On February 14, 2019 a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Indian security forces. He killed at least 40 Indian soldiers in Pulwama, Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) which was the deadliest attack of the century. The bomber came out to be a part of an Islamic militant group named Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) based in Pakistan. Soon in response to this attack, India carried out air strikes in North-western Pakistan, whereas Pakistan shut down one aircraft before the entrance to its air premises. Tensions rose between the two rival nations and a serious escalation in years between both the countries was observed by the global community.
Kashmir is one of the most disputed places of the world. Over the course of seven years, it has been the centre of many wars fought between massive armies. It is heavily occupied by more than half a million of Indian troops and a deadly collection of vicious and terrorist groups. Kashmir is the stage for relentless conflict between India and Pakistan but focusing on these two countries can obscure what is really at stake. The voice of Kashmiris in a record with a vicious cycle of violence, identify the atrocities people of the IIOJK have been facing from last four decades. People of the disputed territory have been observed airing the grievances, on social media of their tragic lifestyle. Quoting their own words of mouth might do justice to the level of suffering these creatures have been facing out, so far. People of Srinagar say:
“Whenever there is any conflict between India and Pakistan, Kashmir is always the battle ground,” says Aqib Salam.
“Two giants - Nuclear giants. We are nothing in between them,” said Ijaz Ghani
“There is always an uncertainty. You know, you never know what is going to happen,” claims Injilla Sidiq
“It can be a hartaal (protest). It can be a strike. Anybody can be killed at any time,” said Sadaf Batool.
“We are the pawns in their hands,” said Mian Tufail.
“It’s a mess. It is a mess. And we’re being affected in every possible direct and indirect way,’’ Khusboo Dhaar.
“I have been born in this conflict and I have to die within this conflict,” said Raheem.
Kashmir is one of the strategic places of the world with three powerful countries including India, Pakistan, China surrounding it. Eastern part called Aksai Chin and the North Eastern part called Shaksgam valley of the region fell to China, in a siege, while India and Pakistan control separate parts of Kashmir but they aim to have more than their occupied parts. This region is at the centre of the brutal conflicts over the disputed borders so it is very important to start from the time when the borders are being drawn.
In the mid eighteen hundreds India was a Patrick of several hundred provinces and princely states under British rule. A century later, the British-India became independent. British left and decided to divide this region into two the Muslim majority country called Pakistan and India comprising majority Hindu, but secular area. The partition was bloody. Amid the chaos some princely states were given the choice to join either country. In most cases the ruling monarchs followed the will of their people, but the state of IIOJK was different. It was right along the newly formed border. When the ruler was asked to pick one country for coalition the ruler chose to stay neutral fearing that the monarch might join India, the Kashmiri population initiated a rebellion in the area of Poonch in 1947. Armed tribes from Pakistan soon joined to fight.
The monarch turned India for military help and in exchange agreed to join them which sparked the first India-Pakistan war in Kashmir. The UN security council broke it to the cease fire in 1949 which established another line with Pakistan controlling one side of Kashmir while India the other one. The UN commission for India and Pakistan also directed the Pakistani nationalists and tribesmen to withdraw on the basis of which India was also asked for the withdrawal of the bulk appointed forces in Kashmir. The idea of a system to directly vote in accordance with the will of its people was forwarded. But neither of the deals could be followed by both the countries. Pakistan claimed that because Kashmir is a Muslim majority area it should become part of Pakistan while India on the other hand insisted that Kashmir was govern to them by monarch, so it should be a part of India and added down Kashmir to their constitution. The vote was never held. People of the occupied territory, at various social networking platforms have been spotted very active in sharing their insights as follows:
“I think every person in Kashmir has been affected by India,” says Sabeeha Maqbool.
“This is a territorial dispute, they call it. They don’t need people,” says Ali Qasim.
“The main stakeholders of Kashmir are Kashmiris. Their opinions are not being heard," says Faseeha Murad.
The opinion of people of IIOJK, although reverberates between the boundaries of democracies i.e. Pakistan and India, but still it remains unheard. It remains unsung, unrecognized and unrealized, conditionally.
Both countries continued to take their troops around it for decades. In 1965 the second Indo-Pak war broke out in Kashmir. Thousands of people were killed between the huge armies on both sides. A ceasefire ended the war but did not change the line allocated by the UN. Kashmir was kept divided and occupied. Another war broke out in 1971 and this time the focus was not Kashmir, but East Pakistan. India in the third Indo-Pak war helped stir the trouble of creating rebellion and dealt with Pakistan with a devastating defeat. A new country called “Bangladesh” got formed and Pakistan lost Eastern half of its territory.
This made Kashmir more important than ever. It became one of the most militarised places on Earth as India and Pakistan deployed planes, tanks, armour and soldiers along the line of control. On the political front in 1987, India significantly ragged an election declaring a pro-India party as the winner. Now this was a big turning point for many Kashmiris, who felt against the denial of vote. Thousands of streets in Indian controlled Kashmir were soon filled with protests of the occupation but India met the mass-movement for independence with the harsh resistance which quickly escalated to more violence.
Kashmiri malicious, like the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (J&KLF) started recurring Muslim youth to fight for the independence and increasingly attacked the Indian military. This lead to the formation of an Islamic group of fighters who fought for more pro-Pakistanis in Kashmir. By the mid nineties these groups dominated the insurgency. India responded with the incredible military force, deploying five hundred of military troops to Kashmir and they crack down on militants and protestors. Unarmed civilians were killed and many were forced to flee the violence.
Kashmir became a battle group between two nuclear nations and another war broke out in 1999, the fourth Indo-Pak war in Kashmir. This war ended up in another ceasefire but did not stop either country. According to media, over the years Pakistan’s militant groups got older, and launched terror attacks in and outside Kashmir. In 2001, numbers of Lashkar-e-Taiba bombed in the parliament building of New Delhi killing fourteen people. In 2008, from the same group killed a hundred and seventy four people and wounded three hundred in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Indian military crack-down at Kashmir firing bullets, and pallets on protestors, leaving hundreds wounded and blind. This is the vicious cycle of violence. The Indian army’s crackdown convinced some Kashmiris to join certain Pakistani battalion militant groups to carry out attacks on Indians troops. It is a cycle in which Kashmiri civilians are stuck off for a long time.
It is high time for the global leadership including the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) and democracies of all three national entities to make decisions on the historically disputed territory to ascertain mutual and regional peace.