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Thursday March 28, 2024

Kashmiri passion for freedom invincible

By Zafar Alam Sarwar
April 27, 2017

Turn pages of history of any people, of any time , and you will find passion for freedom never dies out. Kashmiris whose homeland was occupied by India at gunpoint in violation of the United Nations Charter about six decades ago have not surrendered to Indian barbarity. Their struggle for right to self-determination continues.

India had promised to hold plebiscite long ago in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution but has not yet stood by its commitment. Instead, it has reportedly breached the ceasefire agreement 103 times. Western democracies haven’t opened their eyes to atrocities in occupied Kashmir.  

How can regional peace be achieved without solving the Kashmir issue? Kashmiris say there has to be a just resolution of the dispute.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has rightly pointed out that Kashmiri youth’s desire for freedom can’t be suppressed.   

The issue has been lying unresolved with the UN despite resolutions adopted unanimously, which empowered Kashmiris to exercise their right to self-determination. That’s called plebiscite which simply means the direct vote of Kashmiris, wherever they are, on the issue.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir wanted to exercise that right, but the Indian Armed Forces committed naked aggression on the state.

Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control have backed the demand of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider for economic blockade by OIC. “This will mean pressure on India for settlement of Kashmir dispute according to the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” they argue.    

A memorandum annexed to Kashmiris’ appeal to British MPs sometime 25 years back highlighted their struggle against oppressive 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 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.

The day of Indian army attack came to be known as the Black Day in Kashmir and is observed as such by Kashmiris and their supporters.

Kashmiris say they can neither forget nor forgive the killing of 45 youths and wounding of more than 100 men and women in three weeks of April.

zasarwar@hotmail.com