The dispute of Kashmir is a cause of shame for all the leading peace loving democracies of the world. Muslim majority valley of Kashmir should have been a part of Pakistan after partition; however, India ensured that it is not the case. Since that time the innocent people of Kashmir have been subject to the worst form of persecution at the hands of the Indian army. Despite the criminal suppression of the people of Kashmir, by Indians, the world has remained silent. Innocent men, women and children have been butchered for the sheer crime of being a Muslim born in Indian occupied Kashmir and demanding the right of plebiscite, an accepted principle of UN charter and diffifferent United Nations’ resolution on Kashmir. An attempt was made to resolve this issue when the UN proposed that a plebiscite be conducted to determine the fate of Kashmiri people. This halfhearted attempt, however, didn’t work out as India refused to withdraw its forces without which the chances of conducting a fair plebiscite were negligible. It seems that the world leaders didn’t want this issue on their conscience any longer which is why they decided to solve it, in 2010, in the most indecisive and ignorant way. The United Nations decided to become blind to the atrocities of the Indian army towards Kashmiri people and tried to remove Kashmir from the list of disputed territories. Pakistan strictly protested against this mind boggling decision on the grounds that a dispute can’t be resolved by refusing that it exists. Pakistan has stood by the people of Kashmir since the very beginning and it was through the efforts of the Pakistani volunteers from FATA that India failed in its attempt to illegally acquire the Kashmir region. The disputed Kashmir region forms 43% of the entire valley whereas 39% of the area is known as ‘Azad Kashmir’ with its security being maintained by the Pakistani Army. State of affairs in the Indian occupied Kashmir are beyond comprehension and they took a turn for the worst when a popular young freedom activist was inhumanely killed by Indian forces and his dead body was mistreated by the murderers. This led to large scale protests by the people of Kashmir against the occupying Indian forces. Indian forces have responded to these unarmed protests in the most brutal way possible. These protests started after July 8th, 2016 and in just a matter of few days, Sixty Four of Kashmiris have been killed in cold blood by the Indian forces by 31st July 2016. All forms of communication and media transmissions have been banned in the valley and the people of Kashmir are being subject to the worst form of suppression. Thousands have been injured, while some of the injured have been dragged out and killed. Indian forces have resorted to the use of Pellet cartridges which explode and are capable of scattering metal pieces over a large area. If this was not enough, these round metal pieces have now been modified and their edges have been made sharp in order to inflict greater damage on the human body. These brutal measures by the so called biggest democracy in the world, have affected around a 100 people most of whom are children. These affected people have pellet wounds near their eyes and as a result they face blindness.in the face of such atrocities, one need to ask the question if the measures of the Indian army qualify as acts of terror? Is justice only for the elite and powerful? Are the less fortunate innocent but valiant people of Kashmir not entitled to justice? At a time when the world elites claim to stand against terrorism, can such state sponsored terrorism be allowed to prevail? It is high time that the world realizes that enough Kashmiri blood has been spilled and that the time of liberating the people of Kashmir is at hand. UN and the world powers must decide in favor of Kashmiri people and should liberate them from the merciless actions of the Indian authorities.
ahmed sabir