Kashmir , Reannexation & Status Quo Ante .

It is important that we all who are on social media platforms give the correct messaging as well as ask people what needs to be done to undo the yoke of occupation .

There is a video going viral about the foreign minister of Pakistan who has not taken proper care of giving the right perspective about what #Kashmiris stand for .

There are two reactions which need to be put forward which are follows explained by

1) https://youtu.be/bhWu7_WGetM Analysis by Mr ABDUL Basit sahib ( previous ambassador of Pakistan in India ) which I have reacted as follows on twitter “Very good analysis . We #Kashmiris consider these Gupkar signatories #ApologistsForIndianOccupationInKashmir & are fighting for #KashmirRight2SelfDetermination with option of #Independence #Pakistan #India””

2) MR Ghulam-Nabi Fai sahib has written a document “Only autonomy is not acceptable to the people of Kashmir. Azadi [freedom] and self-determination is the only catch phrase of resistance on the streets,” the US-based activist said.

Fai said several ideas have been floated in world capitals to solve the long-standing dispute, including “self-governance or autonomy for Kashmir within the Indian Union.”

“Policy makers view the Kashmir dispute as a problem between Srinagar and New Delhi, which can be solved by improving their relations,” he said. “Pakistan, they feel, can be mollified easily.”

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/kashmir-joint-declaration-absolute-fallacy-lobbyist/1954237 .

My take on the above is the following :
“”I think we all need to introspect as we including the govt of Pakistan is giving wrong messaging not only to our people but also to the world .

We need to act on bringing all activists on three points together

1)#KashmirRight2SelfDetermination
2)#ApologistsForIndianOccupationInKashmir in regard to signatories of the Gupkar
3)#5thAugustDateOfDeliverenceFromIndia instead of it being a black day .

In order to explain all the above I had written a document for a webinar on 5th August which is relevant for all the above which I reproduce below which has all the explanations , challenges and the way ahead .

Challenges & Option

The date of August 5th 2019 will be etched for ever in the memory of all #Kashmiris as the #DateOfDeliverenceFromIndia and should be remembered as such and not as a black day .

This is important as by telling it as black day the #accessionists or #occupationapologists like National conference and PDP and others who will cash on it and own it like July 13 th 1931 and fool people again to get back Statehood and even getting back 370 , 35A like they sold previously Greater Autonomy and self rule back as they have already starting by giving the interviews and writing articles which suddenly have come up with lot of vigour . So We need to call it as #DateOfDeliverenceFromIndia to set the record straight and call out these occupation apologists .

This date all the narratives of India were decimated like #Democracy #Secularism #Justice #Economy which these ascetionists or occupation apologists would announce from rooftops and took the opportunity anywhere and everywhere that the future of Kashmiris is safe and better with India .

Let me give what we Kashmiris know by which all the four of Democracy , Secularism, Justice and Economy are all false and in the limited time I will try to explain :

Democracy

• We know that the elections uptill now have been held under gunpoint which we know by seeing the elections held in Indian Administered Kashmir which is supposed to be one of the important pillar of democracy as India wanted to prove to the world that Kashmiris are with India by their participation while the ascetionists/occupation apologists would say it was for administrative reasons for development and jobs etc the same thing the Indian state told to their Parliament at the time of abrogation of 370 article .
• We also know that in a democracy the people are asked what they want and as we know we were never asked about whether we want 370 or 35A removed not to speak about the plebiscite promised through UNSC resolutions or which is part the basic document of Accession which they tout all over the world .
• The Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly passed on 20th June 2000 a resolution for the restoration of autonomy to the state and demanded that the india and the state government ”take positive and effective steps for its implementation”. The resolution came at the end of a six-day special session convened to discuss the recommendations made by the nine-member State Autonomy Committee (SAC), which was framed to ”examine the question of restoration of autonomy” to Jammu and Kashmir. . http://www.jammu-kashmir.com/archives/archives2000/kashmir20000626a.html What happened to that , it was treated like tissue paper and thrown in the bin . That is example of Indian democracy .
• People who would like to know how all their narratives have been decimated need to read this article I have come across where the author has pointed out that their narrative of that they came to kashmir because of the Pakhtoon attack on kashmir leading to the accession document which is itself doubtful as the original has never been shown and also was conditional which was that the people of Kashmir need to be asked by a independent vote their choice . http://www.raiot.in/narratives-on-kashmir-dismantling-the-facade/

