Lack of introspection, combined with arrogance and a huge ego will not take us a long way. Ideally Kashmir should have been an independent state, and its sovereignty and territorial integrity secured and guaranteed by India and Pakistan.
India’s ruling party BJP has introduced a measure in parliament to revoke the special constitutional status of occupied Kashmir. People from the rest of India would now have the right to purchase properties in occupied Kashmir and can settle there permanently. Kashmiris fear this move would lead to a demographic transformation of region from majority Muslim to majority Hindu.
As parliament set to make this move a law, Protests and rallies have erupted in occupied Kashmir, with the separatist leaders like Yasin Malik, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir are all under custody. Indian media reported that the government has moved 12,000 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) from different parts of the country to occupied Kashmir.
The move by India’s Hindu nationalist right wing, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to revoke the special constitutional status, is by far the most sweeping move in the disputed Himalayan region in nearly seven decades, which has resulted in chaos and anarchy so far.
Trump Offers Mediation on Kashmir
Kashmiris resent and regret, this nefarious design by BJP a Hindu led party, for this chance, PM Modi had campaigned very hard against article 370 and that it should be abolished. Occupied Kashmir is the only Muslims’ majority state in India which has this status, now this big death blow has occurred, leaving all struggle for freedom in tatters.
Article 35A forbids Indians from outside the state from permanently settling, buying land, holding local government jobs or winning education scholarships in the region.
With the revocation of Article 370, it has automatically revoked the letter of allegiance signed by Maharajah Hari Singh of Kashmir. It should be remembered that, the Maharajah had himself drafted the Article 370 and got it introduced in the Indian constitution, as a precondition to sign the letter of allegiance. Now, Kashmiris have a right to a free and fair referendum more today than ever before.
‘Biggest Democracy’ is a joke in India. They are finding novel ways of terrorizing & abusing Kashmiris’ human rights. Roads are deserted in Srinagar, Communication blackout. Cellphones, internet, landline, and broadband – all jammed, only hope remains. Modi has adopted Isreali model in Kashmir that will not work and backfire. What about UNO resolution, will that be invalid?
Determination of Kashmiri people and the mass upsurge in the occupied land can’t be subsided. Since 1989 they are the prime factor of political scene. The present Sheikh had told it recently. If the people of Sylhet could express their choice on joining India or Pakistan in 1947 by vote why not the Kashmiris? The people of Kashmir through their blood have won over the Indian sword. India can bypass it through their brutal presence but certainly they can’t hold the land for a further 70 years.
Revocation of Article 370 is no maturity, there is no good for the people of South Asia in troubled relations between the neighbors on Kashmir issue. This obsession with territory for both India and Pakistan does nothing but fill the coffers of arms merchants. I think India –the India that lies beyond Lutyens Delhi and its smug media establishment – should be ready to receive warmly the new Pakistan. Both countries must work towards visa less travel for all South Asians, freedom to work anywhere, seamless movement of investment and common human rights based on secular freedoms.
