About time voice of Kashmiris is heard
1972 saw the birth of the Simla Agreement, which states that the two countries would ‘settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations,’ turning Kashmir ceasefire into the Line of Control (LoC), which is the military control line between the Indian and Pakistani parts of Kashmir.
The year 1947 witnessed India-Pakistan partition coming into place and consequently marked the beginning of Kashmir conflict.
The region’s location served as a blessing and a curse, giving Kashmir an opportunity to choose between the two countries.The decision to remain an independent entity, however, left Kashmir in turmoil.
War after war between Pakistan and India over Kashmir led to an insurgency. 1972 saw the birth of the Simla Agreement, which states that the two countries would ‘settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations, ’ turning Kashmir ceasefire into the Line of Control (LoC), which is the military control line between the Indian and Pakistani parts of Kashmir.
Following the dispute, in the late 1900s, the state elections in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) propelled a pro-independence insurgency.
As the years passed, the insurgency escalated as violence against civilians by both sides was widespread and the Kashmiri militants continued training in India and Pakistan deploying hundreds of thousands of troops in Jammu and Kashmir.
Over the years, militant groups have targeted government officials and security forces. The violence continues as civilians continue to get targeted by these groups, killing over 2,000 people in 2002-2003.
After 2004, the fatalities saw a downward trend as violence in Kashmir continued to decline. From 1,800 the casualties declined to a 1,000 in 2006.
In 2009, officials reported 377 deaths, a 25-per-cent decrease from 2008. In 2010 thousands of indigenous youth pelted security officials with rocks, burnt government offices and attacked the railway stations. The Indian government blamed separatists and Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group for stoking the 2010 protests.
In 2013, a decade after the 2003 ceasefire agreement, tensions between India-Pakistan and militants grew as fatalities increased from 117 in 2012 to 181 in 2013, including 100 militants, 61 security officials, and 20 civilians.
Following the end of the ceasefire, the fatalities increased to 193 as the insurgency intensified in 2014.
According to two reports in The Washington Post and India Today in 2015, Pakistan’s military accused India of encouraging terrorism in Pakistan. Similarly, in June, Indian Prime Minister NarendraModi claimed that Pakistan promoted terrorism in India. This led to intensified cross-border fighting from July to September. The tensions were reduced further after the visit of the Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and PM Modi to Pakistan.
The recent killing of Burhan Muzaffar Wani, who was also known as the ‘poster boy’ of the Hizbul Mujahideen sparked violence in parts of Kashmir. He was shot dead by security forces in a planned operation on July 8, 2016, along with three other militants.
He joined the militant outfit in 2010 when he was just 15 years of age. He was known as the ‘new-age militant’ who recruited local youth, educated the middle-class, and used to leverage social media knowledge.
Burhan was the first local militant, after 1990, when major changes took place in the militant movement in Kashmir- one being the fall of local participation and increase in power of outfits such as Harkat-ul-Mujahideen,Lashkar-e-Taiba, Al-Badr and Jaish-e-Mohammad, with almost entirely non-local cadre.
He was not afraid to reveal the identities, which is why he could become the rallying point of a renewed indigenous militancy, giving rise to a potent theme for fresh recruitment.
Ever since his death, protesters have demonstrated against his killing and repeated incidents of stone pelting have been reported. Not only that, curfew had been imposed in parts of IHK, sparking violent protests.
Burhan was the first local militant, after 1990, when major changes took place in the militant movement in Kashmir- one being the fall of local participation and increase in power of outfits such as Harkat-ul-Mujahideen,Lashkar-e-Taiba, Al-Badr and Jaish-e-Mohammad, with almost entirely non-local cadre.
The Kashmir issue, by far has the most number of casualties. It has been a ‘war-like’ situation ever since the curfew imposed in most parts of IHK which led to shutting down businesses, schools, banks and suspending mobile and internet services. Furthermore, Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Yasin Malik called for a strike to protest against the killing of Wani along with a three-day shutdown in Kashmir to protest against the killing.
Despite both governments attempting to curb the situation, the situations seem to worsen as the number of brutalities has increased again after the decline seen previously.
While talking to DNA Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) spokesperson, QamarZamanKaira said, “Indian government wants to crush the freedom movement of Kashmir.”
“It wants to use the policy of power over the rights,” he added.
The ongoing situation in Kashmir is only to build pressure within Kashmiris in order to break their morale. The continuous torture faced by Kashmiris, including the harassment faced by the women, is about the same, which has been more than 10, 000 cases reported from 1989 to August 2016.
The recent uprisings have been pointed by every country even India itself. The Indian population has condemned the recent uprisings and the use of pellet guns. PM Modi condemned the violence as well saying that the use of pellet guns have violated human rights and shouldn’t have been used.
Use of weapons
The Indian government started using pellet guns after 2010 as one of three ‘non-lethal’ weapons for crowd control. Pepper Sprays and Taser guns were the other two weapons used.
Although claimed to be ‘non-lethal’ pellet guns have had a high number of casualties, including permanent eye injuries, however, the law gives the armed forces a relatively free hand to use lethal force, especially against suspected militants.
“The idea of using pellet guns is to terrorise the youth, who have been actively taking part in the uprisings,” said Dr IqbalChawla, Dean of Arts and Social Sciences at Punjab University.
“It didn’t work well for the Indian government as the counter-protective act was noticed worldwide as the indigenous movement of the Kashmiris will lead to freedom,” he added.
In order for pellet guns to minimise its impact, it should be fired from a distance of 500 feet and aimed below the waist. Hospitals say they have treated around 600 patients with eye injuries in the last two months, many of whom will never recover full vision, whereas more than 9,000 civilians have been injured by pellet guns, over 4,000 personnel injured in the riots.
‘The use of pellet guns is to inflict lifelong pain upon the civilians,” Zaman said.
He elaborated, saying that the strategy behind the infliction of the life long injuries is to depress the uprising. Psychologically harassing the civilians only to leave them scarred and afraid of the consequences of further protests.
However, the Kashmiri’s are unstoppable now, as they want justice and have sacrificed enough lives.
The total number of killings from 1989 to August 2016 has been 94, 504, whereas death toll after BurhanWani’s death with the use of pellet guns have increased to 92.
Human Rights Watch has strongly denounced the utilisation of pellet guns on protesters and called it a failure of authorities to regard fundamental human rights.
As per a Sky News report, the Indian paramilitary fired up to 3,800 cartridges amongst July and August, each containing 450 metallic balls, totalling up to 1.7 million pellets.
Authorities lifted the curfew in many parts of IHK late August, yet schools, shops and numerous banks stay shut while the residents struggle with a communications blackout.
“The Indian government strategy to scare them has failed as Kashmiris won’t stop until they get freedom,” the PPP spokesperson added.
He stated that the Indian government is not going to accept the freedom as a right of the Kashmiris which will only escalate things further and won’t solve things. Thus, just by dedicating an Independence day to remember the Kashmir victims won’t do good and that this issue should be raised and discussed worldwide on forums, not only after a particular issue but on a regular basis to decrease the brutalities and eventually, come to an end.
Lastly, Dr Iqbal said that the Kashmiris are unstoppable now and that has put pressure on the Indian government despite their attempt to distract people from the Kashmir issue by focusing on the Balochistan, Afghanistan issue.
“India will have to step down after the extensive coverage the issue has received after the recent casualties,” he concluded.
