February 5 was observed, like for the past several years, as the Kashmir Solidarity Day all across Pakistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Perhaps the Kashmiri people have never needed such support more than they do at present. This year, the date marked six months since India's far-right Hindu nationalist BJP government illegally annexed Occupied Jammu and Kashmir amid curfews, communications blackout, and a denying international media access to the disputed region. The place has been swarming with 900,000 soldiers and paramilitary personnel who take advantage of the information clampdown to barge into homes and arrest young men to be tortured and imprisoned, and subject girls and women to sexual harassment. Custodial killings are order of the day. Thousands of people, including former chief ministers, other politicians, businessmen and journalists have been thrown in prisons. The UN Human Rights Council and independent international rights groups, such as the Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have been expressing grave concern over the situation and the impunity with which the Indian security forces act.
Pakistan has a moral obligation to highlight the plight of the Kashmiris in international forums. During the recent months it achieved some success, with the help of China, in reviving the issue at the United Nations. Twice the UNSC members met to discuss the issue, without any significant outcome, though. The problem is that Western powers claiming to be the champions of human rights prefer to ignore colossal rights violations in the case of India due to economic and strategic considerations. Unfortunately, however, the Muslim Ummah too remains indifferent to the unspeakable suffering of Kashmiri people for similar reasons. As Prime Minister Imran Khan lamented during his address at a Malaysian think-tank on Tuesday, the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) could not come up with one voice against blatant human rights violations in held Kashmir because "there is a total division amongst [us]. We can't even come together as a whole on the OIC summit meeting on Kashmir." Sad as it is, the organisation has turned out to be a mere talking shop, unwilling to make its presence felt against persecution of Muslims in places like occupied Kashmir and Myanmar. Creditably for him, however, the brave Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, has come out strongly in support of the Kashmir cause despite Indian government's decision to drastically restrict the import of Malaysian palm oil. Khan has offered to increase import of palm oil to make up for some of the losses in the Indian market. Turkey also steadfastly defends the Kashmiri struggle for freedom. Those in charge of the OIC would be wise to make it more responsive to persecution of Muslims, if they are serious about preserving the organisation as an effective voice of the Muslim Ummah.
PM Khan rightly said, "we do not want the Muslim Ummah to come together to fight, but only to protect the interests of Muslims like any other community does." As a matter of fact, Kashmiri people have amply demonstrated they are very capable of fighting for their rights. Which is why they remain locked down for the seventh month running. The least the OIC can and must do is to stand-by their side and let that be known to India's Hindu extremist rulers.
Comments
Comments are closed.