- India will keep on refusing to accept ground realities
Reportedly Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered in New Delhi by Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood last week, while congratulating him for winning the franchise of the Indian people for second stint in power also underscored the need for working together to address the challenges faced by people of both the countries and advancing goals of regional peace, progress and prosperity through collective efforts. He also underscored Pakistan’s consistent policy of peaceful neighbourhood and the vision of working for durable peace and stability in South Asia with peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues between the two countries including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. A similar letter has also been written by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to his Indian counterpart.
Nobody in his right mind can take issue with this peace overture towards India, expressed in conformity with the diplomatic norms and principles of inter-state relations and the need for peaceful coexistence, resolving the disputes that mar relations between the two countries and working collectively for regional peace and prosperity. But the unfortunate reality is that India has always failed to reciprocate peace initiatives by Pakistan either by remaining indifferent to them or finding excuses to thwart the opportunities for dialogue. The BJP government under Modi has upped the ante against Pakistan and made persistent efforts to malign and isolate Pakistan, accusing her of exporting terrorism and unleashing relentless propaganda on the global level to rub in that notion. The Indian government has used the Uri and Pulwama incidents to ratchet up animosity against Pakistan instead of recognizing the ground realities and removing the irritant that bedevil relations between the two nuclear neighbours.
Expecting Modi to extend a hand of friendship towards Pakistan under the present regional and global geopolitical environment is rather unrealistic
India is not at all interested in resolving the Kashmir dispute. Notwithstanding the fact that there are UN resolutions on Kashmir calling for a plebiscite to settle the question of the accession of the state to either of the two countries, recognition of Kashmir as a disputed territory by India in the Simla agreement and even talks held by the two countries under the auspices of the UK and the USA in 1963, in which India recognized status of Kashmir as disputed territory, it has been claiming Kashmir as its integral part since 1957 when the constituent assembly of Indian-Held Kashmir declared accession of Kashmir to India; a move which was repudiated by the UN through its resolutions 91 and 122, clearly indicating that the issue could only be resolved through a plebiscite held under the auspices of the UN.
But it is regrettable to note that instead of abiding by its international commitments and obligations on Kashmir, India under Modi is trying to even change the special status of Kashmir given in the Indian constitution and a persistent campaign is in the offing to have Articles 370 and 35 A of the Indian Constitution repealed. It is pertinent to point out that the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, in a land mark judgment in October 2015, held that Article 370 of the Indian constitution was a permanent provision and could not be abrogated, repealed or even amended. It further ruled that Jammu & Kashmir retained limited sovereignty and did not merge with the Dominion of India after Partition in 1947. It was a very significant development that not only negates the Indian claims of Kashmir being integral part of India but reconfirms the status of the state as a disputed territory. The existence of Article 370 also is affirmation of the fact that Kashmir was not part of the Indian Union like other states. Another very pertinent point to be noted is that Jammu & Kashmir has its own constitution and India has its own. You cannot have two constitutions in a single state. Therefore, in legal and constitutional terms, India and Jammu & Kashmir are two separate entities.
Modi, however, undeterred by legal and constitutional constraints, is hell-bent on changing the status of Kashmir. His government is also using ruthless force to subdue the freedom struggle in Kashmir which, in the backdrop of the martyrdom of Burhan Wani on 8 July 2016, picked up momentum. Indian forces are freely using live ammunition and pellet guns to kill and maim the Kashmiri youth. Not a single day goes by without Indian forces killing three to four Kashmiris during search operations and breaking up of anti-Indian rallies. The Valley remains cut off from the rest of the world due to frequent curfews and suspensions of mobile and internet services. However, in spite of all these restrictions the human rights organizations within India, and international bodies like Amnesty International, have been continuously compiling reports on the abuse of human rights in Indian-Held Kashmir. But unfortunately the world community remains criminally indifferent to the plight of the people of Kashmir. The Modi government particularly is encouraged by the USA and its western allies to persist with its oppression in Kashmir as they see the whole scenario through the prism of their strategic and commercial interests.
Modi has won a second term with a thumping majority premised on changing the status of Kashmir and an anti-Pakistan stance, amply demonstrated in the backdrop of the Pulwama incident. He is a man who even is on record as having criticized the Indian leadership at the time of Partition for having accepted the division of the Subcontinent into two states. So expecting him to change his stance on Kashmir and to extend a hand of friendship towards Pakistan under the present regional and global geopolitical environment is rather unrealistic. That however does not mean that Pakistan should stop making efforts to change the existing scenario of animosity and tensions between the two countries through resolution of the contentious issues, including Kashmir. Taking the matter to the UN Security Council, as India did in 1948, is also an option available under the UN Charter.
