ISLAMABAD, Oct 29 (APP): Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government is making one after another nefarious attempt to bring about a demographic change and impose its Hindutva agenda in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir valley.
Besides intensifying its state terrorism through illegal actions since August 05, 2019, the Modi government has been forcefully implementing its settler colonial plan to turn Muslim majority of the occupied territory into a minority.
In the latest move, under its land for landless scheme it has so far allotted five Marla land each to 9,000 people with the experts claiming that majority of the beneficiary of this scheme are Indian Hindus.
The Modi government has already handed over thousands of kanals of land to the Indian industrialists to establish industries, bring Indian citizens as laborers and permanently settle them in the UN-recognized disputed territory.
In utter violation of the UN resolutions, the Modi regime has also allowed the Indian citizens, temporarily residing in IIOJK, to vote in the so-called assembly elections.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference and regional political parties including Peoples Democratic Party, National Conference and Communist Party of India have maintained that the scheme is part of the Modi regime’s plans to alter demography of the territory.
APHC leader and Chairman, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Shabbir Ahmed Shah has sought intervention of the world community to prevent the robbing of occupied Jammu and Kashmir people of their land, identity and integrity by the Modi-led regime.
“Enactment of a series of anti-Kashmiri laws like rebranding demographics and redrawing of Jammu and Kashmir’s electoral map had instilled a fear of insecurity amongst Kashmiris,” KMS reported Mr Shah as saying from Tihar jail.
These laws, he said, were meant to change the region’s demography and deprive natives of their resources, jobs, identity, cultural, land and right to self-determination guaranteed them by the United Nations.
“The August 05, 2019 move was a deep-rooted conspiracy against Kashmiris to erase their political, cultural and national identity,” he said.
Prior to 1947, the State of Jammu and Kashmir existed as one of 565 princely states that were not under direct control of British regime and given a choice to join either Pakistan or India. As a Muslim majority state Kashmir was widely believed to become a part of Pakistan but its ruler fraudulently acceded to India that resulted in public uprising.
Consequently, one-third of Kashmir, comprising present-day Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) was liberated from India through an armed struggle. In 1947, India took the issue to UN Security Council that passed a resolution on January 5, 1949, giving Kashmiris the right to decide about their future through a UN-supervised plebiscite.
But, India gradually backed out from its commitment and declared Kashmir its integral part in disregard to the UNSC resolutions and used ruthless force, torture and mayhem to quell freedom struggle.
On Aug 05, 2019, India went a step ahead and stripped Jammu Kashmir of its special status, it enjoyed within the Indian union, announcing to integrate it with the rest of the country. The decision was a blatant violation of the UN resolutions that debarred both India and Pakistan from taking any action prejudice to the disputed status of the territory. These actions are also against the Simla Agreement signed by the two sides in 1972.
With the revoking of articles 370 and 35A, the region stands bifurcated into two union territories: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh; the former declared to have a state legislature while the latter to be ruled directly from New Delhi.
To preempt potential public reaction, months-long restrictions were imposed by Delhi, like cutting off all modes of communication, including mobile phone service and internet.
In a letter written to G-20 countries ahead of its summit in New Delhi in September this year, Amnesty International and six other organizations jointly invited the attention of the participating countries towards these restrictions.
“When India revoked Article 370 and Article 35A, stripping Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomous status – the government has continued repressive policies including restricting freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association and failed to investigate and prosecute alleged violations committed by its military, paramilitary, police and other forces”.
The revocation of two articles of the constitution is being widely seen as a step towards virtual Indianization of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, leaving behind no trace of its separate status or independent identity.
Moreover, the introduction of the new domicile law is a clear violation of the Geneva Convention as the fourth Geneva Convention bars an occupation force from deporting or transferring its civilian population into the territory taken over by it.
Attempts to alter the demographic composition of an occupied territory have also been condemned by the UN Security Council as it called for the cessation of attempts to change the ethnic composition of the population in Yugoslavia in 1992. Similarly, the UN General Assembly and the UN Commission on Human Rights have also condemned such settlement practices.
In this perspective, the international community must press India to restore the previous status of IIOJK as committed before the UNSC and give Kashmiris their right to self-determination.
APP/abs/maz (APP Feature Service)
