Talking Points for Pakistan on Indian Occupied Kashmir

Yasmeen Aftab Ali

Pakistan needs to change gears so far the talking points on Indian Occupied Kashmir are concerned. Pakistan was unable to push the issue in UN Security Council. India’s policy on the abrogation of Article 370 has been aggressive and pro-active to take member governments in UNSC on board before Pakistan even approached the UNSC-to share reasons behind scrapping of Article 370. India’s permanent mission in New York did a remarkable job in achieving the target. Pakistan was unable to garner 9 votes out of 15 to put up the resolution.

Coupled with India’s aggressive posture is the fact that politics around the world are driven by economics. Regional, international alliances take the front seat. The allies of today are those allying on causes and stances we oppose tomorrow. There are no permanent ‘friends’ and no permanent ‘enemies.’

Pakistan should focus on Human Rights Violations, an issue that has been picked up worldwide- and momentum has gained on criticism of the Indian Government atrocities unleashed on unarmed civilians. A detailed, fact based, researched paper should be the springboard of talking point-also at the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly Meeting PM Khan is scheduled to attend. A speech based on emotions alone is a bad strategy. If Pakistan wants to be pro-active in bringing to limelight the Kashmir issue internationally and keeping it there, it must understand that international approach to issues is very different than playing to the domestic gallery.

The focus must be humanity. Appeal to the emotional side but factually. Taking a leaf from the Indian strategy, the Human Rights Minister of Pakistan needs to travel to member nations of the august forum to put across facts, figures and data on plight of Kashmiris.

This should be the main thrust of Pakistan’s stance. Think internationally not with domestic playground in mind.

Then comes the sub-text. The abrogation of Article 370 and focus on Article 35-A. A constitutional violation taking away the semi-autonomous status of Kashmir thus allowing non-citizens to buy property-aimed at tipping the population balance before 2020-21 elections. Sharp constitutional legal mind needs to be deployed to draft this part. Leading constitutional lawyer Faisal Siddiqi from Karachi can be a good pick for the job. Legal part should be the job of a legal mind.

If 80% of thrust is on human rights violations, a 20% thrust must come up as a postscript on constitutional violation and its impact with complete dossier copies given to key people by Human Rights Minister of Pakistan as she makes her rounds.

A lot of homework is needed to develop a hard-hitting, cogent policy on Kashmir. PM Khan needs a professional speech writer following the theme and strategy from the dossier. Pakistan must not whittle away this opportunity in platitudes, emotional expletives and taking an international forum as a domestic gallery. The ground work for PM Khan’s speech must be laid down before the meeting. His speech must be factual and hit the nerve without any attacks otherwise on the Indian government. We also need to remember India has many, many good people who are as aghast at what their government is doing in OIK as anyone else. So the term our people to be used and we will do well to remember is “Indian government’ NOT India. A number of times the government may not be truly representative of the wishes of people in certain issues.

Diplomacy is the finest art of war.  Uri Dubinin, Professor of the Department of Diplomacy of MGIMO-University of the RF MFA, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation defines the role of diplomacy beautifully, “What is the art of diplomacy? While the art of war lies in the ability to claim victory through the force of arms, the art of diplomacy aims to achieve the goals set through peaceful means. It is, therefore, the antithesis of using force to solve international problems. In the art of diplomacy, it is the international community’s accumulated experience that serves as a weapon, as does – and herein lies the essence of it – an innovative, creative approach to problems arising. It is on the basis of this that one acts to provide a solution.”

Threatening with an impending nuclear war is poor approach that reflects upon the emotional immaturity of our leaders that takes the focus away from core issue. Giving space to India to further exploit the issue in their favor.

Pakistan’s government should have cultivated a coterie of intelligent people including diplomats and writers. Each group talking in favor of different countries. An extended arm of the government foreign office aimed at developing relationship with and winning confidence of key people there to gain information and assess that information for Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to further her national interests. It is late but no too late for this.

The writer is a lawyer, academic and political analyst. She has authored a book titled ‘A Comparative Analysis of Media & Media Laws in Pakistan.’ She can be contacted at: yasmeenali62@gmail.com and tweets at @yasmeen_9

Human Rights violations in Indian-Administered Kashmir

Yasmeen Aftab Ali

Hell has unleashed in Jammu & Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 by Modi government. Large armed contingents had moved in before this was done in anticipation of protests.

