan Taliban leadership is in direct contact with the USA authorities. Under the Trump administration Pakistan has not yet faced any sanctions or pressures. Pakistan faced sanctions from the USA by Bill Clinton’s administration. The obvious reasons for these sanctions were the strong ties between the USA and India as both had mutual interests.
The transfer of capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by Pentagon was not seen as a fair move. Other than a few countries, most of the States denied to accept Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and thus denying to move their embassies to the newly declared capital. While addressing the seminar the Hurriyet leader Syed Manzoor Shah told the audience that the misconception of Pakistan selling Kashmir off to India is merely a propaganda against Pakistan. India deceived Pakistan into capturing Kashmir, despite the agreement that the Muslim dominated States will become part of Pakistan in the post 1947 independence while the Hindu dominated parts will fall under the Indian jurisdiction. Jammu and Kashmir has always been under the unlawful occupation of India.
The implementation of article 370 and 35-A was done through Indian constitution while today the same Indian government abrogated these articles and took away the right of innocent Kashmiris of self-determination. Pakistan maintains its position on Kashmir and its 1948 Kashmir Resolution remains null and void even to this date. Abdul Hameed Lone, another Hurriyet leader, said that the part of Kashmir and Kashmiris under Pakistan’s jurisdiction are given full freedom. He further argued that 98% of the Kashmiris are in favor of becoming a part of Pakistan while the 2% have their own interest which obviously cannot overrule the sentiments of the majority.
