The oppression in occupied Kashmir

Amnesty International has come out with an exhaustive report on the conditions and policy of the Indian government

After years of monitoring the human rights situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Amnesty International has come out with an exhaustive and scathing report on the conditions and policy of the Indian government. It has called on it to end the repression of rights in occupied Kashmir, release those arbitrarily kept in detention and take several other corrective measures. In fact, it has laid bare the atrocities and brought in focus the inhumane practices of the BJP government to which successive governments in Pakistan and other unbiased international NGOs have been drawing attention for years.

As published by the newspapers here, the Amnesty International report states that “three years since the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir the Indian government efforts to put in place unlawful surveillance measures, arbitrary detentions and restrictions in freedom of expression and simultaneously conceal its actions in occupied Jammu and Kashmir clearly violated international law”.

However, it remains to be seen to what extent the AI report stirs the conscience of leaders of major powers, especially of the West that claim to be the champions of human rights and a free democratic society. The sharp contrast between how the US and the West are engaged in defending Ukraine’s freedom against Russian domination and the gross indifference to the plight of the Kashmiri and Palestinian people is there for everyone to see. Even more distressing is that many Muslim countries too have preferred expediency to principles and failed to take any firm position on these two festering human rights global spots. Viewing in a broader perspective, it is also a sad reflection of the heavy dependence of these countries on major powers for their survival that prevents them to voice concern and take positions on the side of justice and morality.

The question that comes to mind is how the Human Rights report would impact and be able to compel Prime Minister Modi to change or influence his policy of repression. Largely, it would depend on how the Indian polity itself would react to this report. So far, apart from a few lone voices and think tanks, there has been hardly any serious opposition to India’s discriminatory policies toward its minorities, emboldening Modi to pursue his cruel policies relentlessly. It may not be wrong to assume that the culture of prejudice and hatred inculcated over years and intensified by BJP hawks has placed Muslims in general and Kashmiri Muslims in particular in a precarious condition within their own country and literary built the state security structure to suppress them physically, emotionally and deny them their basic fundamental rights.

The plight of Muslims in India, especially in Uttar Pradesh and other states that are governed by BJP, is indeed pathetic. Muslims population in India according to 2019 estimate is around 204 million. India’s Muslim population is about the world’s third-largest and the world’s largest Muslim-minority population. India is home to 11% of the world’s Muslim population. So, how India treats its Muslim population has wide repercussions and it would be a huge folly on the part of the ruling clique to ignore the adverse consequences of suppressing a minority that is larger than the population of several countries.

The other minorities in India, Christians and even Dalits are facing discrimination, although the pressure on them is somewhat less than the Muslims. Modi realises the repercussions the government would face from Western countries as their public would react strongly to the unfair treatment and prejudice shown toward the Christian community. But he exploits the indifference of the West toward the ill treatment of Muslims.

The infighting and chaotic conditions prevailing in most Muslim countries — be Pakistan or Nigeria — or the forced calm that prevails in many Middle Eastern kingdoms by exercising brutal methods besides being undemocratic and unethical in the long-term weakens their ability to assert themselves and defend just causes. Pakistan, caught in internal political wrangling and serious economic woes, is pleading the cause of Kashmir. But its pleading gets distracted and does not carry the weights a country of its size and position should have.

It was expected that once India and Pakistan acquired nuclear capabilities, conflict resolution between them would acquire higher precedence. On the contrary, it has not helped and the major powers would like the issue to be frozen rather than contribute to seeking a fair solution. The ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan has been holding, but a long-term and just solution is nowhere in sight. India has shown no flexibility or interest in solving the other lingering disputes between the two countries either. A stage has reached where there is no communication at the official level for over a year. The dispute has given rise to asymmetric forces that pursue their own agenda and have at times engaged in sectarian violence and try to establish their writ in border areas.

In India, religious intolerance is reflected in official and unofficial dealings. Democracy is no more a reality and West, which at one time spoke admiringly of its virtues of democracy, is silent. So are the people and most of the press and intellectuals in India. And those who speak lose their jobs or run out of favour. Democracy and freedom of expression have retreated and Uttar Pradesh is the most glaring example of the ill treatment of Muslims and other minorities. What one can expect from a country that is governed by a narrow and prejudiced world view. On top of it, the US and West have found a common cause — the opposition to China that makes them overlook serious failings of the Modi government. In contrast, China’s treatment of Uyghurs remains in sharp focus because it suits them politically. So, all the talk of justice and fair play in the real world is governed by expediency. What the major powers are not realising is that justice and equity are fundamentals that keep the global order on track; any departure has unforeseen and dangerous consequences. And we are already witnessing it in Kashmir.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2022.

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