The Government of India, which holds the presidency of G20 – a premier forum for international economic cooperation, shaping and strengthening global architecture and governance on all major international economic issues is maliciously gathering attention to validate its crimes against humanity in Indian illegally occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK).
The 2023 summit of G20 which is expected in the United Nations recognized disputed land of Jammu & Kashmir is already under military occupation for more than seven decades. Since 1989, when the movement for Kashmiri Freedom took the form of an armed insurgency, more than half a million Indian troops have been deployed there, making it one of the most highly militarized regions of the world. Some estimates place the number of Indian occupying troops deployed as high as 900,000. With a ratio of one soldier to every ten civilians, Indian counterinsurgency has progressed as a classic dirty war, where the army treats the civilian population as the enemy. The troops are deployed not only along contested borders but across civilian areas as well.
In this situation, human rights abuses occur on a massive scale: torture in the vast military camps and interrogation centers that sprawl across the Valley, rape, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, the use of civilians for forced labor and as human shields, destruction of crops and homes, arson, arming pro-Indian militias to terrorize the population
By attempting to hold the G20 Summit in Indian Illegally occupied Jammu Kashmir, India is not only trying to maneuver its soft power against Pakistan which is the primary party to the Kashmir dispute but to pretend normalcy in the war-torn region.
The muscular policy of the notorious National Security adviser of India Ajit Doval after the abrogation of Articles 370/35-A, which safeguards the land and citizenship rights of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state has exposed India and its genocidal crimes perpetrated in IIOJK. The fascist ruling government BJP which has blood of Kashmiris on its hands is adopting an indirect approach to not only pronounce its sovereignty over the internationally recognized disputed territory but by implication would also seek international acquiescence to all its war crimes and crimes against humanity to suppress the right of self-determination movement in IIOJK.
In February 2019 the UN genocide watch statement on Kashmir warning that the region is at thebrink of genocide and the recent US intelligence report during the US congressional hearing apprehending increased tension between India and Pakistan and India and China with the possibility of a conflict between them is an eye-opener for the G20 Countries that India is playing diplomatic faux which will aggravate an already tense, sensitive and explosive environment.
The multiple UNSC Resolutions on this internationally recognised disputed territory remain relevant and applicable therefore, another critical ramification of the G20 will be seen as giving credence to the Indian criminal aggression claiming Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan as an integral part of India.
Last year Pakistan Ministry of Foreign affairs (MOFA) in its statement showed its concern about holding G20 summit in IIOJK and warning international community that India has been seeking to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory in flagrant violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions, international law, and the 4th Geneva Convention.
But Pakistan must undertake pragmatic measures to prevent India from violating the UN resolutions on IIOJK. It must work to generate a swell against this Indian move with or without the G-20. A proactive policy needs to be installed that engages all stakeholders, especially China and Turkey and apprises them of the ramifications of such execution. On the other hand, the Kashmiri diaspora must approach the EU parliament and other country heads with the dossiers of the crime against humanity perpetrated by India in IIOJK. Pakistan must exercise its legal right as a ‘disputant party’ and seek the appropriate remedy before UNGA, UNSC, OIC, & SAARC.
The permanent representative of Pakistan in United Nation must unambiguously put across its position on IIOJK in the ongoing 52nd regular session of the Human rights council in the light of relevant UNSC Resolutions and ask the UN about the malicious design of India holding G20 in war-torn region and also highlight the sensitive strategic environment of IIOJK and the adverse consequences of a G-20 summit in the disputed territory. Most critically, Pakistan and China must coordinate their policies and adopt mutually supporting positions on the issue. China has already expressed its disapproval of such an exercise but has withheld its further response so far.
APHC and Kashmir Diaspora must write to all foreign ministers of G20 about the ongoing situation in IIOJK and appeal to them to speak against the state-sponsored violence and terrorism in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The stakeholders must urge G20 members to use their influence to promote a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, one that takes into account the wishes and aspirations of the people of the region.
About Author:
Mukhtar Baba is Senior journalist from IIOJK and presently is International Media In-Charge of Masrat Alam Bhat, Incarcerated Chairman of APHC