Kashmiri freedom

Yesterday, the nation observed Youm-e-Istehsal-e-Kashmir, the day that marks India’s illegal annexation and occupation of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019. In the six years since then, India has tightened its draconian grip over the Kashmir Valley region in particular, subjecting its people to periodic lockdowns, arbitrary detention, torture and firing pellet guns on those who dare to protest. There have also been attempts at demographic engineering to dilute the Muslim majority in Kashmir. Like all authoritarian regimes, India’s hold remained precarious due to its lack of legitimacy among the people and the Pahalgam attack, an attack it falsely blamed Pakistan for, seriously exposed how fragile its control over Kashmir really was. India’s defeat in the subsequent clashes with Pakistan has not only elevated the country but also seems to have rejuvenated the Kashmiri independence movement. Calls for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood have grown, and the Indian Supreme Court is set to hear an application seeking directions to the central government to restore the statehood of the IIOJK on Friday. However, while addressing a rally held in connection with Youm-e-Istehsal, Deputy Prime Minister Dar raised concerns that the BJP government is planning to restore the statehood of Jammu while keeping Kashmir’s union territory status intact. The deputy PM made it clear that Pakistan would view any such development as totally unacceptable.

Ultimately, the illegitimate nature of India’s historic rule over the Kashmir region means that its courts and parliaments do not really have any right to decide its future. That right belongs to the Kashmiri people alone. In this vein, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that the just resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was a key pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy and urged the international community to play a role to halt Indian human rights crimes in IIOJK. Keeping the international community in the loop on the Kashmir issue and exposing the unjust and illegal nature of India’s occupation will be crucial for Kashmiri independence. Aside from practical considerations, it must also be noted that the international community has an obligation to recognise the Kashmiri peoples’ right to self-determination and to punish any abuses by India, under its own laws and principles.

While this might not be the best time to count on international institutions and powerful countries to live up to their human rights and international law obligations, given what has taken place in Gaza since October, 2023, there are growing signs that India will no longer be the final arbiter on the fate of Kashmir. After brokering a ceasefire between Pakistan and India during the May-June clashes, US President Donald Trump also claimed that he would be willing to help mediate on the Kashmir issue too, breaking with India’s no third-party mediation principle. Now, the ongoing downturn in US-India ties, principally over trade and immigration disputes, means that India can no longer count on the world’s most powerful country’s support, if it ever could. The next time the Kashmir issue flares up, the BJP regime could find itself even more isolated than it is now and facing a world that is not willing to give its brutal rule in Kashmir a pass. If one thing has been made painfully obvious, it is that India is no Israel in the eyes of the West.