Denial of Right of Self-Determination to Kashmirs

July 13th is commemorated as the day courageous Kashmiris laid their lives in a struggle against despotic and barbarous rule of Maharaja in 1931. Since independence the Kashmir problem has remained a sore point in Indo-Pak relations and India’s indifferent and insincere attitude has hampered the progress towards resolution of the conflict. The right to self-determination is recognized universally which provides a certain people the choice to decide about their future according to their own wishes and desires. But the denial of this right by India and the apathetic attitude of international community have complicated the situation in Indian Held Kashmir, IHK.

In 1947, Kashmir was one of some 584 princely states which were under British suzerainty in the subcontinent but exercised autonomy in internal affairs. Later India accepted the offer of succession by Hindu ruler of Jammu and Kashmir which had been made in ‘utter violation of principles of partition plan’. The public strongly protested against such arbitrary decision and on August 17b a revolt was declared in the state. The maharaja’s forces launched a campaign of massacres and mass evictions aimed at reducing the Muslim majority in the state. But the Kashmiri people with the support of tribesmen from Pakistan succeeded in liberating a small portion of territory occupied by India.

On January 1, 1948, India took the matter to Security Council and filed a complaint against Pakistan. On April 24, the Security Council adopted the first resolution in view of recommendations of UN Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP). The resolution provided for creating ‘proper conditions for a free and impartial plebiscite to decide whether the state of Jammu and Kashmir is to accede to India or Pakistan’. Five months later on August 13, the UNCIP adopted another resolution that contained, “The Government of India and the Government of Pakistan reaffirm and agree to enter into consultations with the commission to determine fair and equitable conditions whereby such free expression will be assured”.

The first Prime Minister of India Mr. Jawahar Lal Nehru promised 20 times in front of International community and United Nations for plebiscite in Kashmir. He said in 1957 that “We have given our pledge to the people of Kashmir and subsequently to the United Nations. We stood by it and we stand by it today. Let the people of Kashmir decide.” The Father of India Mr. Mahatma Gandhi also said on 29th July 1947 that,” The People of Kashmir should be asked whether they want to join Pakistan and India. Let them do as they want. The ruler is nothing. People are everything.”

Despite these assertions, India’s non-cooperative attitude has failed all practical efforts to fix the problem. India has always blamed Pakistan for militancy but has never thought of abandoning its obdurate stance and the conflict today remains as far from settlement as ever. Abdul Sattar, the foreign policy expert, opines in his book “New Delhi followed a single track policy of threatening Pakistan, demanding an end to what it called infiltration and labeling the Kashmiri freedom struggle as a terrorist movement”.
The peace efforts derailed in 1998 in the wake of Kargil incident resumed in 2003 and diplomatic ties were restored between the two countries. A bus-service was inaugurated on the Muzaffrabad-Srinagar road in early April 2005 and the hopes for final settlement were rekindled. Musharraf went a step ahead of all his predecessors and made a generous offer to India for resolving Kashmir problem. His four-point liberal formula envisaged:

1. Phased withdrawal of troops
2. Self government for locals
3. No changes in borders of Kashmir and
4. Temporary joint supervision mechanism of Pakistan, India and Kashmir

Perhaps it was the most opportune time for India to acknowledge the magnanimous concessions and move fast towards a lasting settlement but India missed the boat. Later the Mumbai incident undid all what was accomplished after long, hectic efforts and the ‘irreversible’ peace process broke down.

Meanwhile the human rights violations committed by Indian troops have exacerbated the miseries of Kashmiris waging a heroic fight to realize their right to self-determination. Since the beginning of insurgency in Kashmir, thousands of Kashmiris have gone missing. On 27 March 1996, the dead body of human rights lawyer Jalil Andrabi was found in the river Jhelum, 19 days after he had been seen taken away by military personnel.

A 2005 study conducted by Medicins Sans Frontieres found that Kashmiri women are among the worst sufferers of sexual violence in the world, with 11.6% of respondents reporting that they had been victims of sexual abuses. Some surveys have found that in the Kashmir region itself (where the bulk of separatist and Indian military activity is concentrated), popular perception holds that the Indian Armed Forces are more to blame for human rights violations than the separatist groups.

In July 2008, the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in IHK visited identified 1000 secret mass graves constructed in various districts there. Some days later Advocate Imroz Parvez,a member of the aforementioned tribunal, and his family was attacked at their home by state forces and third-degree tactics were used aimed intimidating people who dare to expose blatant human right violations by Indian troops.

Kashmiris have no life safety and human honor. Their women are degraded and humiliated. Since the Indian government crackdown against Kashmiris in the disputed territory of Kashmir began in earnest in January 1990, security forces and Indian army have used rape as a weapon: to punish, intimidate, coerce, humiliate and degrade. Rape by Indian security forces most often occurs during crackdowns, cordon-and-search operations during which men are held for identification in parks or schoolyards while security forces search their homes.

Anuradha Bhasin Janwala, editor Daily Kashmir Times, is reported to have said, “In the last 16 years the women of Kashmir have had to bear male vengeance in silence and they have been unable to find spare to transcend that. While I don’t have exact statistics, estimates given by various organizations place widowed between 30,000 to 40,000 and Orphans between 50,000 to 80,000. The raped women are doubly victimized and have to live the rest of their carrying to stamp of stigma in silence.” Most recently the bodies of two young women, Nilofar and her sister-in-law Asifa Jan, have been found after being raped in a canal in the town of Shopian on May 30, 2009.

According to Eqbal Ahmed, the struggle for justice and peace may be protracted but is rarely lost. Indian leaders boast of their secular and full-blown democracy but have shut their eyes to the nefarious deeds of their forces in IHK and blindly sanction their perpetration. They must realize that the struggle of Kashmiris for the right of self-determination will succeed, come hell or high water.