Kashmir Repression

ONE year after India`s revocation of Articles 370 and 35A, the situation in India-held Kashmir remains a
powder keg of anger and repression. Ravaged(‫ )مشتعل‬by a brutal(‫ )ظالمانہ‬curfew that included complete
shutting down of internet services, Kashmir today continues to suffocate(‫ )دم گهٹنا‬under unprecedented(
‫ )بے مثال‬military presence(‫)موجودگی‬.

The Hindu supremacist(‫ )باالدستی‬government of BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had boasted(
‫ )گھمنڈ‬on Aug 5 last year that the annexation(‫ )ملحق‬of Kashmir would bring peace and prosperity to the
people of the region. A year later all such predictions(‫ )پیش گوئیاں‬have proved wrong.

Thousands of Kashmiris have been imprisoned(‫)قید‬, tortured and made to disappear, and yet the
population remains defiant (‫)آبادی ناگوار‬.

There is hardly any doubt that Mr Modi`s real objective in revoking(‫ )منسوخ‬IHK`s (Indian-held Kashmir)
special status as a semi-autonomous(‫ )نیم خودمختار‬region under Article 370 was to bring about a
demographic change there. Since last year, the government has aggressively promoted migration of
Hindus to IHK through various incentives(‫)مراعات‬. In the long run, the BJP wants to convert the Muslim
Kashmiri population into a minority on its own land. This policy has continued to unfold(‫ )آشکار‬in the
occupied territory since August last year under the shadow of Indian guns.

Both the government and the pliant(‫ )آسانی سے مڑنے واال() دردمندانہ‬Indian media continue to claim that
normalcy(‫ )معمول‬has returned to Kashmir but nothing could be farther from the truth. A large number of
Kashmiri leaders -including the pro-Indian ones remain incarcerated(‫)قید‬, freedom of movement is
severely (‫ )سختی سے‬curtailed(‫ )گھٹا ہوا‬and independent media cannot get access to the region. Draconian
(‫ )سخت ظالمانہ‬measures like a communication blackout are routinely used to clamp down (‫ )نیچے دبائیں‬on
resistance. Horrendous(‫ )خوفناک‬incidents of beatings and custodial (‫ )حراستی‬killings of Kashmiris,
including young boys, by the occupying (‫ )قبضہ کرنا‬force are commonplace. The heart-wrenching ( ‫دل کو‬
‫ )جھنجھوڑنے والی‬image of the infant(‫ )نوزائیدہ‬sitting on the dead body of his grandfather slain(‫ )مقتول‬by
Indian soldiers is only one illustration of the gross human rights violations being perpetrated (‫ )مرتکب‬by
the Indian occupying force.

The annexation of occupied Kashmir has also had a devastating(‫ )تباہ کن‬impact on the livelihoods( ‫روزی‬
‫ )بسر اوقات() روٹی‬of people. The influx (‫ )آمد‬of outsiders into the region has put a strain (‫ )دباؤ‬on
employment opportunities for locals who have already suffered the loss of earnings under the blanket
curfew that was imposed prior to the annexation last year. The much-touted (‫ )بہت دباؤ واال‬investment
conference that was to be held in Kashmir is yet to see the light of day. Covid-19 has added another
adverse factor (‫ )منفی عنصر‬in the lives of people while providing security forces an excuse for further
clamping down on movement. Occupied Kashmir is on the brink (‫ دہانہ‬،‫ )کنارہ‬of a political, demographic
and financial disaster (‫)مصیبت‬. Pakistan should undertake every effort feasible (‫ )ممکن‬to highlight the
situation and mount pressure on India to reverse the disastrous decision of revoking the special status of
Kashmir. India must not be allowed to get away with this travesty (‫مزاحیہ ڈرامہ‬.) This message should
resonate (‫ )گونج() اونچی آواز‬loud and clear on Aug 5.