By: Malik Arsalan Awan
The Prime Minister of India condemned terrorism in his address to the UN General Assembly but did not mention the ongoing crackdown, sanctions and communication blackout in Indian-administered Kashmir. The freedom movements in Indian Occupied Kashmir were severely restricted before Modi’s speech in the General Assembly with further restrictions; Pakistan had earlier warned that a crackdown by Indian forces in Kashmir was threatening a war. While Narendra Modi was speaking, Kashmiris were protesting outside the UN headquarters. Modi’s speech was silent on international affairs and shed light upon the reality of a divided, brutal and economically failed India that trapped in conflicts with neighboring countries; Modi did not even mention the Kashmir issue, the Middle East, especially the question of Palestine and climate change
On the contrary, Pakistan has rejected India’s demand for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, saying that there is no place for a fascist state in the sensitive decision-making body. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, for the first time in more than seven decades, changed the rules regarding residency in Indian-administered Kashmir. Last year, he also abolished the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government is pursuing a plan to identify and reshape the social classes of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the style of Israeli settlement in the Palestinian territories in the Middle East. Now anyone can get a residential domicile in Kashmir. This includes people who have not been living in different parts of Kashmir for the last 15 years.
It may be recalled that India issued a declaration on April 1, according to which a new domicile (citizenship) law will now be enacted in Occupied Kashmir and as a result, the fourth rank of peon, scavenger, lower level clerk, police constable and various such posts were designated to the Kashmiris. The rank-and-file posts are reserved for Kashmiris, while candidates for gazette posts from all over India will be eligible for the jobs; Kashmiris still remember Modi’s face when he swung red in his arms in 1992. They came to wave the tricolor in the square. He came to tell the Kashmiris that they are fighting for their rights in vain and the day is not far when they will devour the region in such a way that instead of living in the shadow of terror, people hate their existence. On August 5 last year, India repealed Article 370, which gave special status to Kashmir, under a presidential decree.
There is no denying the fact that if Kashmir has not been safe for Kashmiris, how can it be safe for non-Kashmiris?
Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah has said that at present Kashmiri citizens do not consider themselves Indians and they do not want to be Indian. He even said that Kashmiri citizens are ready to remain under Chinese rule instead. He further said that the new domicile law was introduced to fill the valley with Hindus and to bring the valley under Hindu majority. He said that this has created more bitterness among the people of Kashmir.
Kashmiri lawyer Babar Qadri, who spoke out against the new domicile laws, was also martyred last week. There is no denying the fact that if Kashmir has not been safe for Kashmiris, how can it be safe for non-Kashmiris? If nations had been wiped out at gunpoint, India and Pakistan would not be like two independent countries today, South Africa would not be free from racism, Kosovo’s citizens would not be free from military barbarism.
In fact, Modi’s Kashmir plan has not only failed but also has become dangerous for India, the shape of which is now becoming so ugly that soon the people of India will start a campaign for independence from Kashmir like the famous novelist Arundhati Roy claims in his book.
The wrong policies of the Modi government had already dealt a major blow to the Indian economy. The lockdown caused severe damage to the industrial and commercial sectors. At present, small and medium enterprises are being destroyed in the country, big companies are under severe pressure and banks are facing a severe crisis. The country’s economy is declining rapidly and the fiscal deficit has widened to 3.5 percent. Millions of families have been ruined as a result of financial mismanagement. The country is divided on these laws. Prime Minister Narendra Modi claims that the reforms being made by him will be a turning point for the agriculture sector. On the other hand, the country’s opposition has termed these laws as anti-farmer and said that they would be a death knell for the farmers.
Farmers’ organizations in the country are also protesting against them, saying that they are ‘unfair’ and will exploit the farmers. The tumultuous politics of the ruling BJP has now come to an end and sooner or later this was going to happen. The attitude of the opposition shows that it has turned its back on the wrong policies of the ruling party. The opposition has termed these laws as the last nail in the coffin of the Modi government while the number of people infected with the corona virus in India is 6 million. Before corona, Indian citizens were protesting against the introduction of controversial laws like the NRC. Modi’s misguided policies have raised voices from within India.
Modi’s hate speech has led to a sharp rise in attacks on the Dalit community and the minority community, and these attacks are characterized by the patronage of state governments and the cover-up of criminals. The hallmark of the Modi government is its hatred of a particular community. It is not a new thing for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which believes in the politics of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Hindutva, to be anti-Pakistan and anti-Kashmiri. Much of Narendra Modi’s politics revolves around Hindutva-based politics rather than secular politics This is the basis on which the extremists consider Modi as their biggest ally.
The writer is an entrepreneur, social activist and motivational speaker based in UK. He can be reached at [email protected]