By Muhammad Raza Malik: The people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir gave impetus to their struggle for securing their inalienable right to self-determination in 1989. The mass uprising unnerved Indian rulers who in turn resorted to brute force to crush the Kashmiris’ popular movement. On the night of January 20, 1990, Indian troops molested several women in Srinagar during house raids. As the word about this shocking incident spread in the morning, thousands of people took to the streets in the city to protest against the barbarity of the troops. The Indian forces’ personnel resorted to indiscriminate firing on the protesters in Gaw Kadal area of the city, killing over 50 people and injuring hundreds of others. The massacre caused extreme anger in Pakistan and the ensuing 5th February was declared as a day of solidarity with the people of IIOJK all across the country. The next year, Pakistan government announced to mark the 5th February as Kashmir Solidarity Day and since then, every year, the day is being observed to express oneness with the oppressed people of Jammu and Kashmir at the state level.

On this day, which is a public holiday in Pakistan, seminars, conferences and demonstrations are organised to highlight important aspects of the Kashmir dispute and the gross human rights violations being committed by Indian troops in occupied Kashmir. The overseas Pakistanis and Kashmiris arrange special events in world capitals to remind the international community that resolution of the lingering dispute is imperative for ensuring peace and stability in South Asia.

The Kashmir Solidarity Day is commemorated as a day when Pakistanis across the world renews their pledge to support the peaceful struggle of freedom of their Kashmiri brethren. This day stands as a pledge for those millions of Kashmiris who have been engaged in struggle to win their right to self-determination from a usurper India. The day conveys a clear message to the Indians that they would have to recognise the right of Kashmiris to choose their fate by themselves as granted by UN resolutions.

5th February translates into an act of promise in which people of Pakistan vow to uphold the right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to self-determination in conformity to the resolutions of United Nations Security Council calling for impartial and above-board plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir. The commemoration of Kashmir solidarity day is also a message to the International community to fulfill its commitments towards the peaceful resolution of the long-standing core question of Kashmir.

There are a number of legitimate and genuine reasons for the people of Pakistan to express solidarity with their oppressed Kashmiri brethren because both share strong bonds in respect of religion, geography, culture, aspirations and economy. The number of Kashmiris who migrated to Pakistan from IIOJK since 1947 due to the Indian aggression is in hundreds of thousands, which shows Kashmiris’ emotional attachment with Pakistan. Even when India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was asked a question in 1965 about holding of plebiscite in Kashmir, he responded, “Kashmiris would vote to join Pakistan and we would lose it. No Indian government responsible for agreeing to a plebiscite would survive.”

It was the ideological commonality that prompted the Muslim Conference of Jammu and Kashmir to pass a resolution in its meeting in Srinagar on 19th July 1947, whereby it was declared that Jammu and Kashmir should become a part of Pakistan. This happened about a month before the creation of Pakistan. The attachment of the people of Kashmir is manifest from the fact that the Valley of Kashmir has been from time to time, reverberating with the slogans of “Long Live Pakistan” and “We want Pakistan.” Pakistani flags are hoisted in Jammu and Kashmir on the national days of the country, whereas such days of India are observed as black days.

The Pakistani leadership has always represented the Kashmiris’ aspirations and never betrayed the faith reposed on them by the Kashmiri people. It was his commitment to the interest of the Kashmiri people that drove Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah to visit Jammu and Kashmir three times before 1947 (in 1926, 1936 and 1944). He tried to convince the Kashmiri leadership to become a part of the Pakistan Movement as the people of the territory were civilizationally linked with the Muslims of South Asia. It was rightly said by the Quaid-e-Azam that Kashmir is the “Jugular Vein” of Pakistan. Prime Minister, Imran Khan, in his addresses to the UN General Assembly, drew world’s attention to the worsening humanitarian crisis in IIOJK after Modi government’s 5th August illegal move. He repeatedly warned the world that Modi government’s Hindutva policies and aggressive posture posed serious threat to the peace in the region and the entire world. The Army Chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, has repeatedly expressed Pak Army’s support to the Kashmir cause. He has declared that Pakistan is ready to fight till last bullet and last soldier for Kashmir.

Pakistan has been the victim of Indian military aggression for supporting the Kashmiris during the past seventy-four years and it has to spend a major chunk of its financial resources on defence. It had to take the decision of conducting nuclear tests despite its difficulties and setting aside the international pressure in 1998 after India showed its clear intentions of military aggression against it. On one hand, India wants that Pakistan withdraws its support to the Kashmiri people, while on the other it has been resorting to all kinds of undemocratic tactics to suppress the Kashmiris’ just struggle for securing their right to self-determination. Since 1989, the unabated Indian state terrorism has resulted in the killing of 95,971 innocent Kashmiris and disappearance of thousands in custody. This phenomenon of killing has rendered 22,941 women widowed and 107,857 children orphaned.

Truth be told, New Delhi’s savagery has failed to dampen the spirit of the Kashmiri people to attain freedom from Indian slavery. In 2008, 2010 and 2016, hundreds of thousands of people hit the streets of Srinagar and other towns of IIOJK, demanding their right to self-determination. Instead of respecting the sentiments of these people, Indian troops and police personnel responded with bullets, teargas shells and batons, martyring hundreds and injuring thousands of innocent Kashmiris. The response of international community to the peaceful protests in the occupied territory and subsequent killings was also marginal, as it could not hold India responsible for the massacre of unarmed Kashmiris and not a single soldier or policeman was punished.

Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government has endangered the peace and stability of the entire world particularly in the South Asian region by revoking Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir and completely annexing it with India on 05 August 2019. After repealing the Article 370, New Delhi put the illegally occupied territory under strict military siege, confining millions of Kashmiris to their homes and arresting thousands. The Modi government imposed several federal laws in IIOJK. In order to legalise the settlement of non-Kashmiri Hindus in the occupied territory, the Modi regime introduced new domicile rules in IIOJK. In gross violation of the UN resolutions and the international law, it has granted domicile status to thousands of non-Kashmiri Hindus. Modi-led India has made another law authorizing its army to declare any land in the occupied territory as strategic and take it into its possession. Also, as part of its anti-Muslim policies, BJP led Indian regime took several steps to do away with the symbols and manifestations, which portrayed the inherent distinct character of Jammu and Kashmir. Indian government run administration in IIOJK has started to arbitrarily sack Muslim employees from government departments for being sympathetic to the resistance movement. The delimitation commission constituted by the Modi government has proposed six additional assembly seats to Hindu majority Jammu region and only one more seat to Muslim dominated Kashmir division. This has been done despite the fact that the population of KashmirValley is 15 lacs more than Jammu as per the last census exercise. By doing this, the RSS-backed Modi regime wants to gain majority whenever so-called Assembly elections are held in IIOJK and install its own chief minister there.

The basic objective behind all these unilateral illegal measures is to disempower the Kashmiri Muslims and to dilute the Muslim majority character of IIOJK.

In view of the precarious nature of situation where two nuclear-armed neighbouring countries are facing each other, the international community must take the situation seriously. Besides, the innocent lives and futures of millions of Kashmiris are at stake owing to Indian intransigence and bellicosity. 5th February is a reminder to the international stakeholders that they should come together, speed up their efforts and settle the long pending Kashmir dispute peacefully as per the globally accepted principle of right to self-determination, and also ensure action against India for its gross violations of the UN Charter, the Geneva Conventions and other international laws.

Author: Muhammad Raza Malik is a Senior News Editor at the Kashmir Media Service in Islamabad and can be reached at: razamalik849@yahoo.com