India’s new killing fields in IIOJK

Another round of Indian brutality in Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) began on September 17, when police and paramilitary forces surrounded the Batamaloo neighbourhood of Srinagar and killed four people who were hiding in a house. Labelling those killed in the firing as “militants”, Indian security forces fired teargas shells and used pellet guns to disperse protesters who were enraged against the ‘cold-blooded’ murder of three ‘suspected fighters’ and one young woman by Indian forces.

According to reports, around 192 fighters, three Indian forces personnel and 47 civilians have been killed in various acts of violence in IIOJK in 2019. At a time when the 75^th session of the UN General Assembly has commenced on September 21, Indian killing fields in the occupied region pose a major challenge to UN and its Charter.

In order to cover up its brutalities against innocent and unarmed Kashmiris, an Indian army defence spokesman in Srinagar, Rajesh Kalia, on September 19, said, “The army has launched disciplinary action against soldiers who were accused of killing three Kashmiris in counter-insurgency operations.” The evidence found from the inquiry against such killings revealed that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) of 1990 — which granted the army immense powers including those related to shoot-to-kill — was misused. Such superficial and artificial investigations conducted by New Delhi probing the abuse of AFSPA are meant to conceal heinous crimes committed by the Indian army since its deployment in the disputed region in 1990. The surge of human rights violations committed by the occupying Indian army in IIOJK got an impetus in August 5, 2019 when the Indian parliament revoked articles 370 and 35(A) and cancelled the occupied region’s special status.

The incident of September 17 reminds one the helplessness of the so-called international community as well as Pakistan to stop gruesome acts which tend to put the lives of eight million Muslim Kashmiris at stake. Since August 5 last year, when India unilaterally annexed the occupied region and divided it into the union territories of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir, there is no let-up in atrocities committed by more than half a million Indian army forces deployed to sustain the occupation by cruel ways. The Indian civil society, saner political parties and human rights organisations which had earlier raised their voice against brutalities in IIOJK are now almost silent. Only Muslim Kashmiris of the valley who are facing humiliation and genocide at the hands of Indian security forces are raising their voice in the form of protest marches and demonstrations. Yet the Modi regime has become more belligerent and aggressive in expanding its killing fields in IIOJK.

If the resilience of Kashmiri nationalists to seek freedom from Indian occupation is a challenge to the Modi regime, at the same time, within the rank and file of Kashmiris there are elements which are waiting for an opportunity to render their support to India’s so-called developmental programmes, particularly in the valley. Will Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, the former chief ministers of the occupied valley, take a U-turn from the existing anti-Indian stance and join hands with New Delhi for benefits? Dividing the Kashmiri resistance is a fundamental Indian objective because it knows that in the absence of any external military and logistical support, the Kashmiris’ defiance which got an impetus after August 5, 2019, will diminish with the passage of time leading to the ‘Hinduisation’ of the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley. “Master Plan 2035” which was approved by New Delhi a few months before the scrapping of articles 370 and 35(A) resembles the Israeli settlement model. Such a plan aims to construct 200,000 houses in Srinagar thus creating around 100,000 jobs to be filled by non-locals who will be eligible to get domicile certificates. Lake Dal, a famous tourist resort in Srinagar, will be under the special investment corridor described as a conservation site with floating gardens.

Based on such ground realties, India is confident of sustaining its occupation, particularly over the valley of Kashmir, by issuing thousands of domicile certificates to non-Muslim Indian nationals and seizing local lands for establishing Hindu settlements in the valley. Yet, one must consider two major factors which have caused great harm to the cause of liberating Kashmir from the Indian occupation.

First is the failure of Pakistan to effectively challenge the absorption of occupied Kashmir through the revocation of articles 370 and 35(A) which, at least on paper, ensured the special status of that occupied territory. Bad governance, political polarisation, fragile economy, rampant corruption, nepotism and the absence of rule of law create a very bad impression of Pakistan and negatively impact the Kashmiri freedom movement. When India revoked the special status of occupied Kashmir, it must have calculated the capability of Pakistan to react to that act. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s response against the absorption of occupied Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian state has not gone beyond verbal statements and rhetoric. Had the Kashmiri resistance movement launched by the Hurriyat Conference and the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front got an active support from Pakistan, India would have bogged down because of popular Kashmiri defiance and hatred against the lockdown, humiliation and genocide. Had Pakistan been strategically wise, it would have given an ultimatum to the Modi regime to roll back its unilateral acts of August 5, 2019, and withdraw its occupation forces from the disputed region or face nuclear retaliation. The use of the nuclear option for the cause of Kashmir would have compelled the Modi regime to relegate. But, the failure of Islamabad to effectively use its cards against India further encouraged New Delhi.

Second, Pakistan should have called a special UNGA session of a meeting of the Security Council to discuss the violation of the UN Charter by India as well as to threats to peace in South Asia due to the Indian acts in IIOJK. The meeting of UNSC held earlier on, was informal, passed no resolution and had no legal or moral impact. According to the UN Charter, any member of the UN has a right to call a formal meeting of the Security Council, and the Secretary-General of the UN can call a special session of the General Assembly and Special Emergency Session of General Assembly to discuss an issue which is a major threat to regional or international peace and security.

The situation in the IIOJK demands an urgent intervention before it is too late and India is able to drastically change the demographic complexion of the occupied valley by establishing Hindu settlements. The 75^th UNGA session is a test case for the global organisation to bail out the beleaguered population of IIOJK from perpetual humiliation, oppression and subjugation by more than half a million Indian security forces.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2020.

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