https://themilitant.com/2019/08/17/protesters-in-kashmir-say-india-get-out-of-our-country/
Protesters in Kashmir say, ???India get out of our country???
By Jonathan Silberman
Vol. 83/No. 31
August 26, 2019
London protest Aug. 7 against direct rule by Indian government in Kashmir.
Militant/Jonathan Silberman
London protest Aug. 7 against direct rule by Indian government in Kashmir.
BIRMINGHAM, England ??? Thousands have taken to the streets of
Indian-occupied Kashmir to protest the imposition of direct rule by the
Indian government. The actions are the latest in a decadeslong struggle
by the Kashmiri people for self-determination that has claimed the lives
of tens of thousands.
???We want freedom??? and ???Go India, go back!??? chanted hundreds of
demonstrators in Srinagar Aug. 12. Kashmiris will not stop fighting
until we have won freedom, one young man told Dunya News, a
Pakistan-based TV news channel Aug. 9. Solidarity demonstrations have
taken place in the U.K.
???We must support the Kashmiri people against Indian aggression and the
BJP party,??? pharmacist Arif Khan, 38, told the Militant, echoing the
sentiments of many others attending a demonstration here in Birmingham
Aug 10.
The protests follow a decision by the Indian government of Narendra Modi
to send tens of thousands of troops to join the hundreds of thousands
already there to impose a curfew, close schools, block streets with
razor wire and arrest hundreds, including two former chief ministers.
All phone, TV and internet connection has been shut.
Kashmir, an oppressed nationality of some 14 million people, has been
divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, with the rulers in both
countries laying claim to the whole territory.
The seeds of the conflict over Kashmir were sewn by the British rulers
as their colonial domination of India was ended by a mass movement of
millions, led by a young working class that had begun to forge unity of
the country???s many different nationalities and religions. The Labour
Party government at the time protected the interests of the U.K.???s
ruling families by pressing the dominant bourgeois and landlord forces
in India to accept a majority-Muslim Pakistan and a majority-Hindu India
??? thwarting steps toward a unified nation-state and keeping the working
classes divided and weakened.
The two new states immediately went to war over Kashmir. A U.N.-brokered
peace deal divided Kashmir ??? two-thirds to India, today known as Jammu
and Kashmir; one-third to Pakistan, called Azad Kashmir.
Pakistan???s rulers, feigning sympathy for the Kashmiris, have pressed
their interests against their regional rivals and sponsored armed
Islamist militias to carry out terror attacks against Indian forces. One
such attack in February this year killed 46 paramilitary police. The
Indian government has used such attacks as a pretext for extreme
brutality against the Kashmiri people. There have been two further wars
between the two capitalist states over the Kashmiri people and their
land ??? in 1965 and 1990. During the last of these the Pakistani
government put its nuclear arsenal on alert.
Seeking to gain popular support for partition, New Delhi granted a
degree of autonomy to India-administered Kashmir: its own flag, the
right to enact laws on matters other than foreign affairs, defense and
communications. Indians from outside the region were blocked from owning
property or getting government jobs. Women who marry someone from
outside the area were prevented from inheriting property.
This 70-year status was abruptly ended Aug. 5 by the Indian government???s
revocation of the constitutional arrangements. Modi claims Kashmir???s
integration will provide jobs, economic development and prosperity and
end discrimination against women. The move was welcomed by other
capitalist parties and by the propertied rulers, such as mining magnate
Gautam Adani. The main opposition Congress Party voiced some tepid
criticism.
The Pakistan government of Imran Khan closed train services to, and
downgraded diplomatic relations with, India, suspending bilateral trade.
But it amounted to what the New York Times described as ???high-level
hand-wringing.??? With China???s support, Pakistan is looking to the U.N.
Security Council to press India to reverse its assaults.
Changing relations among rival powers
Relations between capitalist states in the region have changed since the
Cold War, when Pakistan was aligned first with Washington and second
with China; and India with Moscow.
Beijing has upgraded relations with the rulers in Pakistan. A 2015 visit
by President Xi Jinping inaugurated $75 billion of Chinese investment in
roads, railways, energy production and pipelines linking China to a port
in the Pakistani city of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. The transport
corridor passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. In December Beijing
and Islamabad concluded their sixth joint military exercise.
Washington hosted a July visit to the U.S. by Pakistani Prime Minister
Khan, offering to mediate with India over Kashmir. But the Indian
government rejected the offer. The rulers there are a more reliable U.S.
ally against the growing weight of Beijing. Washington and New Delhi
have their own military exercises. President Donald Trump has not
condemned Modi???s violation of Kashmiri rights, echoing U.N. calls for
???restraint.??? London has called for ???calm.???
In This Issue
Front Page Articles ???Stop the raids! Amnesty for immigrants in the US!
???Protesters in Kashmir say, ???India get out of our country???
???SWP presents working-class candidates, road forward
???Blackjewel miners win solidarity in fight for jobs and stolen wages
??????Workers need to organize unions to fight to change our conditions???
???End censorship of the ???Militant,??? Walmart workers tell Florida prisons
Feature Articles ???Fight to end US embargo of Cuba discussed at Nepal forum
Also In This Issue ???Hong Kong protests demand Beijing grant political rights
???US Steel ???doesn???t care about health of Mon Valley people???
???Layoffs, workers??? debts refute gov???t claims of ???good times???
???Ebola outbreak worsened by wars wracking Congo
???New Puerto Rico governor defends US colonial rule
??????Militant??? reporters head to Puerto Rico
Books of the Month ???Women???s emancipation requires ending domestic servitude
25, 50 and 75 years ago
?? Copyright 2019 The Militant?? -?? 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor -?? New
York, NY 10018?? -?? themilitant@xxxxxxx
Cookies
This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Learn more.Okay, thank
--
---
George Carlin
??? Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the universe,
and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they
have to touch it to be sure. ???
??? George Carlin