Secularism

• The less said now about this as the world is recognising that India is no longer a secular country and is becoming a Hindutva country .
• Ask an Indian Muslim not to speak about asking a Kashmiri Muslims about secularism of India . Indian Muslims were cheated/ advised wrongly by people like Maulana Azad and they are seeing the result while in our case Sheikh Abdullah banked on the secularism of india and we have seen and are seeing that how laws are introduced just because we are a majority Muslim area like the DOMOCILE LAW introduced by which as per latest article already 369300 certificates have been issued from June (Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) when the online facility was launched, and over 2.9 lakh people were granted domicile certificates in Jammu against 79,300 in the Valley.) . It is becoming clear that it has been passed to force a demographic change in Kashmir by allowing entry to outsiders.
• Role of police in india : which shows what secularism is like in #india and an example is the following in a recent article by a person who indulged in the recent riots in Delhi india “””The 22-year-old told The Caravan that the Delhi Police gave Hindu rioters free reign to target Muslims. “They told us to go and attack inside, in the Muslim areas, that they won’t come there … They said, ‘Show us that you’re Hindu,’” he said. He added that a police official told him that the Hindu rioters were being “given a chance,” and that “when we get a message from above, I will stop you. But until then, do what you want.’” ) . This is a pattern in all communal riots in india and they are talking of secularism. https://caravanmagazine.in/amp/crime/delhi-rioter-testimony-hindu-revenge-muslims-police-free-reign?__twitter_impression=true Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally disputed territory. The Indian Domicile Law allows for the settlement of Indian population into an occupied area. This is in direct contravention of international law. These actions are prohibited by Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Justice :

• Prisoners : The no of prisoners After August 5th 2019 run in thousands and still are in jails although some have been released . There are hundreds of Kashmiris in jails outside in Indian jails and particularly during COVID times although everywhere government have released on bail such people .The system of justice is such that the Habeaus corpus cases were delayed and we have seen that instead of 15 days or maximum 30 days to decide such cases while in our case the highest court of their country did not decide even for months together and I personally also suffered while our President Bar Association Mr Mia Qayum was just released after almost one year with no decision by their highest court forcing one of the human right defender to comment on Twitter “If these 3 influential Kashmiris, ( me , Mia Qayoom & Omar Abdullah ) who could approach SC of India, can’t get the appropriate orders, one can imagine how ordinary citizens continue to suffer endlessly when incarcerated.””( https://twitter.com/khurramparvez/status/1288441660091723778?s=21
As per the Bar association
• Organisations have gone to court regarding abrogation of Article 370 and we know what is the fate . On 28 August 2019, the Supreme Court of India agreed to hear multiple petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories. It constituted a five-judge bench for the same.The court issued notices to the government, seeking a reply to the petitions . The Supreme Court heard the petitions on 30 September 2019. It allowed the central government to submit its replies to the petitions in 30 days and fixed 14 November 2019 as the next date of hearing. The petitioners wanted the court to issue an injunction against reorganisation of the state into two union territories but the court declined to issue any injunction. Lo and behold the two union territories came into existence on 31 October 2019 as planned. #Kashmiris are still waiting including the Ascetionist / occupation apologists parties like JKNC even went to the extent that they have hope that 370 will be reinstated .

