Manchester : The Latin meaning for democracy is a combination of two words ‘demos’ meaning people and ‘kratos’ meaning power. Combining these two phrases together can lead us to see democracy referring to as power of the people or the will of the people. Keeping this in mind I often look at countries who legitimise their rules over communities, or the whole society disguised as acting on behalf of the people, the very people that are subjected and dominated by oppression and force that has the opposite effect to what a democracy was supposed to portray. There are examples of such repressive countries where freedom and human rights are spoken about but never provided to the very people that need it the most. Countries such as Palestine (occupied by Israeli forces) and North Korea. There are countries where we are led to believe are repressive such as Syria and Iraq, but worn torn nations or nations involved in civil wars can hardly be seen as a beacon championing democracy and should not be relied upon as a benchmark for countries to compare themselves to, as that creates the real risk of overshadowing the real threat that lurks disguised in a society as a civil, democratic nation but in reality it is a monster that feeds on false depiction of civil liberties for all. The self-proclaimed champion of democracy; the United States of America has undertaken wars that has killed millions and imprisoned thousands of people without trial.
One can hardly say that those that champion democracy are the only ones that can set the standard for democratic nations. The ability to vote and select leaders is only a small component of what democracy is, as I am sure when people voted in governments, they never expected their governments to be part of a cabal of nations that attack the defenceless and pillage their resources. These nations have a Jekyll and Hyde persona, and although we have to be scared of the monster that lurks behind our human features, but I am more concerned about the scientist who created the monster, fed it and protected it in the hope of controlling it for his own benefit, until the monster cannot be controlled and we have a repeat of history starting from with a similar speech made at Reichstag on 30 January 1939, but this time the intended victim will be innocent Muslims and their heritage. This brings me now to India.
Since Indian independence on August 15, 1947, the vision of a strong and ‘together’ India was similar to other nations who have fought to gain independence from British rule. It starts with powerful words of equality, human rights, protection of civil liberties and the hopes of not becoming like the colonial powers that Indians had fought so hard to free themselves from. I am aware of the horrific practices of the colonial powers over the indigenous people, and I will always condemn such practices and crimes. However, India, or more specifically the succession of Indian governments since 1947 have committed similar horrific practices imitating those of the colonial powers against certain minority groups. Amnesty International outlined in 2021 that the Indian authorities “used repressive laws to silence critics by curbing freedom of expression… Human rights defenders… continued to face intimidation and harassment. Independent investigations revealed a massive unlawful surveillance apparatus being used by the government against human rights defenders… Police and security forces used excessive force against members of minority communities… protesting peacefully against laws… Courts undermined the right to a fair trial and delayed hearing crucial cases involving violations of human rights… Caste-based discrimination and violence against Dalits and Adivasis continued unabated. Vigilante cow protection groups attacked minority communities, adversely affecting their livelihoods.” It has always been a concern where the oppressed have become the oppressors once authority, power and influence is granted to them. No real change has been made for the benefit of the people. Power has remained with a select few, and the average baba still fights to have equal rights to those of the rich.
Further concerns have also been raised in the House of Lords relating to Kashmir where it was highlighted that India has conducted extrajudicial killings or arbitrary arrests and detention by the government or its agents, as well as other forms of alleged abuse. The abuses are not located to a single place, but abuses have been surrounding the treatment of religious minorities which include Christians, Sikhs and Muslims. I am concerned for all minorities in India due to the increased support for nationalistic and fascist ideologies being propagated at the highest level of the authorities. India has discriminatory policies against religious minorities with a view to control and demean the minorities. India prides itself as being the largest democracy in the world, and albeit that may true, the possibility that India may also be the country that has the most being committed. The concern is surrounding all religious minorities. This brings me to the occupied territory of Kashmir.
India has removed Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian constitution. There have been many comments made against this and in favour of this, and Indian will have you believe that by removing Article 370 it has enabled India to promote democracy to the ‘grassroot’ levels in Kashmir. I have always seen the words ‘promoting democracy’ with scepticism ever since we were all told that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and we needed to stop Saddam Hussain and promote democracy to a region. It transpired later that there were no weapons of mass destruction, and the promotion of democracy was rather the ‘profiting from democracy’ by accessing the oil wealth of Iraq by the American forces. Keeping that in mind, I wondered if it may be the same promotion of democracy by the Indian authorities. It was reported in a little while after the promotion of democracy by Indian authorities that shockingly they have discovered 5.5% of the world’s lithium reserves in, yes you have guessed it in the Indian occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir. India must have amazing luck, that once they promoted democracy to an occupied territory which was peaceful in nature, beautiful in character and serene in its locality prior to the persistent abuses of Indian authorities against the people of Kashmir, they now wish for the world to believe that democracy has yielded such an enormous profit which they will now assist to extract for the betterment of the people of Kashmir. Indian occupied Kashmir has more than 500 mineral blocks and is the sole producer borax and sapphire resources in India, in addition Jammu Kashmir possess India’s 36% graphite 21% Marble and 14% gypsum resources.
There are greater reserves in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir of Coal, magnesite and limestone resources which India will look to help themselves too. I sense a repeat of history where the colonial powers extracted wealth from the occupied India and gave them breadcrumbs in return. India must have forgotten its own history and the oppression their people faced under colonial rule. Forgotten history could be an explanation of how India could commit the same crimes as colonial powers did in India. We should think long and hard when India points a finger from its right hand towards the past crimes of colonial powers, all the while hiding its own present crimes with its left hand.
It appears that anyone can now in the name of democracy remove the resources of an occupied territory. There appears to be little or no outcry by the international community, probably due to the sale of lithium benefitting certain large economies. The people of Kashmir continue to live under a repressive regime, and their rights and liberties are abused. The longer we continue to remain silent, the greater the abuses that will occur, after all India is the largest democracy, and its nationalistic agenda to ‘make everything Indian’ will come at the cost of removing heritage, history and identities of minorities will and has always come at a price of human life, which India is too eager to pay, to achieve its nationalistic agenda under the guise of democracy. The only way to protect the people, the territory and resources of Jammu and Kashmir is for the international community to support the effort of self-determination which would afford the relevant international protections to Kashmir and its people which otherwise are not given.