Following armed hostilities in 1947-1949 between
India and Pakistan and intervention by the international community, the
region once known as the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir was
divided. Commencing no later than October 1947, the Kashmir dispute has
proved the most protracted territorial dispute in the United Nations
era. An implacable, deadly struggle is going on half a world away in
India’s mainly Muslim territory of Kashmir, where Indian military and
Para-military forces are trying to crush forces seeking independence or
union with Pakistan. Continuous conflict between India and Pakistan over
Kashmir is leading to violation of human rights, birth of rebels and
destruction of peace in the name of unity and integrity of India.
Kashmir’s political status has been in dispute since
partition of sub-continent on August 15, 1947. During British rule over
India, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was one of more than 50 autonomous
princely states owing allegiance to Britain. At the time of
independence, the rulers were advised to join, by means of an instrument
of accession, either of the two new dominations, India or Pakistan,
bearing in mind their state’s geographical position and the religion of
their inhabitants. In October 1947, prompted a local Muslim uprising
that drew armed support from Pakistan, the Hindu Maharaja of Jammu and
Kashmir chose to place his mostly- Muslim subjects under the
jurisdiction of India, and then called in Indian troops who recaptured
most of his lost territory.
In January 1949, a United Nations-brokered cease-fire
left Kashmir divided by a military cease-fire line (Line of Control)
into the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan controlled
Kashmir known as Azad Kashmir and the Northern Territories. . Shakti
Bhatt states “Indian government has steadfastly held on to its official
stand that Kashmir is undisputedly an integral part of India and
Pakistan on the other hand blames India of acquiring it through fraud
and violence“ (2003, p. 215). For past 60 years, Indian and Pakistani
forces have continuously confronted each other over this tense
cease-fire line, with their bitter rivalry exploding into war in 1965
and 1971 (Kargil war), and nearly providing the flashpoint for a third
conflict in 2001 possibly involving nuclear weapons.
Although both sides contributed in spreading violence
in Kashmir, but the violence caused by India’s military and the Para-
military forces allied with them, is even more destructive and
abhorrent. Unlike any other great democracy, Indian soldiers are not
held to any higher state of conduct. In Kashmir, poorly trained military
troops are torturing civilians by extra judicial killings, murders and
rapes which is leading to spread of lawless state terrorism. It’s
surprising that India still claims itself to be world’s largest
democracy.
India’s human rights violations in Kashmir are
systematic, deliberate, and officially sanctioned. India has never
prosecuted even one of its 700,000 military and paramilitary personnel
there for human right abuses, and its laws grant legal immunity for any
actions aimed at suppressing Kashmiri dissent or support for
self-determination. Information compiled by various human rights
organizations like London based Amnesty International, New York-based
Asia Watch and other humanitarian organizations establishes that a
massive complain of brutal oppression has been launched by the Indian
army since January 1990. Various estimates are given of the death toll
of civilians so far. Making due allowance for unintended exaggerations,
the figure into tens of thousands. Countless individuals had been maimed
and thousands of women molested and assaulted. Not a word of
condemnation has been uttered at the United Nations; not even a call on
India to cease and desist from committing its atrocities.
The overwhelming presence of Indian military and
paramilitary forces in Kashmir reminds Kashmiris that they are not free
and are being enslaved by Indian forces. This feeling of being slave
leads to the birth of rebels in the valley. These rebellions are no
other than common people who are victim of continuous torture and abuse
by the military and paramilitary forces of Indian government. These
people are killed ruthlessly as the government recognizes them as
terrorists, but government never wants to accept that it itself is
responsible for the birth of rebels in the valley. It’s very natural
that after tolerating continuous violation of human rights, one raises
his voice to achieve his basic freedom. Usually targets of military
shots are common people (shopkeepers, children, women, school going
students, etc.) who had not even touched any weapon or something that
would spread terror or any kind of violence. They are being shot and
then left for bleeding, after their death they are being recognized as
terrorists by the so-called democratic nation.
