September 4, 2019
Referendum in Kashmir
Syed Rifaquat Ali
With so much unabated atrocities heaped by the Indian army on the peaceful people in Kashmir, any bilateral talk between India and Pakistan on Kashmir imbroglio may not be acceptable to the people of Kashmir who want nothing short of independence.
The war hysteria raised by both India and Pakistan at regular intervals is no solution to the seventy-year-old cancerous problem.
Both the countries are drumming up vociferously for full-fledged war meaninglessly. Both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers and war would mean total annihilation of all living things on either side of the border. Millions of people ---men, women and children --- will die in the catastrophic exercise.
And needless to point out that in war there are no victors but only losers. What if India or Pakistan annex Kashmir over the dead bodies of millions of people, will the state of paradise not turn into hell?
The abrogation of Article 370 and 35A by the senseless Bhartiya Janta Party government has added fuel to the fire. Today, Kashmir is going through the most barbaric governance known in the history of mankind. About half a million troops stationed in Kashmir have committed the most heinous crimes unknown in human civilization: girls and women regularly raped, youths tortured like beasts, protesters killed in fake encounters, all communication facilities snapped, Internet and mobile and landline phones cut off, newspaper offices shut, thousands of people, including former chief ministers and leaders, under house arrest, school and colleges
shut, streets deserted, medical facilities not available and freedom of expression totally muzzled.
The inhuman treatment of millions of people in Kashmir has coaxed every Kashmiri, man and woman, to pick up a gun against the Indian troops in a do or die battle. The Kashmiris say that prison life is better than life in Kashmir today. And one does not know how the people in Kashmir will reconcile to the atrocities perpetrated
by the Indian army over the years. Shockingly, the UNO is blind, deaf and dumb to what's happening in Kashmir.
The secretary-general of UNO is good for nothing if he does not have the courage to intervene when the situation in Kashmir is so explosive. The UNO must immediately send its representative to Kashmir to gauge the ground realities and take action accordingly before it is too late to stop the war which may break out anytime.
The governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satyapal Malik, has announced 50000 jobs in three months for the people of Kashmir, a ruse to divert the attention. The Indian leaders are big liars and the Kashmiris should not fall into the trap. Prime Minister Modi promised 200000 jobs every year in his election campaigns in 2014. Today, the youths in India are a frustrated lot since there are no jobs whatsoever.
A Ph.D finds hard to get even the job of an attendant not to speak of A, B and C category jobs. Frustration is rapidly growing amongst the youth in India, and the central government is finding hard to tackle the murky situation in wake of declining economy. Since India does not want a third party mediation to resolve the Kashmir issue, the only option left is referendum.
The first prime minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru , had assured the people of Kashmir that "When things return to normal, we will have plebiscite in Kashmir." The people of Kashmir should be free to decide their fate, and the Indian government should not keep them in shackles till eternity.
Syed Rifaquat Ali is Sydney-based journalist
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
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