Kashmir: Paradise Exposed to Hell

Due to these excesses, more than 60,000 Kashmiris have been killed since 1990, with a lot more unaccounted for. Thousands of helpless Muslim Kashmiris have fled across the Line-of-Control to Azad Kashmir and Pakistan are now living in refugee camps” (http://ummah.org.uk/kashmir).

According to Amnesty International, following data shows the number of deaths and number of violent activities by Indian troops in the dispute valley of Jammu and Kashmir. According to the latest information, more than sixty thousand inhabitants have been mercilessly butchered to death since 1989 in the valley.

“Kashmir has suffered an in-human violence since the partition of South Asia, but 1989, the violence is increased and has resulted in the deaths of innocent inhabitants. The following chart shows the number of inhabitants that were made disabled by extreme and brutal violence by Indian army along with the precise number of deaths for last ten years”(http://ummah.org.uk).

More recently, India has increased its army in Kashmir to suppress the Kashmiri Inhabitants. “ The deployment of 600,000 troops to silence the voice of Kashmiri people is seen as the only solution by the Indian government, resulting in gross violations of human rights” (Divided Kashmir 2). According to the United Nation, “About ten to twelve innocent people are killed every week by Indian paramilitary forces. There is only one soldier to every six Kashmirs and approximately eight thousand Kashmiris are martrayed every year” ( http://www.un.org).

The Amnesty International is trying to draw attention of world’s big nations towards this issue. According to their data, since 1992, indiscriminate firing caused the deaths of 59,170 Kashmiri people. 585 were burnt alive, more than two thousands Kashmiri people lost their lives due to extreme torture, record cases of deaths caused by throwing in rivers reaches to four thousand, more than 100,000 were forced to leave their homes and seventy thousand are still missing. Is this what India was called for? Is this what Indian government calls “peace”. Human rights violations that includes extra judicial killings, rape, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, disappearances, destruction of homes and shops, denial of fair trial and excessive paramilitary force and violation of humanitarian laws, suppression of freedom of speech. Due to the self-determination of Kashmiri people, Indian army can’t control them so they are using illegal and brutal ways to control them. Killing can’t solve the problem. Indian troops kill young children right in front of their parents. They rape innocent girls in front of their brothers and fathers. The extent of torture, killings and rapes perpetrated on Kashmiri people by Indian forces are already creating a new record of atrocities. Gouging of eyes, cutting off of men's genitals, use of ever-new methods of torture and endless curfews would shame Hitler's SS death squads. The Indian occupation army's deviltry such as gang rapes, burning of entire villages and crops, destruction of economic life of whole communities and genocide of the Kashmiri people in defiance of international human rights laws, are everyday affairs. According to UN, “An estimated one million women have been bereaved, tortured or humiliated and beaten up or killed; many hundreds have been subjected to barbaric sexual assaults. Sexual harassment is used as a weapon to subvert people into submission” (http://ummah.com/kashmir/atroc). This database represents only a minute proportion of the Indian atrocities in Kashmir as the majority goes undocumented.

On the other side, Pakistani government thinks that it owes Jammu and Kashmir. Though they haven’t recognized that they are supporting freedom fighters in Jammu and Kashmir, infect they provide them some ammunition and moral support. This resulted in extreme violence in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan is spending huge money from its annual budget on Kashmir and on its defense despite the fact that Kashmir is not under its control. Similarly, “Indian government is spending 10.7 percent of its annual budget for its defense in Kashmir” (Annual Budget of India 1999’ 674).

While South Asia grapples with the existence of nuclear weapons, ethnic conflict, terrorism, and other threats, it also affords new opportunities for market reform, growth of democratic institutions, and closer ties with the United States. In the fourth month of 1999, when both nations conducted nuclear tests, the situation has become tenser and has produced a threat of nuclear war in the region. Many experts and intellectuals have pointed the region as the battlefield of the next world war that might be a nuclear war. That is why, United Nation is trying to resolve this matter and stabilize the political instability of South Asia.

Since 1948, United-Nation has tried to solve the tense situation many times, but it has not been able to resolve the dispute. Many experts criticize that UN hasn’t played a sufficient role to resolve the dispute. Security Council and General assembly have passed twenty resolutions but all in vain and couldn’t reach a peaceful settlement. The Security Council promised a referendum, in the form of a plebiscite, to the people of Kashmir in 1948. India then accepted the principle of plebiscite but has since obstructed all attempts at arranging fair elections or referendum. Since then the situation got out of hands of United Nation and still UN is unable to provide a peaceful solution.

Pakistani Information Minister in his interview with CNN in 1999 said, “We have been saying that the United Nations and the secretary-general should intervene because this is a threat to peace and regional stability” (http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9905/27/pakistan.reax).

On May 11, 1998 the Indian government announced that they had conducted a series of successful nuclear tests at their test facility in the Rajasthan Desert. On May 13, the Indian government announced that it conducted two further tests. The Pakistan government responded with a series of there own tests. On May 28 the Pakistani government announced that they had exploded 5 nuclear devices in the southwestern part of Pakistan. These tests were followed by another test on May 30. As now both nations have gained nuclear capabilities, it is a very critical situation for the whole world. Now their nuclear capabilities have drawn the attention of the entire globe to this dispute and many experts have pointed the region as the battleground for next world war.

It is very important for both nations to have peaceful relationship because the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir has played a vital role to make them one of the poorest regions in the world. Pakistan: a populous country of 160 million inhabitants is spending twenty five percent of its annual revenue for its defense capabilities. In 1999, Pakistan’s annual revenue was approximately eleven billion dollars. Out of which, approximately three billion was spent on the army. It is a very huge amount for a poor country like Pakistan. That is why, Pakistan spends two percent of annual revenue on education and as a result sixty three percent of its population is illiterate (Kashmir in The Crossfire 46). Similarly in India, government is spending one-fifth of its annual revenue to its defense capabilities and as a result it has become one the most poorest nation in the world. They should spend money on the needs of ordinary citizens rather than wasting money on their defense capabilities.

Today the burning dispute of Jammu and Kashmir remains unsolved. It seems that both nations are filled with bitter animosity for each other and as a result the dispute is still there as it was fifty years ago. Both nations are escalating the conflict and it seems that there might be no solution until any serious action is taken by United Nation. The United Nation and The United States had arranged many table talks to resolve the conflict. For a moment it was seemed that they would solve this issue, but as soon as the talks were over, both countries started using propaganda’s.

To resolve this burning issue, all big nations should participate in the United Nations peace programs and should stress India and Pakistan to solve the conflict as soon as possible. United Nation should stress India to hold election in Kashmir. The best solution will be the United Nation’s contribution in the election to make them fair and safe. All countries should try to establish good relationship between these neighbors. Kashmiri people have suffered the loss of thousands of lives since partition and it is the time that this issue should be solved according to the will of Kashmiri people.

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