On Friday slogans were raised to protest against a debate titled, ‘This House Believes in the Independent State of Kashmir.’
The protests were led by INSIGHT UK, a social movement of British Hindus and Indians and took place outside the Oxford Union, Oxford University’s debating society.
The protesters chanted that it is known far and wide, Oxford Union stands on terrorists’s side. “Jammu Kashmir was India, Jammu Kashmir is India, Jammu Kashmir will be India,” INSIGHT UK said in a post.
The issue is with the subject and also a speaker at the debate Muzzammil Ayub, the son of an ISI agent who is accused of incitement and hate speech against India.
A deep-rooted agenda
Jammu and Kashmir is not longer what it used to be. The abrogation of Article 370 and the conduct of a peaceful election are all signs that J&K is changing and the people are fed up with violence and stone pelting. The youth wants change and that can take place only when there is peace and the government is leaving no stone to ensure that.
By initiating debates such as these, Oxford Union appears to be playing proxy to Pakistan which has been making desperate strides to incite tensions in J&K. Oxford Union wants to make it seem as though there is some kind of internal struggle that is taking place in J&K and the people want it to be out of Bharat or independent of Bharat. Both are however not true and had that been the case, there would have been a mass boycott of the elections and protests galore in event of Article 370 being abrogated.
Oxford Union is indulging in what Pakistan wants and that is to keep the pot boiling. Moreover Oxford has been hypocritical in its approach when it comes to the issue of J&K. While this time there are protests to call off the debate, back in 2022, Oxford Union had in fact cancelled a debate when a small group of Pakistanis protested against filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri taking part in the event.
Oxford Union has been relentless on the subject of J&K. Even when Article 370 was nullified, Oxford organised a debate titled, ‘Should Kashmir’s Special Status be Revoked.’
Silent on terror, vocal on non-issues
The real problem in J&K is not independence, but terrorism. There are groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Tayiba, The Resistence Front and others who actively carry out attacks almost on a daily basis. Pakistan spares no chance to send in terrorists to kill innocents and brave soldiers. While it does so on one hand on the other, it tries to drum up international support on Kashmir.
Between 2000. And 22024, 4,953 civilians have been killed by terrorists. During the same period 3,615 security forces made the supreme sacrifice. The number of deaths among civilians peaked between 2000 and 2007. During these years, the death toll was in triple digits and currently it has come down to double digits and the numbers are significantly lower. For instance, the number civilians killed in 2023 was at 12, while the number of security forces who lost their lives stood at 33.
The truth is that Oxford Union is silent on this burning issue. It does not have debates which speaks about the deep state of Pakistan and its larger agenda. It has also not debated issues such as the killing of non-locals, the cleansing of the Kashmiri Pandits, money laundering by separatists, smuggling of narcotics and arms, stone pelting after Friday prayers or attempts being made to stall all developmental projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
Why these debates are a clear case of propaganda is because they focus more on issues that even the residents of J&K do not speak about today. The locals are not interested in topics such as freedom, but are extremely keen on development and a better life that is safe and free from terrorists.
Oxford Union has remained silent on one of the most pressing issues in Jammu and Kashmir and that is the genocide against the Kashmiri Hindus. Over 500,000 indigenous Kashmiri Hindus were victims of genocide by Islamic terrorism in the 1990s.
While refusing to attend a debate on the independence of Kashmir, filmmaker and director of The Kashmir Files had in a strongly worded letter to the Oxford Union spoken about this issue. He said that the entire indigenous Kashmiri Hindu population was forced to leave Kashmir and since then they have lived in exile. This was the latest and seventh exodus in their history and I am not even including the barbarity of the earlier six. This is not a debate, but a historical tragedy he said.
Kashmir’s story is not a debate topic; it is a narrative of suffering, resilience, and a quest for peace. To reduce it to a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on independence is to ignore the complex tapestry of human emotions and history involved. The genocide of Kashmiri Hindus is a story where the cost has been paid in blood, not in witty retorts or applause from an audience, Agnihotri had said.
Giving a platform to terrorists and their sympathisers
When senior journalist, Aditya Raj Kaul declined to attend the latest debate, again on the same subject of independence, he had raised objection to the presence of Pakistan-origin activist, Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur.
Muzzammil’s antecedes are well known and he is infamous of singing Pakistan’s tune on J&K. According to Oxford Union, Muzzamil is a Kashmiri independence activist opposed to Indian control of the Kashmir region.
What Oxford failed to mention is that Muzzamil is also the son of London based ISI agent Ayyub Thakur. The ISI agent had indulged in lobbying for Jammu and Kashmir. He is accused of channelising funds from the ISI in Pakistan to Islamic terrorists. He had managed to channelise 700,00 Pounds to Hizbul Mujahideen chief, Syed Salahuddin.
The antecedents of the father was spoken about by none other than his son. Muzzammil in an interview with Only Kashmir, a YouTube channel had said in 2015 that his father had funded terrorism in the region as it considered it to be Jihad.
Muzzamil too is following in his father’s footsteps. In 2022, he was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for anti-national acts and threatening an Indian advocate, Syed Zeeshan.
“Thakur, through his social media account and other platforms, is indulging in activities which are prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and unity of India,” the J&K police had said.
“This apart, a proper complaint was lodged by Advocate Syed Zeeshan before Srinagar Police against Muzzamzil Ayyub Thakur and others. In the complaint, it is alleged by him that Muzzammil Ayyub at the behest of ISI and ISPR is threatening, harassing, carrying out criminal intimidation, besides being involved in cyber-crimes against the complainant,” the police also said.
His primary job is to lobby with the British government to take an anti-India stance. The UK has been notorious for providing space to such elements and there are the likes of Oxford Union which furthers such propaganda.
External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar had said that it is the colonial mindset towards India that continues to remain in force. This has not changed as yet. It is difficult for them to accept that the country they ruled for centuries has now surpassed them in economic growth. Bharat is on its way of becoming the world’s third largest democracy. Since they are unable to digest this, they use such means to try and drag us back. The momentum of the country is now unstoppable, and you can create all the hurdles you want, the External Affairs Minister had also said.
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