ISLAMABAD, 31 October 2003 — The people of Kashmir observed Oct. 27 as a black day to protest the accession of Kashmir to India in 1947 by its Hindu Maharajah. Since then, the people of Kashmir have kept up a struggle for independence despite brutal repression. They launched a movement in 1989 to secure their rights, but India has stepped up its repression, especially since the BJP assumed power in 1998. Over 80,000 Kashmiris have been killed, many more incarcerated, thousands of women raped and countless homes and villages destroyed.
The Kashmir issue has bedeviled relations between India and Pakistan and can trigger a war between the neighbors if the issue is not resolved soon.
Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US, India sought to crush the struggle for independence by calling it terrorism. Taking advantage of the US’ war on terror, India is now justifying its savage repression in the name of combating terrorism, and adopting policies that can only be described as state terrorism.
Kashmir is perhaps the oldest dispute on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council, to which it was referred by India toward the end of 1947. When Britain ended its colonial rule in the subcontinent in 1947, the principle was accepted that contiguous Muslim majority areas would form the state of Pakistan. As there were nearly 600 princely states owing allegiance to the British Indian government, they were given the option of acceding either to India or Pakistan, taking into account their geographical location, and the composition of their population. Kashmir, with almost 80 percent Muslim population, was expected to accede to Pakistan. However, its Hindu Maharajah hesitated, joining neither one nor the other, and using brute force to suppress agitation among the Muslims.
As Muslim tribesmen from adjoining areas of Pakistan came to the aid of the Kashmiri Muslims, the Maharajah sought Indian help, which was made conditional on his accession to India by Lord Mountbatten, the then Governor General of India. As the Maharajah did so on 27 October 1947, both Mountbatten and Prime Minister Nehru announced that the final disposition of the state of Jammu and Kashmir would be based on the wishes of its people. The Security Council, in its resolutions of Aug. 13, 1948, and Jan. 5, 1949 also decided that the future of the state would be decided through a plebiscite, to be conducted under the auspices of the UN.
India and Pakistan both accepted these resolutions, but with the passage of time, India found it expedient to raise obstacles in their implementation, and after Pakistan joined Western military pacts for its security, repudiated its commitment because of what it called “a qualitative change” in the situation. Neither the people of Kashmir nor those of Pakistan have accepted this unilateral rejection of obligations by India under Security Council resolutions. In flagrant violation of these resolutions, India made an amendment to its Constitution declaring Kashmir part of India. Since then, its position has been based on the claim that Kashmir is an integral part of India. However, the struggle the people of Kashmir have launched against Indian occupation, and the tremendous sacrifices made by them, show that they are not reconciled to India’s forcible control, which is exercised through a force exceeding 700,000. These forces indulge in massive violations of human rights that have been documented by both international and Indian human rights organizations.
The events of Sept. 11 that led to the launching of a war against terrorism were seen as providing an opportunity for intensifying repression against the people of Kashmir. Like Israel in the case of the Palestinians, India labeled the freedom fighters of Kashmir terrorists and ascribed the continuation of their struggle to “cross-border terrorism” from Pakistan. The mass movement inside occupied Kashmir could not have been sustained for 14 years without popular support. Pakistan has followed the policy of preventing any open attempt to cross the Line of Control which is also patrolled by the UN observers, while a heavy concentration of Indian armed forces guards it against infiltration.
To counter repeated allegations of facilitating “cross-border terrorism” Pakistan has made numerous proposals, such as increasing the number of international observers to monitor infiltration, or a cease-fire along the LOC, but India has rejected them.
The international community accepts the Kashmir issue as an international dispute that has been a source of tension and conflict between India and Pakistan.
After the two countries went nuclear in 1998, the Security Council in Resolution 1172 not only called for adherence to non-proliferation goals, but also urged a peaceful settlement of political disputes between them, mentioning specifically the problem of Kashmir.
India’s use of state terrorism in order to suppress the freedom struggle of the people of Kashmir will not bring durable peace or stability to South Asia. The one-fifth of mankind in the region will remain mired in backwardness and poverty unless genuine efforts are made to resolve the core issue of Kashmir.
