5th August and regional impact

On August 5, Pakistanis observe ‘Day of Exploitation’ to show political, moral and diplomatic support for our Kashmiri brethren on their struggle for the right to self-determination. The day reminds us of the historic struggle by great Kashmiri leaders like Syed Ali Geelani and martyrs like Maqbool Bhat, Burhan Wani and Ashraf Sehrai as well as the Hurriyat leaders in unlawful detention like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Shabbir Shah, Yasin Malik and Masarat Alam Bhat.

The day marks the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution revoking autonomous status the Muslim-majority state of Kashmir. While New Delhi claims the repeal of Articles 370 and 35 A will bring prosperity to IIOJK, it has rather caused discontent, instability and unrest. Over 8,000 Kashmiris have been reported missing since then. Nearly 23,000 women have become widow, 2,000 half-widows and 18,000 kids orphan. About 2,600 women have been killed and 12,000 molested by Indian soldiers.

The illegal delimitation has given six more assembly seats to the Jammu region, but just one more to the Kashmir region. This is an “attack on political centrality and domination” of Kashmir Valley in IIOJK politics and a move to disempower Kashmiris of IIOJK.

A recent Genocide Watch report has charge-sheeted the RSS and stated that the Modi-led BJP poses a danger to both India’s secular constitution and its future as a democratic state. Modi’s Hindutva ideology encourages intolerance, and the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act has violated the rights of Muslims and Christians. Hate crimes against Muslims have grown as a result of blatant demands for the elimination of Muslims by Hindutva monks. More recently Mewat (Nuh), the only Muslim majority district in Haryana state, has been subjected to arson and looting.

Genocide Watch considers the BJP government’s attacks on Muslims and Dalits to have crossed all stages — Stage 6: Polarization; Stage 7: Preparation; and Stage 8: Persecution. Modi’s statements at Aligarh Muslim University perversely claimed that his new anti-Muslim laws are intended to “uplift the Muslim community” demonstrate Stage 10: Denial.

A brief analysis of the rise of fascism in India is important. There are striking parallels between Adolf Hitler’s Nazis and RSS Sanghis. Hitler was greatly influenced by Dietrich Eckart, the founder of the German Workers Party, which later became the Nazi Party. Eckart had common traits with RSS founders Golwalkar and Savarkar. The Nazi Party passed the Laws of Nuremburg in the 1930s, which regarded Jews, Hippies and certain other groups as second-class citizens. Common Germans profited from Jews losing jobs and businesses in the neighborhoods that were being targeted.

In India, under the guise of Gao Raksha, Muslim-owned businesses, notably those in the meat sector, have been attacked.

Following Hitler’s Anschluss (occupation) of Austria in 1938 and the reunification of the Rhineland, “Appeasement in Munich” made it easier for Hitler to annex the Sudetenland and triggered WWII.

India keeps deflecting attention away from Kashmir. More recently, Rajnath Singh threatened to annex GB, which is not only hollow but also absurd. Indian politico-military leadership under Modi has been badly exposed in the Ladakh conflict of June 2020, when Chinese military occupied 2500 sq kms of Indian-controlled area. Prior to that, Pakistan’s determined response through Swift Retort made sure that strategic deterrence was re-established in South Asia. Thus Chinese slap on Modi’s face at Galwan and Pakistani punch on his nose in Nowshera Valley turned India into a paper tiger.

Pakistan cannot afford another “Appeasement in Munich”. While Modi may be celebrating his illegal paper transaction in IIOJK, the preceding 40-year history tells a different story. To liberate Afghanistan from the Soviet domination, Pakistan took nine years. It took another two decades to peruse the US and 40 other countries (including India) to leave Afghanistan. The Indian coercion and paper transactions in IIOJK may not last longer. Pakistan will focus on liberating Occupied Kashmir as soon as there is sustainable peace in Afghanistan. “India may have all the watches, but Pakistan has all the time.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2023.

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