Governments around the world have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the havoc being created upon the Kashmiris. Iran is the one country that has supported the Kashmiris’ struggle in occupied Indian Kashmir. Ali Mathari, presented the resolution said that all the Muslim countries including Iran had an important responsibility regarding the oppressed Kashmiri Muslims and the Kashmir dispute. Pakistan has raised her voice on many forums but has largely been ignored.

Responsible people from around the world have and are speaking up for the plight of the fate met out to Kashmiris in OIK.

                                             Ilhan Omar, tweeting on August 26th:

“We should be calling for an immediate restoration of communication; respect for human rights, democratic norms, and religious freedom; and de-escalation in Kashmir. International organizations should be allowed to fully document what is happening on the ground.”

 

It is a fact that politics around the world are driven by economics. Regional, international alliances take the front seat with humanity relegated to sub-text.

India’s lockdown of Jammu & Kashmir denying the people freedom to expression, peaceful protest and refusing international agencies, even India’s opposition politicians from entering the Occupied Jammu & Kashmir has created concerns around the globe. Cable TV, internet, landlines-all are shut down. The two week deadline for this lock down has already passed with no easing in view.

The Modi government has taken away the semi-autonomous status of Kashmir thus allowing non-citizens to buy property-aimed at tipping the population balance before 2020-21 elections.

According to Washington Post, “A point of contention arose over whether there was a large-scale protest on Aug. 9 after Friday prayers. First, the Indian government denied the protest took place at all. Verified video from that day shows protests did occur. Fact-checkers in India geo-located the protests to the Jenab Saeb mosque in Srinagar, Kashmir. And signs referring to Article 370 verify that these protests were in response to the recent decision, not old video that had resurfaced. The Indian government ultimately walked back its claim.” (August 23, 2019)

The OHCHR report recently released states, “ The Sri-Nagar  Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society reported that conflict-related casualties were the highest in 2018 since 2008, with 586 people killed, including 267 members of armed groups, 159 security forces personnel, and 160 civilians. The Indian government asserted that 238 militants, 86 security forces personnel, and 37 civilians were killed.”

In July 2018, the Indian state government of Jammu and Kashmir amended section 10 of the Public Safety Act, removing the prohibition on detaining permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir outside the state. At least 40 people, mainly separatist political leaders, were transferred to prisons outside the state in 2018, the OHCHR said. It said that transferring detainees outside the state makes it harder for family members to visit and for legal counsel to meet with them. It also noted that prisons outside the state were considered hostile for Kashmiri Muslim detainees, especially separatist leaders.

Another report by an organization states, “Arbitrary detention and so-called “cordon and search operations” leading to a range of human rights violations, continue to be deeply problematic, as do the special legal regimes applying to Indian-Administered Kashmir. The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act 1990 (AFSPA) remains a key obstacle to accountability,” the report says. “Section 7 of the AFSPA prohibits the prosecution of security forces personnel unless the Government of India grants a prior permission or ‘sanction’ to prosecute. In nearly three decades that the law has been in force in Jammu and Kashmir, there has not been a single prosecution of armed forces personnel granted by the central government. The Indian Army has also been resisting efforts to release details of trials conducted by military courts where soldiers were initially found guilty but later acquitted and released by a higher military tribunal.”

Videos and pictures of Occupied Indian Occupied Kashmir contradict Indian claim that “all is under control in Jammu & Kashmir.”

Brigadier Imran Malik® in his recent Op-Ed asks, “Is PM Modi replicating what Hitler did to the Jews in the last century? Is he aping PM Netanyahu and his policies in Palestine in this one? Has the world not learned its bit­ter lessons from the appeasement of bul­lying fascists? Post- World War Two, the US led West has been inconsistent in deal­ing with fascist and genocidal regimes. It has been very lenient in Palestine/ME and very tardy and hesitant in Srebrenica and Rwanda. The world now stands askance wondering where the US-led West’s and the oil rich Arab monarchies’ values will stand – for their crass economic and com­mercial interests in a belligerent, genocid­al and expansionist India or with human­ity, humanitarian values, a Rules-based International Order and above all with the Right of Self Determination for peoples under brutal military occupations!”

The world governments need to wake up to this human disaster, the illegal takeover of OIK- lest history judges them in harshest terms.

 

The writer is a lawyer, academic and political analyst. She has authored a book titled ‘A Comparative Analysis of Media & Media Laws in Pakistan.’ She can be contacted at: yasmeenali62@gmail.comand tweets at @yasmeen_9