March 1998.
Islamabad.
For last five decades, the people of the state of Jammu
& Kashmir are demanding their inalienable right of self-determination
by all peaceful means. But in return. The Government of India let loosed
a reign of terror, and showered bullets on innocent people, whereby thousands
upon thousands of people have been killed, injured and tortured
The atrocities, (torture, confinement, arson, loot. custodial
deaths, inhuman & degrading treatment, killings) committed by Indian forces
has not quelled the general uprising in favor of “AZADI” (Independence
from Indian occupation).
Ironically. Government of India calls its savage terrifying
occupation forces as ‘Security” forces giving a false impression as if
the forces are meant for security, whereas the huge army and paramilitary
forces are used to coerce people into submission and silence. In the same
manner, the acts of arbitrary arrest and detention are dubbed as “preventive
detention”. Likewise, community raids and army operations accompanied
with acute forms of harassment and inhuman treatment. Molestation, and
degradation are described as “house to house searches”. Similarly systematic
killings of civilians by way of summary execution and custodial deaths
due to torture are portrayed as “encounter”, in which innocent persons
including political opponents are taken into custody, tortured and then
murdered. The death generally occurs as a result of brutality, whereupon
the Government issues press releases, attributing the loss due to “encounter”.
In such cases, the police claims as having fired in “self-defence”. Where
the military and paramilitary forces open fire against unarmed masses,
the killings are advertised as deaths in “cross flung”.
In the same manner, the freedom movement of Jammu and
Kashmir is being labeled as “secessionist” or ~‘separatist” movement and
the freedom fighters as “terrorists”, whereas the Jammu and Kashmir state
is not a pail of India but an internationally disputed territory for which
United Nations has passed numerous resolutions to the effect that the
“the final disposition of the State of Jammu & Kashmir will be made in
accordance with the will of the people expressed in the democratic method
of a free and impartial plebescite conducted under the auspices of the
United Nations. Accor4ingly the people of Jammu and Kashmir are within
their tights to demand their promised tight of self-determination. Thus,
this is the way the human rights violation is formally sanctioned and
mercilessly perpetrated
The bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945
out rightly killed more than 1.00,000 people. They inflicted severe burns,
blast injuries and radiation effects on another 125000. Still more deaths
and injuries occurred in later years - continuing in till I980s- were
attributed to radiation exposure from the two bombs
India also made a test of its nuclear Bomb in I 974.
But India is the first country in the world which dubbed its nuclear Explosion
Test a~ “Peaceful” Nuclear Explosion Test. It refuses to sign any international
agreement to ban nuclear proleferation. The spring 1998 election in India
have thrown up the winners of seats who demand manufacture of Nuclear
arsenal. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs were small by comparison with
the destructive power of the “peaceful” bomb exploded by India, the so-called
secular second largest democracy
Instead of trying to settle the Kashmir issue with prudence
and justice, the government of India ms misleading the world opinion on
one hand and using brute force of all dimensions on the other. Some details
of the atrocities and brutalization of human rights perpetrated by Indian
forces have been duly recognized, registered and publicized by the International
Human Rights Organizations like the Asia Watch, the Amnesty International.
The ICHR. The violations have been so massive that even Human Rights organizations
based in India have themselves equally identified and condemned these
atrocities.
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The dispute over Kashmir is a territorial dispute
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The movement is a terrorist movement
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The movement is a fundamentalist movement
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The movement is a secessionist movement
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The movement is all sponsored and supported by Pakistan
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With the passage of time, the UN resolutions on Kashmir have become
ineffective
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India would disintegrate if Kashmir issue was resolved in accordance
with UN resolutions
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Kashmiris have acceded to India and are participating in State Legislative
Assembly Elections
The Indian misleading phrases, slogans and claims have been refuted by Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry. the Prime Minister of the State of Azad Jammu & Kashmir so that people may come to the right conclusion about the Kashmir issue.
Q-1: The dispute over Kashmir is a territorial dispute.
