Peace hinges on Kashmir issue solution

The question is: Can durable peace and prosperity for the people of Pakistan and India and neighbouring states be achieved without solving the Kashmir issue? Kashmiris living in Rawalpindi-Islamabad and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in the world say “no”. “There has to be a hypocrisy-free resolution of the dispute.” After Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947, the issue has been lying unresolved with the United Nations despite many resolutions adopted unanimously, which empowered Kashmiris to exercise their right. Relevant to this day, in this context, is the appeal made by the people of Jammu and Kashmir to members of the British Parliament in 1989. The appeal, inter alia, said that the wave of independence and right of self-determination against colonialism in various parts of the world had been honoured by the British empire and its people, who believed in democracy and rule of law and granted independence to the masses of the sub-continent in 1947 with an option and liberty to at least 561states, either to join Indian dominion or Pakistan,, or to re- main independent. The state of Jammu and Kashmir wanted to exercise that right, but the Indian Armed Forces committed naked aggression on the state. A memorandum annexed to the appeal highlighted people’s struggle against the oppressive and tyrannical Dogra rule and establishment of a de jure revolutionary government in liberated part of the state on October 24, 1947. The notable part thereof was the bitter fact that the fleeing Maharaja Hari Singh secretly entered into “an unholy treaty” with the Indian government on October 27, 1947, and a provisional treaty of accession was executed on the basis of which the Indian Army troops were dropped and pushed into the state to fight against the Kashmiri freedom fighters. That so-called treaty provided that the people of Jammu and Kashmir would have the right of self-determination as soon as normal life is restored. India has not fulfilled its commitment to the UN yet. The day of Indian army attack came to be known as the Black Day in Kashmir and is observed as such by Kashmiris and advocates of human rights everywhere. Some time ago, Delhi government trumpeted the disputed territory was an integral part of India, but soon came the rebuttal from Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who claimed on October 7 that his state had acceded to India not merged with India. Mr. Abdullah told the state assembly in Srinagar that J and K “cannot be placed at par with Hyderabad and Junagarh,” which were forcefully occupied by India. He said “it is still a fact that Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India is under an agreement and it’s not the merger.” Former chief minister Farooq Abdullah had adopted the same stance in his public speech in Srinagar on July 13, 2004. That’s how India’s brazen lie gets exposed in occupied valley also. Pakistan stand on the dispute has always been principled and in accordance with the UN Charter: there has to be a free and fair plebiscite in the occupied Valley under the auspices of the world body as envisaged in its resolutions of August 13, 1948, and January 5, 1949. Before the situation gets worsened and is more dangerous than ever before, the world community should p persuade India to learn that the peace of the region hinges on quick end to repression in the disputed territory. A peaceful resolution of Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN resolutions and taking into account the aspirations of the Kashmiri people would surely create an atmosphere conducive to durable peace and stability in South Asia where millions are haunted by poverty, hunger and disease. Do India and Pakistan need to learn that disputes are not always settled in battlefield but at the table also? Pakistan’s commitment to the cause of the oppressed people is known to the world, according to which it has always extended its unswerving moral, diplomatic and political support to Kashmiris struggling for right to selfdetermination acknowledged by the UNO. The oppressed people are at the heart of the issue, and their fate and future are at stake. The UN Resolution of January 5, 1949, clearly states that “the question of the accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite.”