The story of Distressed Kashmirisstirred again during Imran-Trump
meeting in July this year. Trump talked about the Indian Prime Minister
Modioffer about asking for the mediation over Kashmir. But in August, India
imposes Kashmir lockdown, puts Kashmiri leaders 'under house
arrest'.Restrictions on movement and assembly imposed, Yatra Pilgrimage and
mobile internet suspended as disputed region plunges into uncertainty.
The measures came after the Indian government moved 10,000 troops to the region
last week, followed by an unprecedented order asking tourists and Hindu pilgrims
to leave the Himalayan valley.Residents fear New Delhi has planned to engineer
demographic changes.
The latest spate of tensions began after India sent 10,000 more troops to what
is already one of the most militarised regions in the world.
Nearly 700,000 Indian soldiers are deployed in India-administered Kashmir, where
civilian protesters and armed rebels either want freedom or merger with
Pakistan.
Meanwhile, along the Line of Control (LoC), a heavily militarised de facto
border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, there was a fresh surge
in hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted that the situation had the
potential to "blow up into a regional crisis".The only road to peace and
security in South Asia runs through a peaceful and just settlement of Kashmir.
Moreover, Calling meeting with military officials on Sunday is unusual in
Pakistan’s History.
Some 70,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the last three decades
of armed conflict in India-Occupied Kashmir.
By repealing Article 370 of the constitution, people from the rest of India will
now have the right to acquire property in occupied Kashmir and settle there
permanently. Kashmiris as well as critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led
government see the move as an attempt to dilute the demographics of
Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers.
Home Minister Amit Shah also moved a bill to bifurcate the state into two union
territories – Jammu Kashmir as one and Himalayan Ladakh region as the other –
directly ruled by New Delhi. After this, Jammu and Kashmir will be a union
territory with legislature while Ladakh will be a union territory without
legislature".
The move raises fears of further violence in the Muslim-majority Himalayan
region where Kashmiri fighters and many residents have fought for the region's
independence or to join Pakistan.
"There will a very strong reaction in Kashmir. It's already in a state of unrest
and this will only make it worse," said Wajahat Habibullah, a former senior
bureaucrat in Jammu and Kashmir.
The constitutional provisions revoked on Monday were introduced decades ago and
included reserved government jobs and college placements for residents, in an
effort to keep the state from being overrun by people from the rest of India.
Shah, also the BJP president, proposed that the regulation under Article 370
will not be applicable after presidential nod — a move which was slammed by the
opposition. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said
that the BJP had "murdered the constitution today".
Although In 2015, Jammu and Kashmir High Court ruled that Article 370, granting
special status to the state, has assumed place of permanence in the Constitution
and the feature is beyond amendment, repeal or abrogation.
Pakistan has to exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps"
taken by India regarding IoK, stressing that IoK was internationally recognised
as a disputed territory.
No unilateral step by the Government of India can change this disputed status,
as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. "The
decision will never be acceptable to the people of IoK and Pakistan. The Indian
constitutional amendment was in violation of international resolutions as well
as India's own constitution.
India is no more constitutional democracy andit is now practically under
Hindutva raj.
India through its unilateral actions of today had violated the Simla agreement
and the UN charter.
Kashmir committee chairman Syed Fakhar Imam, should discuss the situation in IoK
and the use of cluster bombs-which is against internal Humanitarian law,on
civilians by Indian forces and its aftermath.
"If they have turned IoK and Ladhak into union territories, it is evident that
they have lost hope.Kashmiris that used to support them earlier are also in jail
or under house arrest.
India has once again revived and internationalised the Kashmir issue. This will
not solve the problem, rather it will escalate it.They will never be able to
repress the issue.
Entire international community needed to condemn the Indian move.Atrocities in
IoK unabated. Extremist Indian government's intentions are clear.
Pakistan should also immediately call for an emergency meeting of the UN
Security Council.Trump can be pursued by PM Imran Khan to pressurise India on
Kashmir on the cost of Afghan Peace Process.Actually, a step further than
defensive approach is need of the hour.Pakistan can call itsHigh Commissioner in
Delhi back and should send Indian High Commissioner back to India. Trade
relation with India can be stopped temporarily to record the protest. This is a
matter of Pakistan's national interest, all of Pakistan is united. The time has
come for Pakistan's political and military leadership to take collective
decisions — Pakistan is united for the Kashmiri cause.
Now,it is a test case for the international community. Pakistan expected the
world to support the Kashmiris to have their special status restored.It was not
enough to condemn India's move which was "against all international norms and
international law along with UNSC resolutions. Kashmir is recognised as a
disputed territory in UNSC resolutions. India cannot alter IoK status through
its parliament.
Council of Europe and European Union should be approached along with the UN
Security Council and other international forums and human rights
organisations.This is illegal annexation of a militarily-occupied territory and
completely unacceptable.