Pakistan has yet again spoken on the Kashmir issue and said it is drawing the attention of the international community on the alleged atrocities committed by India in Jammu and Kashmir.
Last week, the diplomatic missions of Pakistan abroad observed the Kashmir Black Day to express solidarity with the Kashmiris in India. It underscored the so-called Indian human rights abuses and called for the self-determination right of the Kashmiris. During the event, the messages of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif were read out.
It is ironic that Pakistan of all the nations has chosen to speak about the so-called atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of India. Going by the sharp use of words during these events, it is clear that the issue of J&K has slipped completely out of the hands of Pakistan. The hold by this rogue nation over the Union Territory was further decimated when Article 37 was abrogated, peace was restored and a democratic process called the elections was held without a single incident of violence.
Pakistan’s own record
Instead of commenting on issues that are India’s internal matter, Islamabad would do well in terms of human rights if it first looked at its own record and did something about it. In the year 2022, Freedom House rated Pakistan’s human rights at 37 out of 100. It noted that violence against women in Pakistan is an important social issue. Due to domestic violence, an estimated 5,000 women are killed everyday.
Further a 2016 Global Slavery Index said that around 2,134,900 people are enslaved in modern day Pakistan. This is 1.3 per cent of the population of the country.
The 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released by the United States says that some of the significant human rights issues in Pakistan included credible reports of, unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, degrading treatment of punishment by the government, harsh and life threatening prison conditions, arbitrary detention, political prisoners and transnational repression against individuals in another country.
The report noted that despite these violations being flagged very often by the international community, the government in Pakistan rarely took credible steps to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses.
The report also said that authorities arrested and caused the disappearance of Pashtun, Sindhi and Baloch human rights activists. Children had been detained to pressurise the parents. In all 500 Sindhis have gone missing and the number stood at 142 in 2022 alone.
Pakistan ignores ethnic cleansing while expressing fake solidarity with Kashmiris
The ethnic cleansing of the minorities, in particular the Hindus has been spoken about very often. Statistics do not lie and the fact is that at the time of partition in 1947, the population of Pakistan comprised 23 per cent non-Muslims. Today statistics reveal that the population of non-Muslims has been reduced to just 3 per cent. For the minorities and the Hindus in particular, the times have been terrible as they are targeted on a regular basis by the ISI sponsored elements such as the radical Mullahs in the country.
The Hindus are told that they should either convert to Islam and failing to do so will result in their death. In Balochisstan and Sindh, the main target has been the Hindus. Sikhs and Hindus from well to do families in these pronounces have been either abducted or burnt in front of police stations.
Pakistan which was originally formed to provide a country for the South Asian Muslims has gone on to become an Islamic State. Over the years, the Mullahs have been running the show with the backing of the establishment. In the bargain, the pseudo democratic country has become a full-fledged Islamic State.
Looking at how things shaped up in Pakistan, it is clear that it runs on the ideology of Abu Ala Maududi, the founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami. Maudadi had said that the Constitution of Pakistan should be based on the assumption that the sovereignty rested with Allah.
Sovereignty belongs to Allah alone but He has delegated it to the State of Pakistan through its people for being exercised within the limits prescribed by him as a sacred trust, read the Objective Resolution of Pakistan in 1949.
Targeted killings in Kashmir
On one hand, Pakistan speaks about human rights in J&K and on the other it trains its guns on the people of the Union Territory. It is a well known fact that terror outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizbul Mujahideen, Al-Qaeda, Islamic State operating in J&K are all funded by the ISI.
In the 1990s, these ISI backed terror groups carried out one of the worst genocides the world has seen. Kashmiri Pundits, who belong to J&K were targeted ruthlessly by the ISI’s proxies. As a result of these sustained campaign, scores of Kashmiri Pundits fled J&K.
Pakistan sponsored targeted killings in J&K is nothing uncommon. These elements have targeted not just the Hindus in the Valley but the Muslims as well. Those officials and people who back India have been subjected to targeted killings. These include, police personnel, government employees, teachers, migrant labourers, local government representatives among others.
In addition this, Pakistan has heavily funded the separatists in J&K. These are the ones who radicalised the youth of Kashmir, helped terrorists and orchestrated stone pelting every Friday after prayers at the Mosque.
Pakistan also has this dubious distinction of being in the Grey List of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for its role in terror funding. It has been found that the most extensive terror funding it has done is to see Kashmir on the boil. It invests heavily on both the Pakistan terrorists as well as the local ones to fan tensions in J&K.
Thanks to Pakistan, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have lost more than what they could have gained. The youth remained unemployed and there were hardly any job opportunities in the Union Territory.
Pakistan’s claims of showing solidarity with the people of Kashmir is nothing but an eye wash, which may impress a select few who are part of its tool kit abroad. In reality, Pakistan as a nation has done more harm to J&K as a result of which peace had become a far cry for very long in the region.
