Shabana Syed
“Do not for a moment ever think the enemies can ever succeed in their designs but at the same time do not make light of the situation…. very grave and dangerous situation will be facing you… do not be over whelmed by the enormity of the task…” Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s profound words on 14h August 1947 was a fore warning to the people of Pakistan and Kashmir.Since the occupation of Jammu and Kashmir in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) the area is a military zone with over 700,000 Indian soldiers who daily carry out a system of arbitrary arrests, raids, curfews along with extra-judicial executions, rape and torture, against the over 7 million caged there.The UN was denied access by India to the region after 2700 unmarked graves were identified by a team of the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) in North part of Kashmir. The report concludes that there is “every probability” that the remaining over 2100 unidentified graves “may contain the dead bodies of persons subject to enforced disappearances”.As the new President of Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan took his position on 16th August 2016, expectations amongst the Kashmiri people have been high, as not only is Mr Khan a descendant of a family of kashmiri freedom fighters, his grand uncle was Sardar Ibrahim khan known as Bani e Kashmir (father of Kashmir) and Ghazi-e-Millat (hero of the nation.) Sardar Ibrahim was a qualified lawyer who had studied at London’s Lincoln’s Inn. After the resolution of Kashmir’s accession with Pakistan in 1947 he declared jihad against Maharaja Hari Singh’s forces and with his guerrilla warriors and was able to take hold of the part known today as Azad Kashmir. He also formed in1990, the Jammu Kashmir People’s Party (JKPP) in order to provide a political platform to the people of the region. Due to his popularity he served as President of Azad Kashmir for four terms. President Masood Khan has the same passion and zeal when it comes to the issue of Kashmir, and one hopes is as politically astute as his grand uncle as the challenges he faces are enormous. Post 9/11 the political climate is toxic created by the illegal ‘War on Terror’ which has justified rampant Islamophobia and hatred against Muslims in Western countries. As Donald Trump’s election win will testify.The continual mantra in western media that ‘not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims’ has intentionally tainted the legitimate struggle against oppression and injustice by Kashmiris and Palestinians. A series of false flag attacks like 9/11 and Mumbai attacks, which raised more questions than answered as to who committed them, legitimised hatred against Muslims and as a result there is less of an international outcry when Indian forces kill and maim Kashmiri women and children or when Israel forces commit heinous crimes against Palestinian children. When such false flags take place the truth always somehow arises from the ashes of lies. For example Investigating Indian Officer Satish Verma in 2013 said that the Mumbai terror attacks in 2009 and the assault on Indian parliament in 2001 was carried out by Indian government forces; needless to say to discredit Pakistan and continue the oppression in IOK.Classified documents have revealed that in 2001 RAW’s Counter Intelligence Team – X (CIT-X) jointly worked with Israel’s Mossad on its Dragon Policy to destabilise Pakistan and Kashmir through subversive operations like false flag terror attacks and funding sectarian warfare. The President of Azad Kashmir is aware of the intricate problems facing the country and in an interview with him at Kashmir House in Islamabad, the first fact he reiterated was the urgent need to counteract the virulent disinformation campaign that India is perpetuating on the world stage. He explained: “One of the main issues we have to deal with is the disinformation campaign that India is carrying out through western and Indian media while using powerful Washington based lobby groups. India is covering up atrocities it’s committing in IOK through lies and distortion. Does the world know that lethal pellets are being fired at young kashmiris to make them blind; doctors cannot cope with blinded girls and boys arriving at hospitals every day? Since the protests began in July against the killing of freedom fighter Burhan Wani mass shootings are taking place and on October 30th the Greater Kashmir newspaper reported that 1,631 civilians had been hit in the face, including 1,100 with injuries to their eyes.The western media owned by pro Israel groups are giving minimal exposure to the heinous crimes India is committing and Facebook exposed who it stands with by censoring posts that support the protestors or as one Facebook user stated “I just posted Burhan Wani’s picture and it was taken down”. Facebook’s reply was: “There is no place on Facebook for content that praises or supports terrorists, terrorist’s organisations or terrorism”. In another words Facebook identifies Burhan Wani and the Kashmiri protestors as ‘terrorists’.Again this should not be a surprise since India’s Prime Minister Modi on his last visit to the US made a point of not only meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but also held talks with the powerful Jewish lobby Zionist Organisation of America asking for their support. After this meeting the American Jewish Committee (AJC), one of the oldest and most powerful Jewish groups sent letters to top US Congress members stating that India and Israel were allies, intentionally sending out a signal that media and US policies should defend Indian interests. Aware of the media blackout, President Masood Khan argues that social media is also a powerful platform and on his last trip to the US he presented a seven-point strategy urging active participation of Pakistani and Kashmiri youth for the liberation of occupied Kashmir against Indian oppression.He also supports and works closely with a lobby group ‘International Youth Forum for Kashmir’ whose spokesperson Shaista Safi explains: The President is very supportive of this initiative. Many Indians youth in any debate would tell me that no one cares about Kashmir and only old people are still bothered about the issue. Which is not quite true, however we do need to work with the youth to create awareness. We also are facing a problem with the growth of foreign sponsored media in Pakistan and as a result the Kashmir conflict has been sidelined”. “We recently managed to get Pakistan singer Ali Azmat with Umair Jaswal to make a song for Kashmir.”According to Umair Jaswal, he has lost about 10,000 fans from “across the border” on his Facebook page after posting the song. However he is adamant “We have a humanitarian issue going on …..It’s time we put the focus back on Kashmir.” Many people are realizing that the focus needs to be back on Kashmir, something Dr Muhammad K Khan CEO of ‘The careers’ a schooling and beyond educational think tank has been arguing for many years. “We need to revive an awareness and history of the kashmiri culture”. He states: “Private institutions like Beacons house School where future leaders of Pakistan emerge do not include the Kashmir conflict in their curriculum. We are hoping President Masood Khan will incorporate the findings of our research which includes highlighting the glorious and tumultuous history of the people which needs to be added to all schools syllabus”On the same lines that “the focus needs to be back on Kashmir” a book has been written by Brigadier Syed Wajid Raza who has served for many years in Kashmir and was inspired to write a true story about a heroine freedom fighter called Hussain Bibi titled ‘Sparrows On A Wild Day of Strom.’ which he hopes will be made into a movie. He explains: “While I was serving in the region when I came to know about a brave woman freedom fighter whose family was killed in front of her eyes and how she fought back courageously, the story is about her amazing life”. The President who is a diplomat and worked at the UN is a great believer in the rule of law, said: “I hope the right of self determination which was given by the United Nations to the Kashmiri people will be upheld by the international community and finally implemented.” Considering the ties between Netanyahu and Modi it appears the UN’s resolution for Kashmir’s right for self determination may be hindered further, in the same way the rights of the Palestinians have been ignored; especially now that Israel has bullied its way to head the UN’s Sixth Committee which oversees issues related to International law. “When a state renowned for scorning international law and conventions heads a legal committee, it is not only an affront to the rule of law, but also a mockery of the entire international legal system” writes Ahmed al Burai a university lecturer/journalist based In Istanbul.However the President is positive that the situation regarding Kashmir will change, “irrespective of India’s objections and links with powerful US lobbies. The most important change will be taking place after the implementation of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project which will open up new horizons and long term development”.He is especially proud of the Kohala Hydropower project located in Muzaffarabad district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the planned CPEC which will facilitate trade between People’s Republic of China and Pakistan’s port of Gwadar through a construction network of highways, railways and pipelines. “It will bring long term economic development to not only Pakistan and Azad Kashmir but all those who want to participate also like Russia, Iran Uzbekistan. This is why India is intent on sabotaging the project by instigating insurgencies in Karachi and Baluchistan as was recently confessed by an Indian spy after he was caught by Pakistan officials.”He stressed: “India’s destabilising tactics will not work the state of Pakistan is intent on staying the course no matter what level of Indian objections overt or covert and in the same spirit the fight for self determination in IOK will also be continuing”.
