Youm-e-Istehsal-e-Kashmir, commemorating India’s unlawful annexation and occupation of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, was marked nationwide yesterday. In the six years that have passed, India has consolidated its oppressive control over the Kashmir Valley region in particular, putting its citizens through arbitrary incarceration, torture, and recurrent lock downs. Those who dare to demonstrate are also subjected to pellet guns. Demographic engineering initiatives to weaken Kashmir’s Muslim majority have also been made. The Pahalgam incident, which India wrongly accused Pakistan of committing, revealed how flimsy its hold over Kashmir was, and like other authoritarian regimes, India’s hold remained shaky due to its lack of legitimacy among the populace. In addition to elevating the nation, India’s failure in the ensuing conflicts with Pakistan appears to have given the Kashmiri independence cause new life. Increased calls have been made for Jammu and Kashmir to regain its statehood, and on Friday, the Indian Supreme Court will consider a case asking for orders to the national government to do so. However, Deputy Prime Minister Dar expressed fears that the BJP government intends to reinstate Jammu’s statehood while maintaining Kashmir’s position as a union territory during a rally in support of Youm-e-Istehsal. The deputy prime minister made it apparent that any such development would be completely unacceptable to Pakistan.
In the end, India’s courts and parliaments have no genuine authority to determine the destiny of the Kashmir area due to the illegitimacy of its historical control over the region. The Kashmiri people alone are entitled to that privilege. In keeping with this, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for the international community to help stop Indian human rights abuses in IIOJK and state that a fair settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir conflict is a fundamental component of Pakistan’s foreign policy. Kashmiri freedom will depend on informing the world about the problem and highlighting how unfair and unlawful India’s colonization of the region is. In addition to pragmatic concerns, it is important to remember that the international community has a duty to uphold the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people and to hold India accountable for any violations of its own laws and ideals. Given what has happened in Gaza since October 2023, there are increasing indications that India will no longer be the ultimate decision-maker regarding the future of Kashmir, even though now may not be the best time to rely on international organizations and strong nations to uphold their commitments under international law and human rights. In violation of India’s no-third-party mediation policy, US President Donald Trump state that he would be willing to assist in mediating the Kashmir dispute as well after mediating a ceasefire between Pakistan and India during the May–June fighting. India can no longer rely on the backing of the most powerful nation in the world, if it ever could, due to the growing deterioration of US-Indian relations, which is mostly caused by trade and immigration issues. The BJP government may become even more isolated than it is today and face a world that will not tolerate its harsh rule in Kashmir if the Kashmir dispute erupts again. If anything has become brutally clear, it is that, from a Western perspective, India is not Israel.
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