Renewing promise on ‘Kashmir Black Day’
Khalid Khokhar

WITH a renewed promise and commitment, people of Kashmir all over the world are observing 60t” anniversary of Kashmir’s right for self-determination on October 27, 2007. On this day in 1947, the Indian army landed in Srinagar as part of India’s military aggression in defiance of the Partition of India Act under which being a Muslim majority state, Kashmir was to form part of Pakistan. This day is also the most memorable day in the history of the subcontinent as it marked the galvanization of the Indian Muslims to launch struggle for emancipation from Hindu domination. It is significant to mention here that under the Partition Plan, geographical situation arid communal demography were required to be taken into consideration while making a choice. The partition of India had been on the principle that contiguous areas with Muslim majorities in both west and east India went to Pakistan. This included all the western and northern districts of the Punjab, which are contiguous to Kashmir. Almost the whole area of Kashmir is inhabited by a predominately Muslim population, therefore, it would seem that the Maharajah of Kashmir ought to have acceded to Pakistan. Under the partition plan provided by the Indian Independence Act of 1947, Kashmir was free to accede to India or Pakistan. The Indian leadership, Lord Mountbatten, Maharaja Harisingh and his loyalists against the will of the predominant majority of Kashmiri Muslims manipulated Kashmir’s accession to India. But the Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh, could not make up his mind. Possibly, he had hoped that he could keep Kashmir independent. He offered a “standstill agreement” to both Pakistan and India to ensure supplies and communication. Pakistan entered into the agreement while India refrained. India started putting improper pressure on the Maharajah to accede to India. The Indian leaders persisted that since India is a secular state and not a Hindu state, therefore, any area with Muslim majority be decided on the result of free vote of the people concerned.
Under duress, the Maharajah acceded to Indian union. This led to the outbreak of a public uprising. The people of particularly Mirpur and Poonch areas rose up against the forced accession of the state to India and the landing of Indian troops. On January 1, 1948 when Indian forces were nearing to be defeated India approached the UN Security Council under Article-35 and the world body declared a cease-fire. India declared, “when peace and order were restored, the accession need to be ratified by a popular vote “. Nevertheless, successive Indian governments deviated from the stance as per requirement from time to time. Following the accession, the leaders of India, including the first Governor-general Mountbatten, and the first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, repeatedly pledged that the question of Kashmir would be decided in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiris. The pledge was incorporated in the UN resolutions of 13 August 1948, and 5 January 1949. The UNCIP resolutions dated August 13, 1948 and January 5, 1949 endorsed by the Security Council and accepted by both Pakistan and India provided for a ceasefire, demarcation of ceasefire line, demilitarization of the state and a free and impartial plebiscite to be conducted by the United Nations. The plebiscite was never held and the Indian pledge was never honoured. India justifies its refusal on the flimsy grounds of various new developments that have taken place during the last six decades. Indians argues that the conditions deemed necessary for a peaceful settlement of the promised plebiscite were never achieved by Pakistan. Under these circumstances what should be done to find a solution? India is in a position to come up with a way out. So far, Indians are denying greater autonomy to the Kashmiris because it is the Indian egoism and not the thinking that is the basis of their policies on Kashmir. Hegemonic policies of Indian leadership are responsible for the lingering Kashmir dispute, that has crippled the lives of hundreds of thousands Kashmiris since October 27, 1947.
The Muslim community all-over the world observes “Kashmir Black Day” to promote understanding and awareness about an issue that is too often neglected by the international community. A day that marks the start of the Kashmiri struggle; it is the day that the Indian forces invaded Kashmir. The UN resolutions UN resolutions of 13 August 1948, and 5 January 1949 recognize that Kashmir was a disputed territory and should be resolved according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people. Although the on-going peace process and bus service from Muzaffarabad to Srinagar is “a dream come true” for many divided Kashmiri families, the Kashmir issue has yet to be resolved. Kashmiris are continuing their struggle for the right of self-determination, promised to them by the United Nations, India and Pakistan. The sacrifices offered by the Kashmiris in terms of life and property are unprecedented in history. This is an era of conflict resolution as the world has witnessed major paradigm shift from bi-polar to uni-polar set of systems, therefore, the US should intervene and help resolve the long outstanding issue.
There are number of proposals on the cards for the amicable resolution of Kashmir issue. India and Pakistan are involved in CBMs as well as in backchannel diplomacy to explore possibilities to resolve the Kashmir issue. It is the high time to take advantage of the conducive atmosphere and take the process ahead and come up with more CBMs so as to reach an amicable solution of the Kashmir issue. However, CBMs alone cannot help Pakistan, India and Kashmir. All of them have to leave their “stated positions” and have to show flexibility to move forward. A step-by-step approach towards seeking a solution on Kashmir is the need of the day. The first two steps; to initiate the talk process and to recognize Kashmir as a dispute have been accomplished. The remaining steps are difficult. The demilitarization of the whole area is the most viable, practical and enduring solution. As President Musharraf puts it “demilitarise Kashmir, give self governance to people of Kashmir with a joint management arrangement on top” can be debated to the acceptance of India, Pakistan and people of Kashmir. President Pervez Musharraf has a conviction of getting the issue settled in a specific timeframe, though India lays “end of terrorism by Pakistan” as a pre-condition to the demilitarization of the area on the both sides of the LOC. In all the fairness, India should give way to the Kashmiri struggle for the right of self-determination, and opt to demilitarize the area on their 60th anniversary of Kashmir Black Day. On the 60th anniversary of Kashmir Black day, we shall affirm to take the freedom movement to its logical conclusion. We should renew our pledge that Pakistan will never forget Kashmir and wants a peaceful resolution of Kashmir dispute. Till that time, Pakistan will continue to extend its moral, political and diplomatic support.