The following excerpt has been taken from the journal
Pro and Con (2004, pp. 264-267). In 2003, President Parvez Musharraf
addressed to the UN General Assembly “India cites cross-border terrorism
in order to reject dialogue. It knows full well that the Kashmiri
struggle is indigenous. It is India that violates international law by
refusing to implement Security Council Resolutions and by perpetrating
gross and consistent violations of human rights in Kashmir. Once again, I
invite India to join Pakistan in a sustained dialogue to resolve the
Kashmir dispute.” In reply to the president of Pakistan, Indian
President Mr.Atal Bihari Vajpayee had nothing to say except “We totally
refuse to let terrorism become a tool of blackmail. When the
cross-border terrorism stops, or when we eradicate it, we can have a
dialogue with Pakistan on the other issues between us.” This
conversation clearly proves that India does not want to look at problems
of Kashmir; instead, it just wants to keep hold on Kashmir forcibly
forever.
The role of press in Kashmir is also an important
topic in continuous dispute. The Indian press is a great reason behind
the fact that inspite of high scale violations of human rights in
Kashmir the public opinion remained silent up to large extent. In her
book, Kashmir: A Tragedy of Errors, Tavleen Singh has gone so far as to
state that the press was the main reason why the alienation of Kashmir
began. There is no doubt in the fact that reporting fairly on Kashmir
situation is really dangerous as the Indian government does not want to
represent its true picture in front of the world. So press is just
working like a slave for the government. This is the reason behind
regular news on Kashmir just focus on death of military personnel or
militants. No newspaper gives the account of death of ordinary people in
the valley or rapes and murders.
A south Indian writer, Teresa Joseph (2000, pp. 53)
states “Although human rights organizations, both national as well as
international, and also other media sources have documented in detail
gross human rights violations in Kashmir by both the militants and the
security forces, the general reader does not get any such picture of the
situation from the mainstream Indian press.” So it can be easily
concluded that Indian press has never tried to figure out the true
picture of Kashmir.
The issue of Kashmir is becoming more complicated day
by day. Since 1989, around 1 lakh Kashmiri people have been killed in
fake encounters and this number dwarfs the killings in Northern Ireland,
Palestine, Bosnia, and Kossovo which have brought the world to tears
and revulsion. Killings in Kashmir have become so commonplace that they
are reported like car accidents in the United States. There is nobody to
reprobate Indian government for making the beautiful Kashmir a hell.
The most perplexing phenomenon regarding this situation is that it has
been allowed to arise and persist in a territory which, under
international law, does not belong to any member state of the United
Nations and whose status is yet to be decided by the people of its land.
It is interesting to note that when Kashmir issue erupted in 1947-48,
the United States of America stated that future status of Kashmir will
be decided by people of the territory but now while Kashmir is
undergoing such a miserable condition, the United States is silent on
this issue. Actually India declares itself the world’s most populous
democracy and offers support to America in pursuing terrorists. In
exchange, the United States remains silent when India kills innocent
Kashmiris who crave self-determination and its achievement through
peaceful protest.
If the silence persists, there would be only this
explanation that a Kashmiri life is viewed as less worthy than other
lives. Indian government has given complete rights to its military
forces to kill or abuse people in Kashmir in whatever way they want to
in order to suppress the movement for freedom. After killing the
ordinary people, government states them as terrorists and there is
nobody to investigate the causes and effects of conditions caused in
Kashmir. As long as India continues to isolate Kashmir from the rest of
the world, it will never end violent acts on that unfortunate land and
restore the rights and freedom of the people of Kashmir. Brown and
Davidson suggest that “The U.S. should recognize that the Kashmir
dilemna is an instance in foreign policy in which there is a national
interest, the diffusing of a potential nuclear war, and a humanitarian
concern, ending the murders of civilians by atleast one side of the
hostility” (1994, p. 2)
The following questions are on mind of every Kashmiri
person: For how many years will children in Kashmir grow up in fear and
shadow of guns of the security forces? When will they be allowed to
play in kinder gardens freely as the normal children do? How many
Kashmiri girls are still to be raped or molested before achieving
freedom? What number of women is required to be widowed before living a
peaceful life in Kashmir? Is there anybody who can answer the above
questions? The Indian government seriously needs to think about the
answer of above questions. The solution of sufferings of these
sufferings is both urgent and vital. It is far more serious area than
any other area in the world. For finding a right solution of problem,
three parties need to interact with each other and create an environment
of understanding among them. These three parties are the Government of
India, the Government of Pakistan and the Government of Kashmir.
Although, the most important party is the people of Kashmir as their
decision will be a right decision for humanity and human freedom. The
only thing that governments of India and Pakistan needs to forget is
their self interests and try to make the life of people of Kashmir
beautiful by giving them their fundamental rights and freedom for life.
Criminal Justice Department, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S.A.
