Two home truths have emerged over protests that have rocked Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir at a time when Kashmir on this side of the Line of Control is witnessing a rare enthusiasm for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, with the Srinagar constituency having already declared its verdict – vote over bullets.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is on the frontline of the campaign to take over POJK and is asserting this position on two grounds -one, that the territories under the illegal occupation of Pakistan belong to India therefore it’s the country’s right to claim these areas, second, there is a virtual revolt in those territories against Pakistan, and the people would themselves want to become part of India.
This is one home truth, which is based on historical facts – Maharaja Hari Singh had acceded the whole of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in October 1947 after Pakistani army driven tribesmen invaded the state, therefore all the territories under the Maharaja’s rule were transferred to Delhi’s sovereignty. Ironically, this is also true that despite the Indian army’s campaign to restore the status quo – that is, capturing the whole of the state for India – political interventions and misreading of the situation at that time left J&K divided. Pakistan took away one-third of the territory of J&K, which it now calls, “Azad Kashmir”.
Home Minister Amit Shah is running this campaign against the backdrop of the history of the Himalayan region, and also to brighten BJP’s prospects in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, projecting the party and its leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi embodying strong leadership blessed with the capacity to take bold decisions. The abrogation of Article 370, the argument goes, which was thought to be unthinkable, was made possible by the Modi government.
There is a difference in the two situations – the scrapping of Article 370 was something internal- the changes had to be made in the constitution, and those were effected on August 5, 2019, denoting a political will of the government to do what was considered impossible because there was a real-time apprehension of the Valley people – filling streets and choking the system. They had the choice and urge to protest, but those aspirations of clashes on the streets were curbed through overwhelming deployment of forces, cutting all sorts of communications. That delivered to the Government of India what it desired. It’s true that no other government in the past had attempted to do something like that, not even thought of doing so. That, however, doesn’t mean that the same yardstick can be applied to recapture POJK for India, a task that should have been accomplished 77 years ago in 1947.
The people in POJK have shown and demonstrated it by their unrelenting protests that they are not comfortable with being part of Pakistan. A government that doesn’t care for the basic amenities of masses cannot be called the rightful claimant of the place and the people. The POJK protests have underlined two things; first, the territory is not free, it is dependent on Pakistan for meeting its basic needs like wheat flour, the staple diet of the people in the region and their resources are being exploited by the Pakistani government without giving any relief to the people. Mangla Dam generates electricity, and whole of it goes to Pakistan. The people are left high and dry. The protests were responded with Rs. 23 billion in subsidies on wheat flour and electricity tariffs by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. This has subsided protests, but the long-term hurt lingers on – the relations have strained and there is no way that these could be repaired easily. A distrust has opened up wider.
But can these protests be used as a tool to generate a pro-India sentiment? This question has to be addressed in realistic terms and with effective strategies. There is no other way out.
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