Ans: Kashmir is not a territorial dispute. It involves the inalienable right of the Kashmiri people to self-determination. This fact is recognized by the UN Security Council resolutions
The principles embodied in the UN Security Council resolutions 47 (1948) of 21 April 1948,51(1948) of 3 June, 1948, 80(1950) of 14 March 1950 and 91(1951) of 30 March 1951, and the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan resolutions of 13 August 1948 and 5 January 1949 expressly state that the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of the people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations
On October 31, 1947, just four days after forcible occupation, the Prime Minister of India sent a telegram to the Prime Minister of Pakistan
Our assurance that we shall withdraw our troops from Kashmir as soon as peace and order is restored. And leave the decision regarding the future of the State to the people of the State, is not merely a promise to your Government, but also to the people of the Kashmir and to the world.
(Jawahar Lal Nehru, Telegram No. 25, October 31, 1947).
In a broadcast, Indian Prime Minister said
We have declared that the fate of Kashmir is ultimately to be decided by the people. That pledge we have given not only to the people of the Kashmir but to the world. We will not and cannot back out of it.
(Jawahar Lal Nehru, Statement, New Delhi: All India
Radio, November 3, 1947).
Before the UN Security Council, speaking through its representative, India repeated its aforementioned stand saying
The question of the future status of Kashmir vis-à-vis her neighbors and the world at large and a further question, namely, whether she would withdraw from her accession to India and either accede to Pakistan or remain Independent, with a right to claim admission as a Member of United Nations- all this we have recognized to be a matter for unfettered decision by the people of Kashmir, after normal life is restored to them
(Gopalaswami Ayyanger, “United Nations Security Council
Official Records”, 227th Meeting, January 15, 1948).
Again on February 23, 1948, Indian representative declared before the Security Council
As the Security Council is aware, the Government of India is fully committed to the view that after peace is restored and all people belonging to the State have returned there, a free plebiscite should be taken and the people should decide whether they wish to remain with India, go over to Pakistan or to remain Independent if they choose to do so
(Gopalaswami Ayvanger, “UN Security Official Records”,
23 9th Meeting).
Q-2: The movement is terrorist movement.
The Kashmiri struggle for self-determination is an indigenous movement and is a manifestation of the Kashmiris desire to break free from the yoke of Indian rule. India is trying its best to project to the international community that the Kashmiri freedom fighters are terrorists. But in reality it is India itself which is indulging in the worst possible form of state terrorism through the imposition of’ draconian laws and the unbridled use of brute force
Why does India not allow India not allow independent verification. No red crescent, No red cross, No visitors - like independent News agencies etc
Some details of atrocities and systematic human rights violations have been duly registered, recognized and publicized by various Human Rights Monitoring groups including Asia Watch, Amnesty International, ICHR, etc
According to Human Rights watch
Violations of human rights and humanitarian law by regular security forces - the army, the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) - have also continued. These violations include deliberate killing of detainees in the custody of the security forces in Kashmir and reprisal killings of civilians.... Indian Security personnel in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) have also been responsible for rape as a counter-insurgency tactics. In mid-1992, the Indian government launched a catch and kill” policy, to execute captured Kashmiri freedom fighters. That policy together with the January 1993 massacre of at least forty civilians by BSF troops in Sopore, focused international attention on human rights violations in Kashmir.
(Human Rights Watch/Asia “India‘s Secret army in Kashmir,
New Patterns of Abuse Emerge in the Conflict,” Washington: May, l996).
Q- 3: It is a fundamentalist movement.
