Date: 25/01/2015Dear Mr. President
When Mr Narendra Modi the Prime Minister of India visited the US in
September of 2014, we wrote to the Secretary of State Mr. John Kerry, on the
need for an urgent, just and democratic solution of the Kashmir issue and
reminded him of your administration’s
responsibilities to support a process for a solution.
Mr. President on the occasion of
your visit to India to participate in its Republic Day celebrations, and to conclude
agreements with the Modi government in economic and political relations, and to
develop closer ties with India on civil nuclear deal and strengthen defence and military
cooperation, we take the liberty of directly engaging with you through this
open letter that as leader of the free world you have a responsibility in
relation to the unresolved status of Jammu Kashmir- generally referred to as
Kashmir dispute- comprising of regions and territories under both Indian and
Pakistani control.
Mr. President the question of Kashmir’s future status is yet to be
determined and it is our firm view and expectation that the United States of
America will ensure that legitimate and fundamental political rights of 20
million forcibly divided Kashmiris will be recognised as the most important and
central factor in any settlement of the issue.
As is befitting of a world power of USA’s stature, we anticipate that
you will remind Mr. Modi of India’s obligations towards Kashmir and its people,
and will impress upon him that his government must honour the solemn pledges
which India made before the world community when it accepted the inherent and
inalienable right of self-determination of the Kashmiris- a right which 20
million people of Kashmir have not been allowed to exercise for the past 67
years!
We venture to cite one such poignant example of a solemn pledge which
India made on 1st January 1948 when its government took the matter of Kashmir’s
status to the UN Security Council and declared “ that the question of Kashmir’s
future status vis-a-vis its neighbours and the world at large and the question
on whether Kashmir should withdraw from her accession to India, and either
accede to Pakistan or remain independent with a right to claim admission as a
member of the UN all this we have recognised to be a matter for unfettered
decision by the people of Kashmir after normal life is restored to them” UNSC document
Agenda 227. And yet Mr President,
despite being on the files of the UN with a clearly defined and identified
mechanism for its resolution based on the fundamental rights of the Kashmiri
people, the issue remains unresolved and as a festering sore and conflict
between India and Pakistan that has rendered Kashmiris invisible!
Since the late 1940s India has maintained a huge hostile military
presence both on the Cease-Fire- Line (LoC) and since the 1990s in the urban
areas. The presence therefore, of over half a million regular Indian troops in
Kashmir is nothing other than the presence of a foreign army of occupation.
Today Kashmir is the most heavily and densely militarised region in the world.
Successive Indian governments and political leaders have reneged on solemn
pledges and quite blatantly deny the existence of a genuine sentiment and
struggle for self-determination of the Kashmiris.
India and Pakistan Mr President, have fought wars over Kashmir and
despite the existence of a cease fire between them since 2003, armies of both
countries exchange heavy fire across the LoC where they are deployed in large
numbers eye-ball- to eye ball against each other. Their daily exchanges of fire
cause casualties not only of military personnel on both sides but also of many
Kashmiri civilians who live along both sides of forced Line of Control-LoC-.
The actions and attitude of the Modi government since it came to power
in 2014 give Kashmiris no cause for confidence for an early resolution on the
question of reunification and a political status of their choice in Kashmir. On
the contrary Mr Modi’s attitude and actions are aggressive, bellicose and
hegemonic both in relation to Pakistan and the Kashmiris.
Since he came to power in the summer of 2014 Prime Minister Modi
visited Indian held Jammu Kashmir eight times. It is quite clear that each of
the eight visits by Mr Modi, was intended to conquer Kashmir rather than
resolve the long standing issue of its future political and constitutional
status. Instead of conquering Kashmir Mr. Modi has alas communalised the body
politics and socio- political culture of Kashmiri people who on the whole are
tolerant and non-communal unlike people in most other parts of South Asia.
