https://socialistaction.org/2019/08/09/self-determination-for-kashmir/
Self-determination for Kashmir!
/ 1 day ago
Sept. 2019 Kashmir protest N. Delhi (Altaf Qadri:AP)
Protest in New Delhi for Kashmiri rights. (Altaf Qadri / AP)
By RUWAN MUNASINGHE
Late on Sunday, Aug. 4, with hardly a notice, India moved tens of
thousands of troops into what is already the most militarized region on
the planet. In Indian-administered Kashmir, politicians, especially
opposition leaders (but even some loyal to India), were placed under
house arrest. Internet and landline service have been cut. Free assembly
has been banned. Many non-Kashmirs and tourists were advised to flee.
Many with family members in Kashmir are still left wondering about the
safety of loved ones.
All of this comes as New Delhi has rushed through a presidential decree
to revoke Article 370, the part of the constitution that gives
Indian-administered Kashmir special status. Also, the Indian parliament
pushed through the ???Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill,??? which seeks
to bifurcate the area into Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh (which will be
ruled over directly by the Indian government via a Lieutenant Governor).
In an earlier Socialist Action article, entitled ???Modi???s reelection in
India: More Attacks on Workers and Ethnic Minorities,??? I mentioned that
the reelection of right-wing Indian Prime Minister Nahrendera Modi
(leader of the Hindu Nationalist BJP and member of the semi-facist RSS)
in late June was, among many other things, likely to continue and
worsen?? racist policies against ethnic minorities. It was argued that
one of the results of this would play out on a macro scale in the
geopolitical issues regarding?? Kashmir.
Modi and the BJP have maintained very reactionary views toward majority
Muslim Kashmir and have exploited any developments in Kashmir for their
own interests. A good example of this was the Pulwama attack earlier
this year, which resulted in the Indian airforce???s launching an
airstrike in Pakistani territory. On the morning of Aug. 5, it became
clear that these predictions about India???s growing belligerence toward
Kashmir were coming true quicker than imagined.
This is a concerted and well thought-out attempt by the right-wing BJP
and its sympathizers. They want to eliminate article 370 of the
constitution???to jettison the autonomous status of Kashmir and the power
of the regional government. They also want to do away with Article 35A,
which permits the local legislature in Indian-administered Kashmir to
define its permanent residents and control property rights.
The election manifesto of Modi specifically states: ???We are committed to
overcome all obstacles that come in the way of development and provide
adequate financial resources to all the regions of the state [of
Kashmir]. We reiterate our position since the time of the JanSangh to
the abrogation of Article 370.???
Victoria Schofield, author of?? ???Kashmir in Conflict,??? explained to Al
Jazeera recently that there has been a gradual erosion of article 370
for years. However, the disposal of article 35A, in particular, sets a
legal justification for a situation in which Kashmir can be taken?? over
by Hindu settlers and?? Indian corporations. Kashmiris would have little
to no ability to fight this, as they are completely stripped of
political clout. This would actually change the demographics of Kashmir.
She says, ???If article 35A goes, you???ve got any number of people from the
rest of India feeling that they can come up and buy property in Jammu
and Kashmir.???
Indeed, this seems to be a longer-term vision of the BJP itself. The
election manifesto of Modi stated: ???We are committed to annulling
Article 35A of the constitution of India as the provision is
discriminatory against non-permanent residents and women of Jammu and
Kashmir.???
It continued, ???We will make an effort to ensure the safe return of
Kashmiri Pandits and we will provide financial assistance for the
resettlement of refugees from West Pakistan, Pakistan Occupied Jammu and
Kashmir (POJK) and Chhamb.???
Clearly, the BJP is invested in a project to allow Hindus (and perhaps
friendly corporations) to have priority to move to Kashmir and buy up
land. From Modi???s perspective it is Hindu Kashmiris (Pandits), who might
have left Kashmir since independence or during violence in the region
over the decades, that are the oppressed people in this situation???not
the predominantly Muslim Kashmiris who have been living under occupation
even before independence and have been consistently denied the right to
voice their political will.
