Waving of Pak flag now a tradition in Kashmir

ISLAMABAD: Shouting “Pakistan Zindabad” and draping coffins with Pakistan’s green and white crescent and star is now becoming a tradition in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK), while pro-Pakistan slogans are heard during protests even inside the Indian cities. Also, this week a desperate Indian citizen of Kanpur district unfurled the Pakistan flag on his terrace as part of his protest against the government.

As defiant Kashmiris flaunt the Pakistani flag in the face of Indian security forces, it is a desperate call to one of their staunchest allies, which does not shy away from constantly bringing to the attention of important world capitals that Kashmiris have to be free from India’s military might to choose their own future.

In early summer this year, Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani told the media that Pakistan flags “would continue to be hoisted” in the Kashmir Valley, days after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh warned of strict action against those indulging in such acts.

“Pakistan is our benefactor. It is supporting the right to self-determination to Kashmir. People here love Pakistan. Pakistani flag is being hoisted in Kashmir since 1947. And it (Pakistani flag) would continue to be hoisted in future as well,” he added.

The present repression of the people of Kashmir has now even Indian writers like Rohan Parikh asking in Indian Express, whether it was time to have a plebiscite in Kashmir. “Why not give ourselves a chance to once and for all break out of this endless and fruitless cycle of conflict?,” he asks.

He writes “perhaps it is time to put aside irrational pride and ask whether it is worth the price India has to pay by holding on to Kashmir.” Starting from the funeral of Burhan Muzaffar Wani, whose body draped in a Pakistani flag with which he was buried, Saturday saw the 16-year old Qaisar Ahmad Sofi, abducted, tortured and poisoned by Indian security forces also being taken to his grave draped in Pakistan’s national colours.

Even beasts have a code of conduct for their dead, but the Indian security forces on Saturday went a step ahead when emotional Kashmiri mourners chanting anti-India slogans were targeted with teargas by the Indian security forces, injuring 35 mourners.

So terrified are the Indian forces that a police officer told the local media that they resorted to firing pellets, warning shots and teargas, fearing the procession could become a larger rally. “The Pakistani flag simply indicates that pro-Pakistan feeling is strong and Azadi Days are over. Like Palestine, Kashmir is now an Islamist cause,” remarks political analyst Nusrat Javed, himself a Kashmiri.

As Rohin Parikh points out, “There is historical-emotional argument that ‘Kashmir is an integral part of India’. I believe that this was a Nehruvian fantasy. The idea of India was always fluid in 1947. We have tried to live with Kashmir for three post-partition generations. However, it seems increasingly like a bad marriage. No amount of resources, development or special statuses have been able to end the dissatisfaction of the Kashmiris, trapped as they are in a cycle of violence between their extremists and the response of the Indian security forces.”

New Delhi simply has no answer to the skies in IHK turning white and green on Indian Independence Day and its Republic Day. When Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif earlier called for observing a “black day” to express solidarity with Kashmiris, he said, “India should realise that when people decide to do something, the weapons cannot stop their way.”

The Kashmiris responded Nawaz Sharif by flying black flags and Pakistan’s flag. Saturday also saw Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi telling the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein that, “The international community has an obligation to support the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination and act decisively to end human rights violations there”.

The UN high commissioner should also ponder as to why New Delhi continually resists calls made by him for sending fact-finding mission to Indian Held Kashmir to independently assess the situation on the ground, which would be a source of solace for the people of Kashmir. “Their rejection by India only reinforced the need for the office of the HC to monitor the situation on a sustained basis,” responds Ambassador Lodhi.