Kashmir burns while the world fiddles

The policy of appeasement adopted by Pakistan in the face of India’s tyrannical rule over Kashmir has often resulted into mayhem and chaos in the valley. Quite pitiable are the policy novices who endlessly argue on this chronic issue with their fallacious narratives which are absolutely contrary to ground realities and the aspirations of the Kashmiris. One of the vivid manifestations of this flawed approach is the naïve response to the post-Wani flare-up in the Kashmir valley that has been labelled by such people as ‘militancy’ instead of freedom movement or a struggle of Kashmiris for achieving their right to self-determination.

India, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is fast becoming a fascist state as the world’s largest democracy is being made more and more intolerant to people other than the Hindus. Modi’s ‘flirt with fascism’ would be detrimental to peace in South Asia, and the world at large.

Recent surge in atrocities on the Kashmiris is another manifestation of Modi’s thinking of promoting state terrorism in Kashmir. Barbarity and inhumanness of the Indian forces in the occupied Kashmir is a slap on the face of the ‘civilized world’. In fact, it’s bizarre that the United Nations, a global body which, according to realists, doesn’t exist owing to an anarchic international system, has turned its back on the demand for the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination. The world has been only a silent spectator while India keeps on wreaking havoc in the occupied Kashmir, especially after the killing of Burhan Muzaffar Wani, who became a central figure in the Kashmiris’ movement for self-determination. Modi’s ‘harangue’ wherein he claimed to have been well-regarded from without (Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan), not from within, was a downright preposterous and irrational political rhetorical exposition – Modi needs to better collect indebtedness from his own compatriots who lack even the most basic amenities like toilets at a time when their country’s annual arms imports have reached $3078 million in 2015.

Kashmir issue has not been given due importance by the world in general and Muslim world in particular. Kashmiris have been deprived of their right to self-determination by India since many decades but still no one from international community comes forward to help them actually. It is an undeniable reality that India disregards and does not comply with the UN resolutions on Kashmir but it still is the most favourite ally of the United States—Indo-US Civil Nuclear deal and over $100 billion bilateral trade, US support for India’s entry to the Nuclear Suppliers Group etc., speak volumes about this. Moreover, Russia has also concluded a plethora of agreements in sectors like civil nuclear energy, defence, space and investments and has endorsed Delhi’s bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC); France too has made a US$8.9 billion deal with India for supplying 36 Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft, so on and so forth.

All these countries – US, Russia and France – wield veto power and thus control global peace, conflict resolutions and managements the UNSC. Owing to their lethargic performance on the resolution of Kashmir issue, India has enjoyed impunity in spite of committing grave human rights violations in the valley. It is important to note that international polity – US and the West – invaded Iraq on the pretext that Saddam Hussein regime didn’t abide by the UN resolutions but when it comes to Kashmir issue, they are in a state of restful slumber and India is going on with blatant violations of world body’s resolutions.

India’s hegemonic designs and perceived upper hand over Pakistan were brought to naught by the mutual assured destruction (MAD) and an active nuclear deterrence. But still India is hell bent on disturbing peace in this part of the world. India’s oppressive policies against the peaceful demonstrations staged against the atrocities of occupying forces has fuelled the genuine voice of the Kashmiris who have been tortured, amputated, blinded, abducted and incarcerated and even killed mercilessly for nothing but raising their voice for their right to self-determination.

It is like writing on the wall that nothing but the downright fiasco will be the destiny of seven hundred thousand Indian armed forces—the largest army in the world deployed in a geographical unit. Their oppression for perpetually subduing the Muslim-majority region will be futile.

Modi’s jingoistic policies are bent to disturb the balance of power in the South Asian region that will ultimately push Pakistan to go for “Maximum Active Nuclear Deterrence” or “Balance of Terror” to cope with the emerging threat from the eastern border. In order to neutralize India’s state terrorism in the occupied valley, Pakistan must learn how to figure out the objective reality diplomatically by establishing relations with world powers. If Pakistani leaders succeed in doing so, it would surely be a coup de maître.