• Ayodhya verdict : on November 9th, 2019, the Supreme Court of India announced its verdict on the highly contentious Babri Masjid case. The Babri Masjid was a mosque in the city of Ayodhya. The city is believed to be the birthplace of the Hindu God Rama. In 1992, hordes of Hindutva-nationalist mobs demolished the Babri Masjid. On November 9th, 2019, the Supreme Court announced its decision that while it was a criminal act to have demolished the mosque in 1992, permission was given for a Ram Temple to be built on the site of the demolished mosque. This verdict was based on faith (of one community), not evidence; and it seriously undermined the secular principle of the Indian constitution. The blatant injustice of this verdict was devastating to the Muslim community and all the Indians who believed in the idea of India as a secular republic, and it brought questions on the independent nature of judiciary, executive and the legislature – key to stable democracy.

• Justice for Kashmiris is nowhere to be seen . If we look to the history of laws passed by the so called legislature were never agreed or implemented exposing both the democracy or justice for kashmir . Stark example in case of law passed by the J&K legislature which never got Presidents assent “The Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Permit for Resettlement in (or Permanent Return to) the State Act, 1982, which gave legal cover allowing J&K residents and their descendants who had moved to Pakistan from March 1, 1947 to May 14, 1954 to return to India. The mass killing of Muslims in Jammu in 1947 and its ramifications were the main reason why the original law was introduced when the J&K government was led by Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. Though there are no official figures, many media reports from 1948 put the number of Muslims killed at 2-2.5 lakh. “””and was referred to Supreme Court of india and remained pending there for 19 years and was returned with the answer “Returned, respectfully,unanswered”. The same year, the apex court, however, ordered a stay on the operation of the Act “” Using the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, the BJP-led government at the Centre has scrapped a 37-year-old law that permitted the return of J&K residents who fled to Pakistan from 1947 to 1954. The Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Permit for Resettlement in (or Permanent Return to) the State Act, 1982, which gave legal cover allowing J&K residents and their descendants who had moved to Pakistan from March 1, 1947 to May 14, 1954 to return to India, was one of the 153 state laws and Governors’ Acts abolished under the J&K Reorganisation Act.The Act was passed by parliament on August 5, after the Government of India read down Article 370 of the Constitution.https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/m.thewire.in/article/government/centre-jk-residents-emigrate-pakistan-returnr/amp.

• The decision of Afzal Guroo shahid execution is well known particularly for taking care of “Collective Conscience of the nation “( India ) . It is considered and is a JUDICIAL MURDER for all times

Economy

Being President of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry (2006-2009 ) as well as President of Jammu & Kashmir Joint Chamber of Commerce & Industry ( JKJCCI ) ( Body representing chambers on the both sides of cease fire line ) I will now talk about economy .
• Already as per Kashmir chamber there is a loss of 5.3 billion dollars which is roughly 31% of our GDP from August 5th 2019 although Kashmir has had lockdown of 3000 days in the last thirty years and is all because of non-settlement of Kashmir which will roughly amount to 60 billion dollars

• Economy we all know from 1947 has not been a priority and there are examples of exploiting out resources by the Indian state the most blatant one being the Power Projects based on our water resources . With total potential of 20000 MWS on run of river projects the tapping of only 3297 MW out of which power projects by the Indian state in kashmir is more than 53% and also that they were never returned back although the cost of putting them have been recovered long time ago and they did not even give back to the state although even their expert committees like Rangarajan commitee had recommended for return of some projects to make the Indian administered kashmir financially independent.
• India never wanted the economy of #Kashmir as self reliant and whatever sector is creating employment and treasure is by local people particularly in Horticulture , Handicrafts which after 5 th August 2019 got decimated by logistic lock and internet lockdown . Tourism similarly before the COVID was completely decimated with the Indian state on the pretext of security asked tourists to leave kashmir before 5th August 2019 .
• A civil society group ( Concerned Citizen group headed by Former foreign and finance minister MR Yashwant Sinha ) has now even suggested that Kashmiri farmers and businessmen be compensated “for their economic losses which were the direct result of unilateral action by the government.” This has been demand from the KCCI for a long time and not from August 2019 but from 1990 if not 1947 because of non settlement of Kashmir which is no fault of Kashmiris or Kashmiri businessmen . https://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2020/08/02/indian-activist-group-calls-for-release-of-kashmir-political-prisoners-441968/

CHALLENGES :

