Modi should repeal Kashmir Bifurcation Law
ON 19 November 2021, the Indian Prime Minister Nanendra Modi, in his televised address, apologised from the Indian farmers and announced to repeal the three contentious farm laws that had caused the nationwide strike by the Indian farmers.
On September 2020, the Indian Parliament with Modi-led BJP’s 2/3 majority had passed three agriculture acts, Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce Act, 2020, Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities Amendment Act, 2020.
According to the BJP Government in India, these laws were meant to allow the farmers to sell their produce directly to bulk buyers and make contract farming easier.
Declaring that the above-mentioned Farm Laws were harmful to their interest, the Indian farmers from all over India had started their protest movement in December 2020, and they have protested for more than a year against the laws.
The protests were well organized, resolute and enduring, focused on marching towards New Delhi, and the sitting there, that also resulted in the closure of roads, and traffic.
As a consequence of the use of force by the BJP Government to stop the protests, about a dozen farmers were killed and many were injured.
The Indian farmers’ protest movement had also created political ripples in India, when the Sikh Diaspora in about 50 countries abroad joined the protest movement and carried out their protests drawing wide foreign media coverage.
The Sikh Diaspora’s referendum held in the foreign countries for making the Indian Punjab an independent state of Khalistan, also impacted the farmers’ movement.
This situation also impacted the Modi Government’s decision to ultimately repeal the farm laws. The Farm laws had to be repealed as these had hurt the Indian farmers’ basic right to earn their livelihood.
In fact, the BJP, having 2/3 majority in Parliament, has gone mad in passing the Farm laws and some other laws with a hegemonic mindset and, therefore, these laws have been harshly resented in India as these laws had violated the basic human rights.
On 5 August 2019,the Indian Lok Sabah had passed the Occupied Jammu and Kashmir Bifurcation Act, based on which India has divided the state into two union territories.
The Kashmir Bifurcation Law, was passed in violations of the UNSC resolutions on Kashmir, the Bilateral Simla Agreement, Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, the first Indian PM Nehru’s speeches and the Indian Viceroy Lord Mountbatton’s promises of finally deciding about the accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan or India after ascertaining the will of the people of Jammu and Kashmir by holding a UNSC-supervised plebiscite in the state.
Therefore the Kashmir Bifurcation Act 2019 had drawn fierce protests by the people of the state, which India has suppressed by imposing the Governor rule and deploying more than 900,000 security forces.
Similarly the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed by the Indian Parliament on 11 December 2020 had drawn severe protests from the Indian minorities, especially the Muslims, as the laws mainly discriminated against the Muslims.
After cancellation of the Indian Farm laws, the rationality demanded that Indian PM, Modi should have also repealed the Indian Citizens Act 2020 and especially the Kashmir Bifurcation Act 2019, to restore the pre-5 August 2019 position of the Occupied State of Jammu and Kashmir, including Laddakh, being a one state and a disputed territory as per the UNSC resolutions, with its autonomy having been restored.
But the events in India have proved that rationality will not appeal to Modi and other BJP leaders to repeal the Kashmir Bifurcation law, only the domestic as well as international political pressure will matter.
In view of the above, in order to pressurise Modi and the BJP Government to repeal the Jammu and Kashmir Bifurcation law and restore pre-5 August 2019 status of the state, including Laddakh, it is necessary that the Kashmiris should intensify their protests by demanding that if Modi could repeal the Indian Farm Laws and seek an apology from the Indian farmers, then why he cannot repeal the Kashmir Bifurcation law and seek an apology from the Kashmiris as over 100,000 Kashmiris have been killed in the last 30 years, by the Indian security forces to crush their demand to seek their right to self-determination granted to them vide the UNSC resolutions.
In the above context, being a party to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, as recognized by the UNSC resolutions, it is also highly important for Pakistan to build an intense international political pressure on the Modi Government by highlighting the wrong passage of the Kashmir Bifurcation law, which has trampled the Kashmiris’ right to self determination.
In this regard, Pakistan’s efforts should also be focused on the fact that if the Modi Government can repeal the India’s Farm Laws, Modi should also repeal the Kashmir Bifurcation law, that violates the UNSC resolutions on Kashmir, and Pakistan-India bilateral agreements.
To build an effective international political pressure on Modi Government to repeal the Kashmir Bifurcation law, it is necessary that Pakistan’s Foreign Office, senior leaders of all political parties, its print, electronic and social media, all work diligently, with Pakistan’s Foreign Office working with the UNSC member countries, especially the veto powers, the OIC, and other important capitals in the world.
—The writer is also a former Research Fellow of IPRI and Senior Research Fellow of SVI Islamabad.
