JK News Today Commentary
Home Minister Amit Shah has asserted his stand on Pakistan occupied Kashmir , that the region belongs to India and it is a national duty to get back the territories under the illegal occupation of Pakistan . It is not only the BJP that has this mission, there is an unambiguous Parliamentary resolution on this .
That should set at rest all the doubts about the relationship of India with PoK. The parliamentary resolution of February 22, 1994 is amply clear about it . . The resolution read: “ Pakistan must vacate the areas of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir which they have occupied through aggression.” It is a reference to the Pakistan’s invasion of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 and the way Pakistan was allowed to keep the territories under its illegal occupation by an ill-advised ceasefire in 1948 . India has been the victim of this travesty of that era .
There was a profound contest to Hiem Minister’s reference to 22 February 1994 in an interview with Samita Prakash of Asian News International ( ANI) on Wednesday , which he did not elaborate though . The context is rooted in the past three-decade history of Jammu and Kashmir , the resolution was passed when Kashmir was in grip of Pakistan -exported terrorism . The system in Kashmir had collapsed , and the whole thing was dictated by mentors of terrorists from across the border. Despite some high-profile successes , like vacation of Hazratbal shrine from terrorists in November 23, and keeping the holy relic in the shrine safe , terrorist were having their writ run all over . Pakistan had started replacing the Kashmiri militants with its own crop of terrorists trained in Afghanistan and the heartland of Pakistan .
A peculiar thing that was done by Pakistan was to tap the divided families in PoK , and it exported them to their uncles and aunties on this side of the border. The use of kinship in the militancy proved lethal . The people on this side , who sheltered their kins, in Rajouri-Poonch belt , became silent participants in militancy . As per their traditions , they would go to any extent to shield PoK militants in their homes against army and police operations. This set up a new and fertile terrain for militancy to grow . Added to the militancy in the adjacent valley , this became a nightmare .
Fast forward February 1994 to May 2024 – a gap of 30 years , Pakistan sponsored militancy has been neutralized to a large extent . What India demanded of Pakistan , “ to vacate PoK” has now acquired a new dimension . India has abrogated Article 370 and made it clear to the people of the erstwhile state, now divided into two union territories of Ladakh, and J&K , that all their options which were prompted and promoted by Pakistan and terrorists that it had sent to Kashmir have closed once and for all.
The protests in PoK in which civilians have clashed with Pakistani army, Rangers have raised so many fundamental questions – what is the thinking in the minds of people who are not shy of raising slogans of “ Azadi” or freedom . If they are free as the name given to their territory , “ Azad Kashmir “ or free Kashmir, why should they be seeking freedom. That suggests very clearly that Pakistan and PoK relationship has snapped and now they want to be free from Pakistan’s occupation.
India must act , in whichever way it wants to secure PoJk , taking all risks and rewards into account . This should also silence the doubters . Pakistan has a nuclear bomb , but doesn’t Pakistan know, as Home Minister emphasized that India is nuclear power too, and its 1.4 billion people cannot surrender their rights on the land and people that belongs to the country.