Ans: The word ~‘fundamentalism” is being misinterpreted by west as label of sorts that means wrong doing. The advanced learner’s Oxford dictionary says that the word “fundamentalism means (I) (in Christian thought) the belief that every thing in the Bible is true and should form the basis of religious thought or practice. (2) The strict following of the basic teaching of any religion
The indigenous movement in Kashmir, where the Kashmiris are asking for settlement of their fate as per commitment of India and Pakistan according to UN resolutions: how can that movement be termed as fundamentalist movement? Is strict following of the basic teachings of any religion a crime? The west at large somehow is prejudiced against the word Islam”, which means “Peace”
In Kashmir, the Kashmiri people~ irrespective of their religion are demanding the right of self-determination. This inherent right of the people of Kashmir is recognized by the international community since it is based on the relevant UN Security Council resolutions
Q- 4: It is a secessionist movement.
Ans. Kashmir was never a part of India according to the cannons of international law. It is not recognized as such by the international community. Therefore, the question is not that the Kashmiris want to secede from India. The issue at stake is the exercise of the right of self-determination by the Kashmiris under United Nations auspices in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.
Q- 5: The movement is all sponsored and supported
by Pakistan
Ans. Such ideas are being spread by India in its campaign to mislead international public opinion and to divert attention from the indigenous Kashmir freedom struggle. Pakistan continues to support the Kashmiris politically, morally and diplomatically. Indian claims of material assistance being given by Pakistan to the Kashmiris are baseless. If India truly believed in this case, it should accept proposals to station UN or neutral observers on both sides of the Line of Control in Kashmir to verify their claim. If Indians had allowed independent eyewitnesses to watch the struggle the factual position would have favored them, if Pakistan was supporting it.
Q- 6: With passage of time, the UN resolutions on
Kashmir have become ineffective
Ans.: UN resolutions on Kashmir continue to be as valid today as at the time on which they were passed. The need to implement these resolutions has become even greater today as is evidenced by the realities on the ground. For the last eight years the Kashmiris have been struggling for their light to self-determination and have borne the burnt of India’s atrocities. Claims to sovereignty over an illegally occupied territory are null and void under international law
That the statute of limitations is not applicable to the Kashmir dispute is borne out by the fact that the issue remains on the agenda of the UN Security Council and the United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan continue to monitor the situation
Q- 7: India would disintegrate if Kashmir issue is
resolved in accordance with UN resolution.
Ans.: Kashmir was never a part of India. Therefore, the .question is without reference to history or law, illegal occupation of territory by means of force does not make that territory part of any state.
Q- 8: Kashmiris have acceded to India and are participating
in State Legislative Assembly Elections
Ans.: The State Assembly elections held by India since 1947 have been farcical and illegal. These elections were boycotted by the Kashmiri people and their true representatives
Resolution 122 (195) Adopted by the Security Council at its 765 the Meeting on 24, January, 1957 states
Reaffirms the affirmation in its resolution 9I (195I) and declares that the convening of a Constituent Assembly as recommended by the General Council of the “All Jammu and Kashmir National Conference” and any action that Assembly may have taken or might attempt to take to determine the future shape and affiliation of the entire state or any part thereof, or action by the parties concerned in support of any such action by the Assembly, would not constitute a disposition of the state in accordance with the above principle
KASHMIR PROFILE
Location:
Heart of Asia, with historical links to both South and Central Asia, Surrounded by Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and India
Area:
84,471 square miles
Population
12 million (estimate) including 1.5 million refugees in Pakistan and 0.4 expatriates
Status:
Historically independent, except in the anarchical conditions of late 18th and the first of 19th century and when incorporated in the vast empires set up by the Maury as (3rd century BC), the Mughals (16th to 18th centuries) and the British (mid- 19th to 20th centuries). All these empires included not only present-day India and Pakistan but other countries as well. Under the British, Kashmir had internal autonomy.
Present Status:
In dispute since 1947, 63% of the area occupied by India
Cause of dispute:
India’s claim that Kashmir is Indian territory. The claim is rejected by the people of Kashmir, challenged by Pakistan. It has never been accepted by the United Nations, never legally validated.
Solution:
Demilitarization of Kashmir (through withdrawal of all outside forces) followed immediately by a plebiscite under UN auspices to determine the future status of Kashmir
