Month of July has special significance in the history of struggle for the right of self-determination by the people of Jammu and Kashmir. July 19, denotes “Accession to Pakistan Day”. This day is observed every year in renewal of the historical resolution of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan passed by the people of the state in 1947. As per the Partition Plan of the British India, the Princely States were free to accede to either of the two newly established countries. Kashmiris’ decision of 19th July 1947 was a testimony to the fact that the people of Kashmir had linked their future with Pakistan. And the Kashmir Martyrs’ Day is observed on 13 July every year to pay homage to 22 Kashmiri people who were killed in 1931 during a revolt. The people rose against British rule and gathered for a peaceful protest against the prosecution of a sympathizer of Kashmir struggle, Abdul Qadeer Khan Ghazi. On that day 22 martyrs fell one after the other, while reciting the traditional Muslim Call for prayer.
Prime minister of Azad Kashmir, Raja Farooq Haider, said Pakistan is the centre of hope for the people of Kashmir, and “The day is not far when occupied Kashmir will be liberated from Indian yoke, and the dream of entire state accession to Pakistan will be realized. Fascist Modi government is trying to impose an illegal annexation of IOJ&K and seeks to change the demography of the occupied territory against all international law, including Fourth Geneva Convention.
Thousands of refugees from Indian-administered Kashmir took out a rally in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, pledging to continue their struggle for the right to self-determination in accordance with the UN resolutions.
The All Jammu Kashmir Muslim Conference on July 19, 1947, in Srinagar, had demanded the-then Dogra rulers to materialise the accession of the Jammu Kashmir state to Pakistan, honouring the decision and point of view of the majority population of the Muslim majority in the state. Genuine representatives of the Kashmiris unanimously passed the resolution of Kashmir’s Accession to Pakistan during a meeting of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference under. The historic resolution called for the Accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan in view of its existing religious, geographical, cultural and economic proximity to Pakistan.
Now, over 800,000 troops have besieged eight million people of Kashmir one soldier for every ten citizen. The most militarized conflict zone of the World Kashmir is an open prison.
President Dr. Arif Alvi said that India has belligerently occupied Kashmir and it is committing atrocities on the people of Kashmir. He also said that the time is not far away when the sacrifices of the people of the occupied Kashmir will come to fruition and Kashmir will become part of Pakistan. The President said voices are being raised at the international level on grave human rights violations in occupied valley.
Ever since, Jammu and Kashmir has been a key bone of contention between the two nuclear rivals that have fought three full scale wars and a number of skirmishes of varying scales. Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) enjoyed “special status” under the Indian Constitution until August 05, 2019. Special status, allowed IOJ&K to enact its own laws. These provisions of law, inter alia, protected the region’s citizenship law, which barred outsiders from settling in and owning land in the territory. Since then IOJ&K has been under a near complete lockdown.
Prime Minster Imran Khan has reiterated support to Kashmiris’ just struggle for self-determination. “We will continue to fight for justice for Kashmiris as they struggle against the brutal & illegal actions of the Hindutva Supremacist Indian government in IOJK,” he said. “We reaffirm our commitment to the Kashmiri people and stand with them in their struggle for self-determination.”
In a tweet on Martyrs Day, the premier referred to the 22 Kashmiris who were martyred 89 years ago during a protest against the autocratic rule of a Hindu Maharaja in the Muslim majority state as the “forefathers of today’s Kashmiri resistance”. “Their descendants have, generation after generation, laid down their lives for freedom and today they continue to valiantly fight & defy a Hindutva Supremacist regime bent on demographic engineering to wipe out the Kashmiri people & their identity,” Khan tweeted. Martyrs’ Day used to be one of the official holidays in the state till 2019; now this has been deleted from the list.
