News Analysis |
Minister of state in PMO Dr. Jitendra Singh on Thursday claimed that there was no “Kashmir issue except taking back Azad Kashmir from Pakistan for which the Indian parliament under the Congress government passed a unanimous resolution in 1994”. He also attacked criticism by stating that anti-militant operations and NIA raids would continue because “there is no U-turn in the BJP’s fight against terrorism”.
Singh’s claims follow the designation of former Information Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma by New Delhi to parley with stakeholders in the Kashmir dispute. The stakeholders include the APHC, a coalition of pro-Independence parties, whom the BJP vowed never to talk to.
India is faced with the problem of Kashmir due to a variety of reasons. Globally it is a black mark on Indian reputation and the Achilles heel of its claim to be a responsible, peaceful nation.
Meanwhile, APHC leaders including Shabbir Ahmad Dar, Muhammad Iqbal Mir, and Muhammad Ahsan Untoo led an anti-India protest in Srinagar on Wednesday, a day ahead of 27th October when India trampled all international norms and democratic values and landed its troops in the territory. In their statements, several leaders termed the 27th October 1947 as the darkest day in the history of Jammu and Kashmir.
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A complete shutdown is being observed in Occupied Kashmir and rallies are being taken out in world capitals. Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and world over are observing Black Day on Friday (October 27) to mark the illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India.
The Kashmir Challenge
The region of Kashmir is a flashpoint between the two nuclear-armed powers of South Asia. The dispute began when during the partition of the British occupied subcontinent, the refusal of the area’s hereditary ruler Hari Singh to comply with his people’s wishes led to a rebellion.
It is the same myth that AJK is the missing piece of the Kashmiri problem that the Indian minister alluded to as the black day approaches and the peaceful valley braces for more violence and tyranny.
Faced with losing his fiefdom to a people’s army aided by tribesman from across the border, the ruler acquiesced to India in return for military aid. This led to a war between newly found India and Pakistan and later on the division of Kashmir into Azad Kashmir and IOK.
After the UN ordered ceasefire and subsequent UN resolutions calling for a plebiscite, India backtracked from its earlier agreements and started a campaign of militarization to subjugate the part of Kashmir in its control. The Kashmiri people continued their efforts for self-determination.
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However, an armed component of the peaceful self-determination campaign emerged in 1987 after the Indian government rigged elections in IOK to stop pro-Independence candidates from winning. The armed struggle continued despite increased Indian brutality that turned Kashmir into the world’s most militarized region.
The dispute began when during the partition of the British occupied subcontinent, the refusal of the area’s hereditary ruler Hari Singh to comply with his people’s wishes led to a rebellion.
However, Indian brutality was unable to break the pro self-determination efforts by the Kashmiri people. Since then, it has been faced with continuous waves of unrest and popular uprisings in the occupied valley. The latest uprising has erupted with the death of the famous rebel leader Burhan Wani and strengthened due to subsequent inhuman state tactics like human shields and pellet guns.
Indian Impasse
India is faced with the problem of Kashmir due to a variety of reasons. Globally it is a black mark on Indian reputation and the Achilles heel of its claim to be a responsible, peaceful nation. Internally, it flies in the face of government claims of a united India rising to heights of glory.
Singh’s claims follow the designation of former Information Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma by New Delhi to parley with stakeholders in the Kashmir dispute.
It was an effort by the state to portray that there was no problem in IOK but all the trouble started from the free part of Kashmir called AJK. The constructed myth asserted that all will be fine once the missing part of Kashmir joins the Union.
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This nationalist myth has been constructed in order to divert internal attention from state policies in the occupied valley. It is the same myth that AJK is the missing piece of the Kashmiri problem that the Indian minister alluded to as the black day approaches and the peaceful valley braces for more violence and tyranny.