Kashmir Solidarity Day exposes India’s hubris

By Mian Saifur Rehman
Every year, February 5
is observed as Solidarity Day to express all out support for the Kmashmiri
brethren who are facing the worst type of oppression and aggression at
the hands of hubris-ridden Indian governments and their merciless
troops.

Why this Solidarity Day? This is quite a pertinent question that is
being asked, for quite some time, in those parts of the world which
are not particularly aware of the bestialities committed with impunity
in Kashmir just because the despised Muslim majority of this forcibly
devoured region has dared to look into the eyes of the high and mighty
rulers of India who are intoxicated with the dream of Akhand Bharat
(Great India).
And, in order to devour this region, Indian governments have
promulgated draconian laws which will find further mention in the
following lines.
As regards the selection of February 5, it was decided by former Prime
Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, on the advice of former chief of
Jamaate Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, with the idea of highlighting the
never-ending atrocities perpetrated on the people of Kashmir just for
demanding their globally recognized right of self-determination in
accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.

Indian governments have, however, continued resorting to state
terrorism to suppress the Kashmiris’ voice of freedom that has led to
massive human rights’ violations so much so that impartial observers
say that civilisation seems to have totally vanished in Kashmir or
IIOJ&K (Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir). Many world
watchdogs, including the Human Rights Watch (HRW) have also started
publishing accounts of Indian forces’ brutalities that negate the tall
claims of India’s supremacist leaders of being legatees of ancient
civilization

Painfully, all these inhuman activities are going on in the
Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley since the 1988 Intifada/uprising which
is unjustifiably termed a rebellion by Indian authorities.

The government of Bhartya Janata Party (BJP), now led by PM Narendra
Modi, has, however, crossed all limits in fomenting social-and-class
hatred in the light of their supremacy mentality.
The freedom fighters of Kashmir Valley, belonging to Muslim majority,
are the worst hit.
All the thinkable and unthinkable tools of suppression have been used
to brutalize them with the backing of draconian, black laws like Armed
Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which authorizes Indian soldiers to
enter any premises in IIOJ&K without a search warrant and wreak havoc
on the poor, harmless inmates at their mercy.
This has also been happening during the incumbency of governments of
different political parties but BJP government has gone berserk. There
have been other black laws in force, including Public Safety Act (PSA)
and Disturbed Areas Act, that confer extra-judicial powers on Indian
Army officials to detain innocent Kashmiris for indefinite periods of
time without producing them in the courts.
Intoxicated with these ‘immense powers’, around 300 Indian Army
personnel resorted to brazen bestiality and gang-raped 150 Muslim
Kashmiri girls in the villages of Kunan and Poshpora during a
cordon-and- search operation.
And the world has not yet forgotten other inhuman acts on the part of
the cruel Indian forces deployed to the extent of 0.7 million regular
army and 0.4 million paramilitary personnel.
Rape and sexual violence have also been some of the main tools of
oppression and suppression, as employed again and again to subjugate
and humiliate the peace-loving and unarmed Kashmiri Muslims for
demanding the right of self-determination.
Sometimes, it seems as if the Indian troops are following in the
footsteps of Dogra troops of Kashmir that committed mass rapes against
Kashmiri Muslim women, when conflict broke out in Kashmir immediately
after Independence.
A number of scholars and human rights organizations assert that “rape
has been leveraged as a weapon of war by Indian security forces
comprising Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)and Border
Security personnel.”
If an in-depth evaluation of Indian leaders’ hegemonic psyche is
carried out, it can be inferred that the influential categories of
people, like Brahmins or others of their ilk in the Hindu-dominated
India are inspired by the philosophy of Hindutva that preaches zero
tolerance for non-Hindus. RSS, which is the spiritual guru of BJP and
known worldwide for its violent ways, adheres to the same philosophy
of zero tolerance for non-Hindus whereas their extreme hatred for
Muslims, knows no bounds.
Of late, during the reign of BJP-led and RSS-inspired government of
Narendra Modi, the atrocities against Kashmiris, accompanied with
unconstitutional moves like repeal of Articles 370 and 35 A, have
touched heights. These unconstitutional moves can be likened to
complete bulldozing of Indian Constitution as well as the spirit of
the Constitution. This unconstitutional revocation is totally
violative of the UNSC resolutions that require a plebiscite to be
held, recognizing the fact that Kashmir is a disputed territory.
As if these unconstitutional moves were not enough, Indian troops have
intensified the use of brute force against innocent Kashmiris who are
now facing the worst times, even much worse than the days when they
would be kidnapped, their women gang-raped and youth tortured to
death, not mentioning the indiscriminate use of pellet guns.
Moreover, IIOJ&K is under siege and/or blockade for 500 plus days so
much so that the virtually imprisoned (in their houses) Kashmiris
can’t move freely for transporting their sick relatives to hospitals.
And reports have also come that some people had to bury their near and
dear ones in the backyards of their houses. And, as for the
communication blockade, that too is quite stringent as if the people of Kashmir were living in primeval times under the rule of
authoritarian despots.