K N Pandita
Addressing the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), on February 24, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said, “We look for peace with all our neighbours, including India. Sustainable peace and stability in South Asia, remain contingent upon a just and lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute…”
He is talking about the right of self – determination of the people of Kashmir. Shahbaz Sharif has become the PM of Pakistan through a democratic process. Even if the ousted Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has been leading massive protest rallies against what he calls a fraudulent and unconstitutional ‘vote of no-confidence,” the ruling party does not care a fig for all the hullabaloo because Sharif holds power. Apply this yardstick to Kashmir. Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, the most popular leader of Kashmir and the pioneer of the freedom movement, decided that J&K accede to the Indian Union for whatever reasons; the ruler signed the instrument of accession, and the J&K Constituent Assembly endorsed the accession to the Indian Union. As a democracy in which power rests with the people, Kashmiris decided their future with India. What then is the logic in Shahbaz’s complaint of “denial of the Inalienable right to self-determination?” No logic at all.
One may ask him to explain whether the Pakistani nationalities are enjoying the right to self-determination. The Bengalis inflicted a crushing defeat on Pakistanis and won their right to self -determination; the Baluch, Sindhis, Pushtuns, and Gilgitis all are fighting for their right to self-determination and sooner or later, like Bangladesh they will succeed in their struggle. If they approach India for support, India cannot escape the obligation of providing them succour in light of the stipulations of the UN Human Rights Charter. Of late, POJK has come to a boiling point. Day in and day out, the masses as well as the leadership, not only in Gilgit-Baltistan but also in PoK (Azad Kashmir) send open messages to Prime Minister Modi to take over those areas which belong to India but remain under illegal occupation of Pakistani Punjabis. He was not born when the Indian Constitution was made.
The abrogation of one clause of Article 370 is a simple matter. The agency that had the power to create Article 370,logically exercised its power of abrogating a particular clause of the article. Why the clause of the article has been abrogated is a question that the people of India have a right to ask from their government and not a foreigner like Shahbaz Sharif.
Prime Minister Sharif is the prime minister of a state that claims to be a democratic Islamic state. Though an Islamic State’s claim to be democratic is a contradiction in terms, yet presuming that Pakistan is a model democratic state, the point is that a democratic state enacts and promulgates laws of state keeping in mind the feasibility of the law for the welfare of the masses of its people. That is the principle by which Pakistan’s administration is run. Precisely that assumption fully applies to India which is not a Hindu Democratic State but the Secular and Democratic Indian Union. Article 370 was no more helpful in integrating J&K into the Indian Union and thus deriving all the benefits and privileges which the rest of the three scores of Indian States or Union Territories enjoyed. The question of maintaining an out-of-the-box identity for any region of India does not arise. It took three initiatives to modify, suppress or bring in new laws in PoK over the years. Though the opposition in PoK asserts that the modifications were brought in only to serve the interests of Pakistani rulers over PoK and not in the interests of the people, powers that be did not recognize their plea. The same was the case in Kashmir. We would like to ask a question. How come the Gupkar Gang was given international media hype and the voice of the oppressed and deprived people of PoK and Gilgit and Baltistan is not heard?
Addressing the 77th session of the UNGA, Prime Minister Sharif of Pakistan said, ” “We look for peace with all our neighbours, including India.” Is it so, we emphatically say it is not true but only a ploy. If Pakistan believed in peace, she would not have sponsored and abetted the tribal attack across Kashmir in 1947. Those who respect peace do not train and arm terrorists clandestinely and send them to kill and loot the homes of neighbours. Those who love peace do not raise lashkars. Peace-loving states do not send armed jihadis to fight the “infidels” but refuse to accept the dead bodies of the jihadis when the infidels strike back.
And lastly, it must be said that Pakistan sells Kashmir to the Islamic States or the OIC as an Islamic religious issue. In doing so Pakistan wants to convince them that it cares for Islam and they should acknowledge her special status among the Islamists because of her nuclear capability. The members of the OIC, one and all know that by opening a canard against India and the Hindus, Pakistan is only blackmailing them.
But because of a hypocritic demeanour, they have a tremendous capacity of believing in their disbelief. Why did Bangladesh separate from Pakistan? Why did Pakistan give a clearance certificate to China which has been perpetrating massive abuse of the human rights of nearly 2.5 crore Uighurs of Eastern Turkestan ( re-named Xinjiang by the Hun rulers)? Why did Pakistan cede more than 5,000 sq km of Shaksgam valley in the northern Gilgit region to China knowing that the valley contained a 100 per cent Muslim majority? Was it because they are Shias and of Nurbakhshiyya faith and hence expendable and the Kashmiri Muslims predominantly Sunni Hanafi become acceptable to them?
The sooner the OIC members shun their hypocrisy the better. Because of their hypocrisy, we Indians are fed up. They force us to expose their hypocrisy of signing anti-India resolutions in the OIC meeting hall and then rushing to the Indian missions to assure them that they have nothing against India as such. Honourable members of the OIC, please have the courage, to tell the truth, and hear the truth. You are using the OIC platform for the wrong cause.
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