Observance of Kashmir Black Day
Mamoona Ismail

Kashmiris living around the world including both sides of Line of Control will observe October 27 as black day to mark protest against Indian Occupation on Kashmir. The state of Jammu and Kashmir is strategically located at the northern tip of the South Asian subcontinent. It is surrounded by Pakistan to the west, India to the south, and China to the north and east. On October 27, 1947 India had taken control over Kashmir by force instead of giving the Kashmiris their right to self-determination as inscribed in the United Nations resolutions. The unjust Indian Occupation is still there from the last more than sixty years. Seven hundred thousands Indian troops committing grave human rights violations and atrocities in Indian held Kashmir to suppress the Indigenous freedom struggle launched by Kashmiri people.
October 27 is the most agonising day in the history of Kashmir, on this day in 1947, 1 - Sikh Regiment of the Indian army under the command of Lt-Col Dewan Ranjit Rai on board 10 Dakota aircraft of the Royal India Air Force landed at Srinagar airport at about 9.00am. The personnel of 2 and 13 - Field Regiments of Indian army attired in uniforms of 1 - Sikh Regiment and operating as a composite company under Capt R L Chauhan of 13 - Field Regiment landed in Srinagar as part of India’s military aggression in defiance of the Partition of India Act under which being a Muslim majority state, Kashmir was to form part of Pakistan.
While going through the history of this painful day, one is shocked to note the fact that landing of the Indian troops was part of a well-knotted conspiracy hatched by a clique of vested interests including Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh, his Prime Minister Mahar Chand Mahajan, the National Conference leader Shiekh Muhammad Abdullah, Indian Governor General Lord Mountbatten and the Indian leadership including Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, then Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Minister for States Sardar Valabbhai Patel and Defence Minister Sardar Baldev Singh. It is significant to mention here that under the Partition Plan, three states Hyderabad, Junagagh and Kashmir did not make the choice of accession either to Pakistan or India on August 15, 1947. Under the criteria laid down in the Plan, geographical situation and communal demography were required to be taken into consideration while making a choice. It was in this environment of grand changes on the political scene of the Subcontinent that the problem of future destiny of the state of Jammu and Kashmir cropped up.
For over sixty years Kashmir has been recognized as a disputed territory by the United Nations. The problem in Kashmir has been the denial of the right of self-determination promised to the Kashmiri people by numerous United Nations resolutions. To crush the legitimate aspirations of the Kashmiris, Indian occupying forces have carried out a brutal campaign of subjugation and terror. The issue has immense international relevance as it is at the core of the conflict between two new nuclear-capable countries India and Pakistan. The Kashmir issue has been the cause of two major wars between the two countries. The issue affects the lives of more than a billion people in South Asia, about a fifth of the world’s population. There is a greater need to address the larger problem which sustains militancy and alienation, namely the non-resolution of the Kashmir issue. Kashmiris, without doubt, are crying for peace, but certainly not for a peace on the terms dictated to them. India needs to recognize their legitimate grievances, long-denied self-determination and erosion of autonomy and engage them and their representatives, namely the Hurriyet, in unconditional dialogues. The present “carrot and stick” policy has devastated the people in the past decade and must be abandoned. Any attempt to integrate Kashmir into India needs to be an emotional integration; Winning the hearts and minds alone can lead to lasting peace.
Protests and rallies on Black Day are a message for the world community to come forward and settle the Kashmir issue in accordance with the aspirations of Kashmiri people. International community should pressurize India to give right of self-determination to Kashmiris by recognizing their legitimate freedom struggle and stop the human carnage in the Indian held Kashmir. It should help her remembering the words of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, in his speech aired on All-India Radio in November 2, 1947, that reaffirmed the Indian Government’s commitment to the right of the Kashmiri people to determine their own future through a plebiscite. He said, “We have declared that the fate of Kashmir is ultimately to be decided by the people. That pledge we have given, and the Maharajah has supported it, not only to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, but also to the world. We will not and cannot back out of it. We are prepared when peace and law have been established to have a referendum held under international auspices like the United Nations. We want it to be a fair and just reference to the people and we shall accept their verdict.”



