YET
ANOTHER PRECEDENT HAS BEEN SET IN CRIMEA: INDIA MUST ACT SWIFTLY:
HABIB
YOUSAFZAI, CHAIRMAN OF THE KASHMIR DIASPORA ALLIANCE
ASSALAM-O-ALAIKUM!
In
view of the decades of atrocities committed on the people of Maqbooza Kashmir
and their persistence struggle for freedom, there is absolutely no
justification for the Indian presence. There is no need to linger on with this
matter, especially now that another precedence has been set in Crimea. As such,
India must withdraw all of its occupation forces from the occupied territory of
Jammu Kashmir so that the UN SC Resolution calling for plebiscite can be
administered. Furthermore,
we humbly request the International Criminal Court to take immediate action
against the Indian government, and all those personnel in government and in the
Indian forces which have taken part in the systematic oppression and genocide
of the population.
Kashmir
and Crimea
After
all, it's people's will that matters
HORIZONS
ABDUL
MAJID ZARGAR
Crimea
has finally seceded from Ukraine. It made a history of sorts when 97% of
its population, including the sizeable minority of Tatars voted in favor
of the secession. The event has brought Crimea to the centre of international
attention. Some may argue that soon after its declaration of independence, it
was annexed by Russia but that is a different story and subject matter of a
separate debate.
The
right of self determination resulting in secession from a State got first
conceptualized as a response against colonialism but following World War
I, it took a definite shape as a principle of International
law. The pronouncement of two Human Rights Covenants extended the ambit of
this right as one available to all peoples. Simultaneously the
Resolutions of the General Assembly, laid emphasis that this right was
available to even peoples of sovereign states. In the last two decades,
no contemporary norm of International law has been as much widely debated
as the right of self determination of various groups of people or
sub-groups of a nation, has been. This right means the choice of a people
or a nation to determine freely by itself, its political and legal status as a
separate entity and therefore it is the norm which is entrenched upon
fundamental human-rights thesis that states that all peoples are equally
entitled to be in control of their own fortunes & destinies.
This has raised an all
important question of Kashmir’s right to self-determination, even accepting for
a moment for discussion sake, the Indian claim of Kashmir being its integral
part. The answer is provided by Matthew J Webb in his Book
published in 2012- Kashmir’s Right to Secede: A Critical Examination of Contemporary
Theories of Secession. According to Matthew, an Australian professor of
political sciences & Humanities, there are generally three theories which
justify the right of people to a self determination or secession from a
nation State. These are “nationalist theory”, “liberal-democratic theory” , and
‘just cause theory” and he has explored the issue of Kashmir’s
right to secede with a critical & scholarly evaluation &
analysis of these three streams of secessionist theory.
Webb
upholds the right of Kashmir to secede from Indian Union on “Just cause
theory”. He claims that since the act of accession of State to India,
without knowing the will of his subjects, there has been a wide gulf between
India’s democratic and secular ideals and the reality of it’s relationship
with Srinagar. This has led to various bouts of disillusionments, the first of
them as early as the 1950s. Persistent calls for Kashmiri secession have only
intensified through the next three-and-a-half decades as disenchantment with assertive
Indian actions mounted and finally took a violent turn in November 1989.He says
that Kashmir has been treated unjustly & unfairly since inception. He cites
reports by Amnesty International (1998, 2008 and 2011), Asia Watch and Physicians for
Human Rights (1993), which have detailed arbitrary arrests, beatings,
electrocution, intentional destruction of property, rape, torture, execution. To further substantiate his
case, Webb
also discusses the notorious Armed Forces Special Powers Act of 1990 and the
Prevention of Terrorism Act, which have contributed to the detention without
trial of an estimated 8000 to 20,000 Kashmiris. He cites presence of mass
graves & enforced disappearances as proof enough of India’s complicity
in committing crimes against humanity rendering itself liable to international
intervention & coercive action. Webb presents the two-decades of physical,
psychological and sexual abuse resulting from the heavy-handed tactics of
Indian security forces and the accompanying lack of legal redress as “perhaps
the most compelling just cause for Kashmir’s secession.”
This book provides a new
way of looking at the Kashmir dispute, by asking what these theories tell us
about Kashmir, and in turn what the example of Kashmir allows us to learn about
these theories. More importantly it lays a theoretical foundation for Kashmir’s
right to secede from Indian Union.
(The
author is a practicing Chartered accountant) abdulmajidzargar@gmail.com
