The bloodied legacy of partition continues
Interestingly enough, Indian media labeled Wani as a militant commander, and an insurgent. Indian masses applauded their “brave” forces on twitter for getting rid of him, and one tweet even went as far as: “Bravo! Now, pls don’t handover his body for a hero’s funeral.”
General Raheel Shareef labeled Kashmir as Pakistan’s jugular vein right after becoming army chief, whereas India has been considering Kashmir as her atoot ang since forever. Kahmiris have been mobilized since decades, but all this emotion-packed action has led nowehere.
As fallout of the killing of Burhan Wani, Kashmir, what we have always called a heaven on Earth, once again appears to be in desperate search of peace. Burhan Wani, a militant commander of the Kashmir-based Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed by the Indian forces on July 8, 2016 – leading to unrest and mass mobilisation, referred to as the Burhan Aftermath. What follows is a storm of anti-Indian protests across 10 districts of the valley, and imposition of curfew in an effort by the struggling Indian Administration to contain the situation and outraged protestors. What could be the consequences? Killing of over 70 Kashmiris, 2 security personnel, and leaving countless others injured.
Sad however it may seem, even sadder is the sluggish, almost non-existent negotiation process between India and Pakistan, and unpromising response of the international community.
The legacy of the partition of Sub-continent is so full of blood and fire that even today India and Pakistan remain stuck in the impasse of enmity. The major bone of contention is Kashmir, which has led the two countries to fight four wars, and many near-war situations. At partition two-third of the Muslim majority Kashmir was occupied by India by force. Muslims rebelled resulting in a war, which was only ceased due to UN intervention. However, that was not the last war or the last uprising. It continues to the day.
The original UN resolution of 1949 asked the two countries to settle the accession of Kashmir to India or Pakistan through plebiscite to ensure democracy, and in a will to account for the aspirations of the Kashmiris. The Plebiscite Administrator was to be nominated by none other than the UN Secretary General. The final disposal of the Armed Forced was also to be decided by the Plebiscite Commission responsible for conducting the plebiscite. Moreover the resolution also stated that the rights of citizens are to be ensured and any sort of bribery and intimidation be prevented. Both Pakistan and India agreed to abide by this resolution.
However, one hardly needs to be a genius to figure out that the UN resolution did not hold for long. It was breached soon by the Indian side, leading to continual agitation in the valley. Although this has been going on for decades now, tensions heightened again in the wake of Burhan Aftermath.
Pakistani youth overall has been empathetic of the situation in Kashmir, which is very evident through social media posts. This remains a fact however, that the world does not view Wani as a hero or a martyr.
Interestingly enough, Indian media labelled Wani as a militant commander, and an insurgent. Indian masses applauded their “brave” forces on twitter for getting rid of him, and one tweet even went as far as: “Bravo! Now, pls don’t handover his body for a hero’s funeral.” Even headlines on BBC website used terms such as “militant” for Wani. All these labels and blame games entirely ignored the original UN resolution. The new face of Kashmiri youth has been labeled as self-styled commander, militant, terrorist, but why have the international forums failed to ask the question why the rights of citizens have not been restored, in the way the UN resolution asked. India backed off from the resolution by refusing to hold the plebiscite. One may wonder, why backing off from a resolution that India agreed to did not make it a criminal in the sight of comity of nations.
Pakistani narrative on the recent episode is of course different. COAS Raheel Shareef, who inspires a lot of respect from Pakistanis and has become a figurehead in this entire war on terror, openly condemned Wani’s murder. He appealed to the world that the aspirations of Kashmiri people should be kept in perspective. He also stated that international community needs to help solve this longstanding dispute in the region. Pakistan’s Foreign Office also condemned Wani’s brutal murder. Pakistani youth overall has been empathetic of the situation in Kashmir, which is very evident through social media posts. This remains a fact however, that the world does not view Wani as a hero or a martyr. They rather view him as a self-styled militant commander, who was defying Indian presence and had taken up arms for the purpose.
Undoubtedly, Burhan Wani episode is a significant one, and has enraged Kashmiris. However, this is neither the first nor the last probably. Until the fate of Kashmir has been decided through democratic means, sanctioned by the UN, this heaven on earth will keep bleeding. Indians repeatedly warn Pakistan to forget about Kashmir, and Pakistan due to its own scarred stature remains unable to take a stand on the issue. Whenever, the topic of Kashmir is brought up in a negotiation, India at once nullifies the issue by highlighting issues of cross-border movements.
Pakistan, India and international community need to realize the potential of Kashmir to contribute to the international economy through tourism, handicrafts, fruits and shawls. However, a war-torn Kashmir can hardly be any good. Unless Kashmir issue is resolved, South Asia cannot see unqualified peace. Moreover, Pakistan needs to realise that her voice will hardly be heard unless it solves its own internal security matters and gets rid of the terrorist image it has generated for years now.
BBC website once presented seven plausible solutions to Kashmir issue. A link to these is available in the online version of this article.
Negotiation tables should be opened for Pakistan, India and Kashmir to participate with international arbitration. And a plausible solution should be framed that suits the needs of all stakeholders.
