The Kashmir movement has entered its “final phase,” but it is difficult to “predict the duration of this phase,” according to a Pakistani scholar.
Prof. Khursheed Ahmad, an economist and public intellectual who shuttles between Lahore and London, said in his weekly column published by the World News TV UK website: “The present stage of the Kashmir movement is effective and decisive…There are some signs that it is the last stage of this movement.”
Kashmir Movement in ‘final phase’: Indian occupation the hurdle
“The real issue is the Indian occupation. The internationally settled solution to this problem is a plebiscite for the right of self-determination. This issue is the central point. India wants that people should forget the UN resolutions on Kashmir…The main issue of the right of self-determination should be raised at every level,” the professor said.
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Kashmir’s popular Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani died fighting Indian forces in July 2016, which triggered a mass anti-India uprising. Since then, Kashmir has been witnessing a tumultuous routine with regular anti-militancy operations and arrests.
Kashmir issue should take centre stage among national priorities
In his detailed analysis, Ahmad, who has been writing on the issue for the last several decades, said: “we all should adopt an effective and consistent line of thinking and action. We can delay some matters in the struggle of our collective life as a nation. We can ignore a few things for some reasons. But we cannot ignore Kashmir or give it a second position as a Pakistani and a Muslim. It must have a main position.”
The BBC witnessed tear gas being used to disperse the largest protest since a lockdown was imposed in Indian-administered Kashmir – a protest the Indian government said didn’t happen
[Tap to expand] https://t.co/lPudV9uez3 pic.twitter.com/aUhwWRkqme
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 10, 2019
India has been especially barbaric in its response to Kashmiris. It is adamant on the fact that the Kashmir freedom movement is backed and sponsored by Pakistan through alleged ‘proxies’ whereas it is common knowledge that the movement is wholly indigenous. It is a point of particular emphasis that the Indian government censors most Kashmiri protests, and its heavy handed replies, from the media.
What’s next for Kashmir?
On Aug. 5 last year, India scrapped the region’s limited autonomy under Article 370 of the Indian constitution, downgraded the status of the disputed region and also divided it into two centrally-administered territories.
Read more: India extends gag on 4G in Kashmir
India has managed to assimilate the region into two Union territories, each with a governor appointed by the centre.
India and Pakistan have been engaged in a diplomatic stalemate since August 5th 2019, with each side not letting any opportunity to humiliate the other pass by. India accuses the Kashmir freedom movement of being backed and sponsored by Pakistan through alleged ‘proxies’. Pakistan claims that it is common knowledge that the movement is wholly indigenous. It maintains that it has no links to the Kashmiri people who protest for their rights, and repeatedly asks the world community to intervene.
Meanwhile, Indians maintain that the summer of 2020 is going to be extremely important for the security forces to root out ‘terrorism’ so that people are able to choose their representatives without any fear during the Assembly elections likely to be held in 2021.
This year may also be one of the last opportunities for Kashmiris to oppose the unilateral move by the central government abrogating their special status, and of demanding that they choose their own representatives.
Summer 2020 is, therefore, a watershed period that will decide whether J&K gets its much-awaited peace or whether its people are to wait in damnation for a longer time.
Kashmir: no-man’s land
Kashmir is held by India and Pakistan in parts but claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also controlled by China. Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars — in 1948, 1965 and 1971, two of them over Kashmir. Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or unification with neighboring Pakistan. Thousands of people have been killed and tortured in the conflict since 1989, according to several human rights organizations.
On Aug. 5 last year, India scrapped the region’s limited autonomy under Article 370 of the Indian constitution, downgraded the status of the disputed region and also divided it into two centrally-administered territories.
Anadolu with additional input by GVS News Desk