Waiting for a bright day
Naeem Jan

THE peace process as such is an important activity binding the spoken and written word which can be a powerful motivator to generate hope and create a genuine environment. During the last four years after the failure of the Agra Summit, India and Pakistan once again started a composite dialogue under the brand name of ‘Peace Process’. In the context of Kashmir, Pakistan and India realized the fact that the key to breaking stalemate on Kashmir dispute lies in the dialogue not in violence in view of nuclear deterrence between the two and fast changing geo-strategic realities of the globe. A number of wars on Kashmir between India and Pakistan, Kashmiris’ ongoing struggle against illegal Indian occupation and the resultant Indian troops’ state terrorism are the factors that illustrate that neither the Kashmir dispute can be resolved through wars nor the Kashmiris’ can be subdued through oppression.
As Kashmir has been ripped apart since the partition of India, the intensity of the suffering has changed, and the nature of peace building at different points of time has been different. Earlier, India and Pakistan tried the bilateralism inclusive of Track 1, Track 2 plus and other back channel diplomatic initiatives you name but without any results. As part of current bilateral dialogue on Kashmir, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf s 4-point formula on Kashmir generated a dynamic discourse among people of all shades of life in Indian occupied Kashmir. The proposals have been welcomed not only at the international level but also among the pro-liberation Kashmiri circles as well as those who had so far been opposing Kashmiris’ right to self-determination while taking sides with the Indian stance. The objectivity of the President Musharraf s proposals and their wide-spread acceptance have resulted in mounting pressure on India to respond positively to these proposals, which include the identification of the areas of Jammu and Kashmir, their demilitarization, self-governance and joint-supervision. The endeavours of resolving the Kashmir dispute through talks is becoming all the time so popular with international community at large and the people in occupied Kashmir in particular that even the pro-India circles in Kashmir too have been impelled to favour the talks’ process. The overwhelming majority of the Kashmiri leadership has categorically stated that the proposals will indeed allay the agonies of Kashmiris by creating an atmosphere of lasting peace and pave the way for Kashmiris to decide their own future. By the same token, international community, mindful of the enormous economic benefits that a lasting resolution to the dispute would bring forth for the people of South Asia as well as the entire globe, has also strongly favoured this process. In this regard, the interest of US, EU, China, Japan, ASEAN, Shanghai Cooperation, SAARC and other international and regional organizations is fully spelt out in their time-to-time statements.
Nevertheless, the sad part of the saga is that India still remains intransigent and even after the proposals, statements like “Kashmir is integral part of India” by different spokespersons have been emanating from New Delhi. India is still reluctant to show any positive and flexible approach towards resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with Kashmiris’ aspirations. India has also failed to bring a radical change in the ground situation in occupied Kashmir. The situation of human rights violations is as grim as it was before the dialogue process that started in January 2004 when Indian Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Pakistan. Thousands of people including many women and children and several in custody have been killed during this period. People of occupied Kashmir did not witness any let up in Indian troops’ acts of state terrorism.