Nearly 75 years ago, right to self-determination, was incorporated in the UN Charter as an essential component to rid the world of the menace of insidious colonization. Since then the realization of this right paved the way for successful culmination of freedom struggles in many parts of the world, including Asia. By virtue of this principle people reeling under foreign occupations were accorded the right to determine, without external interference, their political status and to pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
Presented
as one of the core purposes of the United Nations, the principle of right to
self-determination still continues to guide the decolonization efforts of the
UN to put an end to the ignominious practice of colonization and freeing people
from the clutches of foreign occupations. It has also been made as part of
modern international law and other world treaties such as the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, Geneva Convention and the Declaration on
Colonialism in particular carries a strong reference for the right of
self-determination. The principle of self-determination outlines not just the
duty of states to respect and promote the right, but also the obligation to
refrain from any forcible action which deprives peoples of the enjoyment of
such a right.
The
same principle was applied to tackle the issue of Kashmir when it was brought
into the notice of the highest body (UN) in 1948 by India after occupying a
major portion of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
As
a result, the United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan (UNCIP) was
established through a Security Council resolution on 20 January 1948 with a
sole purpose to facilitate plebiscite in the region as per the UNSC resolution
dated 21 April 1948. The UNCIP, however, sent its final plebiscite
recommendations on 11 December 1948, to India and Pakistan. Both the
Governments accepted the proposals and the recommendations the Commission
(UNCIP) had adopted through a unanimous resolution, on 5th January 1949.
Subsequently, the commission proposed a comprehensive roadmap to seek an
amicable solution to the Kashmir imbroglio.
It
was a momentous occasion in Kashmir's turbulent history as the United Nations
formally accepted and acknowledged the Kashmiris’ birth right. The
adoption of the historic resolution came as a great beacon-light of hope to
millions of Kashmiris as they began to believe that the moment for their
freedom was at hand and they too will finally receive justice so long denied to
them by aggressors and occupiers. But their cherished dream of freedom from
foreign occupation was soon turned into a nightmarish ordeal by none but the
crafty Indian rulers who brazenly violated the norms of international law and
the commitments they made vis-à-vis holding plebiscite in the region.
Interestingly, India defined the problem of the future of
Junaghar as subject to the “wishes of its peoples” during the 264th meeting of
the UN Security Council on 8 March 1947. India had formally accepted the choice
of the peoples of the princely states under the colonial administration to join
either Pakistan or India as a procedure of decolonization subject to Article 73
of the UN Charter that recognize the principle that the interests of the inhabitants
of these territories are paramount, and accept as a sacred trust the obligation
to promote to the utmost, within the system of international
peace and security established by the present Charter, the well- being of the
inhabitants of these territories.
Regarding Kashmir, the UN Security Council defined India
as an administrative state by defining Kashmir as a disputed territory.
On
12 February 1951, Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of Indian in his
statement in the Indian Parliament said, “We have taken the issue to the United
Nations and given our word of honour for a peaceful solution. As a great
nation, we cannot go back on it. We have left the question for a final solution
to the people of Kashmir and we are determined to abide by their decision.”
Instead
of honouring these commitments and paving a way for the implementation of the
UN proposed road-map on Kashmir the Indian rulers resorted to Machiavellian
Machinations of deceit and deception to obviously avoid the referendum in the state.
The successive Indian rulers ridiculously ignored and undermined the role of
the UN and UNCIP and threw to the winds the solemn pledges they had made with
the international community and the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Violating
the UN resolutions and all bilateral agreements on Kashmir India had
disdainfully refused to accept the offers of mediation made by the influential
world governments and heads of powerful institutions for the settlement of the
lingering dispute.
Virtually
blocking all attempts and efforts at peaceful resolution of the dispute, the
Indian rulers, instead, preferred to tread on the path of colonialism to grab
Kashmir completely. They choose a violent path to suppress by the dint of force
the Kashmiris’ legitimate demand for the right of self-determination. The use
of excessive force by the Indian state over the years had resulted in the
deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians and violation of human rights at
an unprecedented scale. Every form of violence that is known to the human world
has been unleashed upon the people. Internal displacements, forced migrations,
systematic civilian killings, state sponsored violence, and ethnic cleansing,
genocide, torture, harassment and humiliation of indigenous people and so on
have been rampant and a regular feature of life in Kashmir.
Beyond
deaths, the state sponsored violence has left Kashmiris completely
devastated. No facet of life in Kashmir had left untouched by the long
unresolved conflict, which over the times has meandered dangerously from
illegal occupation to forced annexation of the territory.
By
the time this conflict had turned into a wicked monster hell bent on
annihilating the entire population. The annexation of the disputed territory by
the Indian government last year (2019) is one such instance that is sufficient
enough to comprehend the perils of this dangerous conflict.
A
year-long siege and clampdown coupled with information blockade, caging entire
population, altering the state’s entire nomenclature, bifurcating and reducing
it to a union territory laid bare the New Delhi’s settler colonialism agenda
and its imperialistic designs of conquering the hapless and defenseless people
of the region. This crooked and mediaeval mindset that goes in contravention of
the UN’s decolonization agenda has been solely responsible for the miseries Kashmiris
have been going through the years of belligerent occupation.
The forced annexation of Kashmir by
revoking Article 370 by the Indian government was an atrocious assault on the
rights of Kashmiris. The attempt was tantamount to re-colonization of the territory
the way it was common in pre-colonization era in the 19th century. This
constitutes the crime of racial discrimination. The UN Security Council under
their erga omnes responsibility must open an independent international
investigation for the violation of the right to self-determination of the
Kashmiris under Article 73 of the UN Charter.
Tailpiece:
The abysmal political and human rights situation the people of the Indian
occupied Kashmir are trapped in merit a complete analysis and research towards
a deeper understanding of the nature of the conflict and the need for action on
the necessary measures to end it in order to protect the Kashmiris’ right to
self-determination that happens to be the cardinal principle of the UN charter.
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