Support for the Kashmir cause has always been bipartisan PML-N chief and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif said that the world “must know that no other people have suffered as much as Kashmiris have for demanding their UN-sanctioned right to self-determination”.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that July 19 marked the day when “true representatives of Jammu and Kashmir adopted a historic resolution for accession to Pakistan”. “Despite decades of Indian occupation, resolve of Kashmiris & immutable bonds to [Pakistan] stand strong,” he said, adding that the country “reaffirms unwavering support to Kashmiris in their just struggle for freedom”.
In October 1947, Governor General of India had handed over the control of the Himalayan valley to India under the garb of a counterfeit instrument of accession, triggering a never ending acrimony between the two rivals. Credible evidence suggests beyond reasonable doubt that Kashmir’s Hindu ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh’s signatures were forged on the letter purported to be written by him to the Governor General requesting military assistance to maintain order. Resultantly, there was a public revolt against this atrocity and the freedom fighters got a portion of the princely state liberated from Indian rule, now known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Kashmiri people have been fighting against Indian rule for unification of IOJ&K with Pakistan. According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have been killed and tortured in the conflict that, once again, flared up in 1989—the latest wave of surge in anti-India insurgency. Kashmir banay ga Pakistan [Kashmir will become Pakistan] has become a popular slogan on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and people have been offering matchless sacrifices to achieve this cherished goal.
In April, amid the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, the Indian government notified new domicile laws for occupied Kashmir, making an unspecified number of outsiders eligible for residency and jobs. As many as 25,000 non-locals have been granted domicile certificates in Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir since May 18, which local politicians believe is the beginning of a move to disturb the demographic profile of the region. An APHC leader, Advocate Devinder Singh Behl, in a statement issued in Jammu expressed grave concern over the new construction policy approved by the Indian authorities for Jammu and Kashmir. He said the policy has paved the way for Indian forces to occupy Kashmiris’ lands and carry out construction and other activities.
India occupation could not subjugate the brave spirit of Kashmiri people. There have been ups and downs in the Kashmiris’ exemplary struggle from 1931 to 2020, but Indian atrocities have not succeeded in dampening their spirits. Periodically, India brought in new laws and used every type of tactics. India even tried to buy out the Kashmiris, but failed miserably.
Kashmiris have been fighting against Indian atrocities and leading a freedom struggle for decades. The IOJ&K has seen at least 229 killings during more than 100 military operations since January 2020, according to a recently released report by the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS). From January 1 to June 30, the region witnessed the extrajudicial executions of at least 32 civilians and the killing of 54 armed forces personnel, the report stated. It also saw 55 internet shutdowns and the destruction of 48 structures. The report said three children and two women were also killed, while at least “107 cordon and search operations and cordon and destroy operations were conducted in the region”. A strict lockdown and communications blackout has been in place in occupied Kashmir since August last year.
Research Section of Kashmir Media Service has recently issued an analytical report which revealed that over 450,000 Kashmiris have laid down their lives for Jammu and Kashmir’s freedom from Indian occupation and for its accession to Pakistan during the last over seven decades. The United Nations must institute enhanced monitoring and documenting human rights abuses being committed by India in occupied Kashmir.
Decades of Indian atrocities have failed to suppress insurmountable spirit and legitimate freedom struggle of the Kashmiris, which is destined to succeed. And Kashmiris are not alone in their struggle. Pakistan has raised the issue of Kashmir on every international forum and has stressed that the World must not let Srebrenica like massacre happen in occupied Kashmir. Entire Muslim Ummah also needs to become the voice of the people in occupied Kashmir.
Despite post-August 5 intensification of violence by India, Kashmiris of all ages and across genders are challenging Modi’s fascism with their blood. They are hope of future!
Generation after generation Kashmiri men, women and children have confronted and contested Indian occupation, brutality and incarceration. Pakistan continues to provide political and diplomatic support to the people of the occupied valley.
India is violating international laws in the valley. The World must take note and warn Delhi about the implications of its actions in the region. The United Nations needs to take notice of Indian atrocities in the occupied valley.
