A constitutional outrage was committed by the Central government on August 5 by abrogating Article 370 and 35 A in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and dividing the State into two Union territories, said Human Rights Forum Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Coordination Committee member VS Krishna. He claimed that the lockdown in the State has pushed the people of Jammu and Kashmir to extreme distress.
Addressing a meeting on Kashmir at the Kurni Kalyana Mandapam in Yemmiganur on Saturday, Mr. Krishna spoke at length on the history of Kashmir, including the specific historical and cultural identity known as ‘Kashmiriyat’.
Tracing the nationalist movement in Kashmir, he touched upon the promise of plebiscite made to the people of Kashmir by India in 1947. “The accession was predicated on the assurance by India to the people of J&K that their view would be taken in a free and fair referendum or plebiscite. It is pertinent to remember that Nehru gave this assurance not only to the people of Kashmir but also to the world. The plebiscite was never held, in spite of efforts by the United Nations to persuade India and Pakistan to agree to the modalities of the referendum. The crux of the Kashmir movement is the demand that the right of self-determination guaranteed by the promise of plebiscite should be honoured,” Mr. Krishna said.
‘Sense of alienation’
He added that the developments in J&K are a consequence of the sense of alienation of its people and the refusal of the Indian State to recognise this reality. “Rather than a genuinely political response, an overwhelming military solution was sought to address the alienation,” he claimed.
He said the people of J&K should have the first and last say in any “resolution” of the dispute since they are the people who are affected. “However, all the discussions in India and Pakistan do not refer to the people of J&K, but only to their territory, as if it is a piece of real estate,” Mr. Krishna said.
He said the ongoing lockdown is causing misery to the people with the security forces functioning with total impunity. “What we have now is an unabashed intensification of the military occupation in J&K. The kind of blanket clampdown on media and communication has never happened before, even during the worst days of militancy in the 1990s,” he added. People must speak out about the injustices being perpetrated in Kashmir, he said.
Speakers included C. Chandrasekhar, Civil Liberties AP State general secretary and T. Hanumanthu from the CPI (M). HRF State secretary UM Devendra Babu presided.