For electoral gains Mr Modi has attempted to create a cleavage on the
basis of regional differences and ethnicity. In the recent elections in Indian
held Kashmir his government imprisoned the leaders of Jammu Kashmir liberation
Front-JKLF- because the JKLF opposed the elections, as such elections could not
be considered as an alternative to the right of self-determination and
reunification of Kashmir. Mr Yasin Malik the Chairman of the JKLF was
incarcerated during the entire two months period of the election process; depriving
him his fundamental democratic right to engage with the masses on the question
of Kashmir’s political; status.
The inconclusive election results and failure to form a government in
Kashmir and the imposition of Presidential rule, is proof that Mr Modi’s
aggressive and chauvinistic political ideology has exacerbated and polarised
the political and social environment, and by his actions Mr Modi is
orchestrating to subvert the national and political character of Jammu Kashmir
to create facts on the ground that would
support his political objective of
assimilation of Kashmir and
dilution of its identity and loss of its centuries old communal internal harmony. Mr Modi wants to create facts on the ground
by assimilation into India of Kashmir in contravention of all international and
bilateral agreements on the question of its future status.
Mr. President we would like to reiterate very strongly our position
that, Kashmir issue is wrongly viewed as a dispute between India and Pakistan.
Undoubtedly of course, it is because of the entrenched nature of Indian and
Pakistani positions and especially of Indian intransigence over Kashmir, which
is a major obstacle in the path toward progress for a peaceful solution. It is
however our firm belief that the world community in general and the United
States of America in particular must see this dispute as an issue that concerns
the fundamental right of Kashmiris to political expression, democratic rights
and sovereignty over their country, which at present is de-facto ruled by India
and Pakistan, with little or no democratic sovereignty of the people over their
socio- economic and political affairs.
In reality and in fact within the historic dimensions of the Kashmir
issue, world community and in particular the permanent members of the UN
Security Council, are a party to the Kashmir dispute, and thus have a solemn
obligation to play a role towards finding a peaceful solution based on the
fundamental principle of free will of Kashmiri people.
Mr President we consider it our democratic right to seek and indeed
expect, that the US extends full diplomatic, political and moral support to
Kashmiris in their legitimate struggle to peacefully secure reunification of
their country that has been divided for the past sixty seven years. As you are aware
this division of land and the people has been forced upon Kashmiris- and the
Indo- Pakistan dimensions over the conflict have rendered the people simply
invisible. The suffering and humiliation that Kashmiris have endured since 1947
is nothing less than a tragedy of a subjugated and oppressed nation.
Tens of thousands of Kashmiri families remain divided and are unable to
meet each-other in times of grief and joy. Those who are lucky enough to obtain
visas have to navigate unfathomable beauracratic hurdles on both sides. This is
a state of affairs that would not be accepted or tolerated anywhere else. This
is exactly why the ‘Iron Curtain’ was brought down in the west. We seek the
same through peaceful exercise of our right of self-determination.
Kashmiris in general, and the leadership of the Jammu Kashmir
Liberation Front- JKLF- in particular is committed to
making Kashmir a bridge of peace, friendship and prosperity between India and
Pakistan as a considered party policy, and a long standing national objective.
We believe that a free and sovereign Kashmir will truly become a peaceful
bridge that India, Pakistan, the region and the world needs, especially at a
time when all around us there is turmoil, conflict, mistrust and extremism in the
region and elsewhere. Resolution of the Kashmir conflict therefore is the vital
proverbial key that will unlock the tremendous potential of both countries for
the region and the world for peace and prosperity.
Mr President we are confident that you will seize the opportunity of
meeting the Indian Prime Minister and will discharge your administration’s and
your nation’s historic international obligation, and persuade Mr. Modi to adopt
the direction of justice, democracy and respect for the national aspiration and
the inherent and inalienable rights of the people of Jammu Kashmir.
In anticipation with warm regards
For and on behalf of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front-JKLF
Prof. Zafar Khan. Chairman of Diplomatic Bureau
London
Secretariat: 119-123 Cannon Street Road. North Basement London E1 2LX
Email:
zafargk@aol.com
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