During Indian independence and partition, each province or princely
state had a referendum on whether they would join India or Pakistan. In
the heavily Muslim area of Kashmir this basic method of measuring the
popular will was denied. Instead, the leaders of Indian
independence???Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohatma Ghandi???left the decision up to
the British-backed Hindu leadership. Nehru himself came from an old
Kashmiri Hindu Brahmin family. Ghandi???supposedly nonviolent???gave full
support to Indian military forces to shoot and kill Kashmiris if they
did not obey.
Following independence, heightened tensions resulted in the
Indo-Pakistani war of 1947, which was supposed to end in a referendum
regarding whether Kashmir should join India or Pakistan. This referendum
never happened. The area split and remains contested to this day.
Indeed, Kashmiris have never had the semblance of a formal political
opportunity to express political self-determination. Meanwhile, occupied
Kashmir is the most militarized region in the world and occupying forces
regularly commit acts of brutality. It should be noted that Kashmir is
an important source of natural resources, particularly water.
Pakistan responded to India???s actions immediately. Imran Kahn announced
that he will lobby for Kashmir at the United Nations and called for the
international community to support him. Referring to nuclear war, Kahn
said, ???We appeal to the world. If the world does not do anything now, it
will have serious consequences.??? As this article is being written,
Pakistan has announced that it will ???downgrade??? diplomatic relations and
suspend trade with India.
Pakistan???s ability to mediate this crisis must be rejected. Nor should
any faith be placed in the ruling classes of the world to solve the life
or death situation faced by Kashmiris. Such an action would be in
violation of the right of Kashmiris to determine their own future. Also
noteworthy is the problematic way in which Pakistan has administered the
part of the region it controls.
The historic position of the United States has been to ignore discussing
the issue, ostensibly in order to maintain good diplomatic relations for
business and arms sales especially to occupying forces. The U.S. has
funded the Indian military???s occupation of Kashmir (along with Russia
and Israel), and U.S. military aid has even been correlated with spikes
of violence against Kashmiri civilians. In spite of this, Trump recently
offered for the U.S. to be a mediating force for peace.
In the hours after these developments, protests across both Pakistan and
India occurred spontaneously. Throughout India, protests organized by
individual units of the Students Federation of India (SFI) were held.
One of the first protests was held by Students For Society (SFS) in
University of Panjab. The left parties of India???specifically the CPI-(M)
and CPI-(ML)???held marches across the nation. Likewise, student groups
and religious groups held protests in Pakistan. One of the largest was
in Lahore. In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the Kashmir National
Students Federation held a variety of actions.
As this article is going to press, hundreds are marching and
demonstrating in New Delhi, India???s capital. The main march was endorsed
by CPI-(M), CPI-(ML), Revolutionary Socialist Party, and All India
Forward Bloc. The demands are for a defense of democratic rights of
Kashmiris, defense of article 370, and an end to destruction of Kashmir.
While many groups are calling for the defense of article 370 and 35A of
the constitution, groups like The Struggle in Pakistan are unique in
their call: ???all forces must quit Kashmir!??? They demand that both
countries??? armed forces leave Kashmir and that they allow for a free and
fair process of self-determination. In India, the Trotskyist group
Radical Socialist, a sympathizing organization of the Fourth
International, has made very similar demands and has specifically
pointed out that the ???scrapping of 35A was necessary to begin the
process of changing the demography of J&K, including the valley, so as
to eventually render Muslims living there a minority.???
Socialists should not merely be protesting what the Indian government is
doing to article 370 and 35A. Kashmir has been denied self-determination
and is an occupied territory. It is caught between two major regional
powers with relatively large militaries.
During a moving speech, a Kashmiri student at University of Hyderabad
gave personal testimony explaining the agony of the current crisis,
describing the uncertainty of the status of his family in
Indian-occupied Kashmir during the past 72 hours. He challenged his
audience to think beyond the current crisis and to recognize the
absurdity of Kashmir???s occupied status overall. ???Let me remind each and
every one here that there is no 370 in Uttar Pradesh. There is no 370 in
Bihar. There is no 370 here [in Telangana],??? he said.
Self-determination for the people of Kashmir! All occupying forces out
of Kashmir! No U.S. intervention!
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August 9, 2019 in South Asia. Tags: India, Kashmir
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