- And repercussions
Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) has been witnessing a cataclysm of events since the ouster of People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s Mehbooba Mufti’s, coalition government, which led to the imposition of governor rule in June this year. In the same backdrop, Indian governor for IOK, Satya Pal Malik, dissolved IOK’s so-called assembly. Reportedly, Ms Mufti wrote to the governor seeking permission to form a coalition government of PDP, National Conference (NC) and Congress. Respective strength of PDP (29), NC (15) and the Congress (12) is more than the required figure of 44 for the formation of government in IOK.
The permutation and computation put forward by Mehbooba Mufti created panic in the BJP camp in the center and the assembly was subsequently dissolved to prevent any coalition government against the party.
The dissolution of IOK assembly paves the way for fresh elections in the State amid speculation that it could be held with the Indian Lok Sabha polls next year.
Reacting to the abrupt dissolution of assembly, Ms. Mufti remarked “Oddly enough our pleas fell on deaf ears. But who would have thought that the very idea of a grand coalition would give such jitters” to the federal government. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad declared that “It is clear that BJP’s policy is either we or nobody”. Former BJP leader and former Union minister Yashwant Sinha opined that “the dissolution of the assembly is the latest example of the BJP to not let anyone form the government even if that meant bypassing the Constitution”. BJP leadership in a tweet has maintained that “J&K needs a firm administration to deal with terrorism and not a combination of terror-friendly parties”.
BJP’s tweet and rumors of fresh election with Lok Sabha elections, amply expose the mala-fide intents of the party that IOK will remain a corner stone of BJP campaigns for next general elections. BJP leadership will harp on “anti-Pakistan” rhetoric and an alarming increase in the suppressive activities of Indian Armed Forces will be witnessed in the valley during this winter.
IOK has been witnessing brutal suppression for more than seven decades but a major spike was observed, when in 1989, the Kashmiris raised the flag of independence. India deployed more than 700,000 armed forces to suppress the uprising with brute force. Since then more than 100,000 innocent Kashmiris have been martyred, thousands of women were raped, their houses and property razed to the ground and hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri youth are incarcerated without being charged. Thousands are missing. Mass graves are discovered which reveal hundreds of the missing youth surreptitiously buried after they supposedly succumbed to excessive torture by the Indian security forces. Sometimes a few incarcerated Kashmiri youth are killed and produced as terrorists following fake terror attacks.
While the popular and legitimate struggle by Kashmiris was seemingly suppressed after the Indian forces wreaked havoc on them, there have been sporadic out bursts by Kashmiri freedom fighters. On the one hand, draconian laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), TADA and POTA have been used to dehumanize the Kashmiris, on the other, Indian government has declared the just struggle of the Kashmiris as acts of terrorism. The hapless freedom fighters have been branded as terrorists so that India can justify its barbaric suppression.
The dissolution of the legislative assembly will lead to more discontent and uncertainty with the center now calling the shots in IOK while the early elections will pave the way for rigging
In 2014, Narendra Modi’s government assumed the mantle of power with a vengeance against Muslims and other minorities. While Hindu extremists inflicted a reign of terror coupled with intolerance on the Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and lower caste Hindus, the Dalit, the Kashmiris were selected for a special dose of brutality. Narendra Modi had a heinous agenda for IOK.
Firstly, BJP bent backwards to ensure that it won the elections in IOK. This was labeled as the 44+ formula since 44 or more seats are required by any political party to form the government in IOK. Kashmiris, who normally boycott elections in IOK, labeling them illegal, came out in droves to ensure that BJP failed in its machination to win the elections in IOK. The main aim of Modi was that once it was in the driving seat in IOK, it will move to have Article 35A of the Indian Constitution abrogated. Article 35A grants a special status to Kashmir.
By rescinding this Article, Modi wanted to remove the last hurdle in integrating IOK into India and legalize the illegal occupation of the state. Another illegal move by the Modi government has been to resettle non-Muslim Indian Armed Forces Veterans and Hindu Pundits in IOK. Indian Constitution prohibits the resettling of Indians in Jammu and Kashmir, but Modi launched this program of resettlement with the malicious intent of changing the demographics of Kashmir and turn the majority population of Muslims into a minority. Although successive Indian governments have failed to implement the UN Resolutions on Kashmir but Modi was apprehensive that if world opinion pressurised the Indian government to ensure that a plebiscite does take place under the aegis of the UN Security Council for Kashmiris to decide their own fate by declaring whether they want accession to Pakistan or India, the Muslim population of Kashmir would have been turned into a minority and even if they voted for accession to Pakistan, it would become irrelevant as the fake majority of Hindus would vote in favour of India.
On July 8, 2016, popular Kashmiri youth leader Burhan Wani was assassinated by Indian security forces. Thousands of unarmed Kashmiri youth poured out into the Valley to protest the brutal termination of their popular leader. The protesters are being targeted with pellet guns. The pellets have killed over 200 youth so far but by targeting the faces of the innocent Kashmiri children, over 3,600 have been permanently blinded. The protest does not cease nor does Indian brutality, but India remains oblivious to the concerns of human rights organisations.
The dissolution of the legislative assembly will lead to more discontent and uncertainty with the center now calling the shots in IOK while the early elections will pave the way for rigging and attempts by Narendra Modi to be reelected in the center and BJP to secure victory in IOK.
Meanwhile feverish attempts will be made to launch more false flag operations in IOK to blame Pakistan and discredit its diplomatic and moral support to the Kashmiris and brand Pakistan as a terror monger so that the innocent Kashmiris are totally at the mercy of Indian brutish beasts.