The BJP leadership always resorts to baseless rhetoric and vitriolic and explosive statements against Pakistan whenever it is domestically faced with the challenge of general elections. As the elections for Lok Sabha are due next year in India, the BJP leaders are again turning to their tried and tested mantra of Pakistan bashing for electoral gains.
Speaking at a National Security Conclave in Jammu the other day, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated the other day, “Pakistan has no legal standing or authority in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as it has illegally occupied the area.” He repeated the delusionary remarks that Azad Kashmir, which the Indians call PoK, was and will remain part of India.
This is not the first time that Rajnath and other Indian leaders have made such reckless and uncalled-for statements as in the past also, we keep hearing such remarks emanating from India, distorting the well-established historical facts about Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
We want to remind the Indian Defense Minister that it was their leaders who took the question of Kashmir to the UN Security Council for resolution. The fact is that Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed region on the UN agenda, and there are several UN Security Council resolutions that accept the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people. Whilst Pakistan has always shown openness and supported this very right of the Kashmiri people, it is India that has reneged on its promises and denied the Kashmiri people the right to determine their future.
The irrefutable fact is that India is an occupation force in illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir in clear violation of the UN Security Council resolutions. Rajnath’s baseless claims over Kashmir territory can neither change the facts of history nor its legal status.
Nonetheless, the very provocative statement by the Indian Defense Minister poses a serious threat to regional peace and stability. One should not forget that before the 2019 Lokha Sabha elections, the then-Modi government staged a false flag operation in Pulwama to malign Pakistan and secure electoral support. The Indian leadership immediately blamed Pakistan for its links with the attack but failed to provide credible evidence of its alleged involvement in the incident. From the leaked messages by BJP and RSS-backed Indian journalist Arnab Goswami, it is now crystal clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in collusion with Indian Army, intelligence agencies, and right-wing media, created a casus belli by orchestrating the Pulwama incident to attack Pakistan. The biggest beneficiary of the Pulwama attack was the BJP government, as it resulted in its landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections following their virulent anti-Pakistan electoral campaign.
As the election season is closing in and the popularity of Modi is witnessing a decline, the manifestation of which was seen in recent Karnataka elections, power-hungry Modi and its cahoots can go to any extent to consolidate their grip on power. Apart from upping the ante at the LOC, they can again stage a Pulwama-like incident. Whilst we have no doubt about the capabilities of our armed forces to give a befitting response to any Indian aggression as was manifested during a dog fight back in February 2019, it is also for our government to expose the nefarious Indian designs before the world by not only highlighting the facts surrounding Pulwama incident but also how the innocent and armless Kashmiri people are being subjected to all sorts of atrocities in IIOJK. The message for the Indian Defense Minister is that the Kashmiri people under no circumstances will choose to become part of India. It is because of this reality and fear that the Indian leadership is not allowing a plebiscite in the occupied territory. However, we have no doubt in saying that the sacrifices of Kashmiri people will bear fruit, and they will also see the dawn of independence one day.