The challenges I had enumerated in my blog https://economykashmir.home.blog/2020/07/02/kashmir-regional-and-international-dimensions/ of breaking the status quo I had enumerated when I spoke in the Istanbul conference and which are enumerated again and are

  1. Getting the Right Of Self Determination
  2. Stoppage of Demographic change
  3. Halt Human right violations
  4. Release of Prisoners
    All the above had been pointed by the OIC declaration also and
    We need to add to the above four a fifth burning issue and that is
  5. Stopping of conversion of all the villages and Mohallas to be controlled by giving open spaces to army / paramilitary forces around these places and thereby creating every place into #MilitaryGarrisons by application of change in law by which any place or land can be declared “Strategic “ by the army without no objection from civilian authorities. https://www.article-14.com/post/2-legal-tweaks-make-it-easier-for-armed-forces-to-take-over-land-in-j-k

Options to break the status quo

I in my presentation in the Istanbul conference I had kmentioned the following to break the status quo in favour of #Kashmiris .

• Declaring of whole Pakistan Administered a Free Economic zone with advocation of the Indian administered Kashmir also to be declared the same with help of friendly countries to india like Saudia Arabia , UAE and even the USA
• Declaring AJK govt as the base camp of our freedom movement
• If the above is not possible have a govt in exile where AJK govt is also represented .

As the situation is going to worse day by day we need to put in place the strategy of getting the 5 challenges enumerated

  1. Getting the Right Of Self Determination
  2. Stoppage of Demographic change
  3. Halt Human right violations
  4. Release of Prisoners
  5. Stopping of conversion of all the villages and Mohallas to be controlled by giving open spaces to army / paramilitary forces around these places and thereby creating every place into #MilitaryGarrisons

This can be achieved according to me by the options given and enumerated above like 1) Free economic zone 2) AJk govt as base camp for freedom movement 3) govt in exile

Besides the above it is important we do the following

  1. Make our narrative known to people all around the world through our diaspora which has been done but needs further strategy to make it a people’s movement in all the countries . It has to be besides Human right violations the Right Of Self Determination which should be the narrative everywhere with everyone . The difference should be such that a common person will talk of atrocities of india in kashmir and not only the cashmere sweaters etc which they know of .
  2. Make more aggressive moves in the UNSC to implement their own resolutions .
  3. Explore the possibility of declaring kashmir as a trustee country under the UN Trusteeship Council, one of the principal organs of the United Nations (UN), designed to supervise the government of trust territories and to lead them to self-government or independence or implementation of the security council resolutions.
  4. Go to the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court for issues of Domicile law , the issue of Settler colonialism , prisoners release , human right violations and also laws like PSA and AFSPA particularly when Kashmir is a disputed area .
  5. Kashmir BDS (Boycott ,Divestment and Sanctions ) movement against India . This needs to be properly planned and executed as now India is touted as a great area for investment particularly after China is being projected as the bad state which it is not .
  6. Need of international icons in entertainment/ sports field to tell our story
  7. As a part of UNCIP work based on UN Security Council resolutions there is a need to maintain and strengthen the AJK forces ( militia )
  8. Pakistan needs to use its good office to communicate that the Chinese governments need to negotiate the ladakh borders with legitimate representatives of J&K because India is not a stakeholder to decide the borders .

We are sure if the above steps are taken on mission mode it will not be far that Kashmir will reach the destination the people desire and the last point I need to raise is that all people when they talk of Kashmir and their demand should be the #RightOfSelfDetermination and I would take the opportunity to say that Kashmiris trust the hon’ble Prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan who in an interview to German DWTV said and I quote “Let the people of Kashmir decide what they want . Pakistan is ready for a referendum or a plebiscite . Let them decide whether they want to remain with Pakistan or to be independent “ unquote . I hope all the other stakeholders will also subscribe to this .

I will end with this one from our late Kashmiri poet Shahid ali

“We shall meet again, in Srinagar,
by the gates of the Villa of Peace,
our hands blossoming into fists
till the soldiers return the keys
and disappear. “””