M. M. Khajooria

It happened in Kotli or Palanderi Jamia Masjid some time back. I can't recall the exact date. After the sermon was over, one amongst the congregation asked the Imam for enlightenment on their obligation as Muslims towards the ongoing Jihad in "Occupied Kashmir" and the 'struggle for independence' in Azad Kashmir? The Imam was somewhat flabbergasted .He remained quite and appeared to be pandering over the question. And then he spoke, "You have asked a very important but embarrassing question. I am obliged to speak the truth and only the truth, which I must. Lying from the "Mumber (the holy pulpit)" would be a cardinal sin. "As I cannot but tell the truth so listen carefully", the Imam began "Jihad is solely and purely in service of Allah and His Rasool in accordance with the guidence of the holy Quran. The so-called Jihad in Occupied Kashmir and the struggle in Azad Kashmir are aimed at gaining territory which were totally alien to the concept of Jihad. Number of hills in occupied Kashmir are virtually littered with slogans in huge words. "Azadi Ya Sahadat" (Independence or martyrdom). You may draw your own conclusion."Azadi from whom? Yes, Azadi from what is trotted as 'Azad Kashmir.' lsn't it hilarious? Let us begin with the position of AJK under Pakistan constitution. Article (l) of the constitution of Pakistan and the definition of the Republic and its territories does not include AJK. The issue is left ambivalent. However, Article 1 (d) refers to" Such states and territories as are or may be included in Pakistan by accession or otherwise." 'Word otherwise', obviously refers to by aggression. In view of the UN resolutions Pakistan has ostensibly treated AJK as a territory whose final status is yet to be decided. Pakistan's sovereignty to AJK shall extend according to Article 257 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which reads: "When the people of the state of J&K decide to accede to Pakistan, the relationship between Pakistan and the state shall be determined in accordance with the wishes of the people of the state" Article (Vll) of J&K interim constitution of 1974 sticks to the same position. This position was blatantly fraudulent. Because Pakistan had taken numerous measures to ensure that seek to retain AJK as a colony of Pakistan. For instance , under AKJCA 1974, a person may contest elections and seek government employment only if he or she "believes in the ideology of Pakistan" and the concept of the "States' accession of Pakistan" This is certainly not commensurate with the assertion that the AJK' status will be "determined in accordance with the wishes of people of the state. "Moreover the Ministry of Kashmir affairs remained all powerful and treats AJK and Northern Areas as its fiefs. A huge chunk of population in 'AJK' refuse to enroll as voters. The leaders struggling for casting away the yoke of Pak slavery do not contest elections as they cannot and would not in good conscience take the oath of allegiance to the idea of Pakistan. Here by hangs a hilarious tale. In one of the international seminars, I mentioned to the AJK and AJK Diaspora participants that prominent Muslim leaders like Ali Shah Geelani and his Jammat-i-lslami colleagues happily took oath in the name of Allah "to preserve and protect the integrity of India" and later claimed the oath was taken as part of political strategy. Why couldn't you adopt the same strategy? They were scandalised and angrily shouted in one voice, "Such persons are Kafirs. It is blasphemy to call them Muslim's. No worldly possession can tempt a true Muslim to swear falsely by Allah." Now listen to this one. I was named Chairman of the drafting committee to record the proceedings of the seminar. While dictating the proceedings, I had to refer to the two parts of Jammu and Kashmir. I thought it may be considered partisan on my part to describe the area of the state controlled by Pakistan as occupied territory. So I opted for the international parlance that described AJK as Pakistan administered area. As soon as I uttered the word "administered" a young member stood up and vehemently protested. He said "we are an occupied territory. There was no administration there. Sir, I insist that this be recorded as Pakistan Occupied Jammu & Kashmir. "As no one contested, I was too happy to accommodate him. As I did not make any comment, he said " you don't believe me" and pulled up his shirt to show his back which was criss crossed with deep healed wounds of brutal canning". Shocked, I hastily said "Of course I believe you and have complied with your demand. Thank You", he said and took his chair muttering."Many others have suffered worst fate." It may be recalled that after the Instrument of Accession to India was signed, Sheikh Mohd Abdullah, the then Head of the Emergency Administration gave Mirwaiz Yusuf Shah and Ch. Ghulam Abbas, President of the ProPakistan Muslim Conference locked up in prison the option to be released and stay in J&K as Indian citizens or be 'pushed back' to Pakistan. Both opted for Pakistan and were accordingly pushed across the border to Pakistan. There they were joined by K.Khurshid, former Secretary to Mohd Ali Jinnah. All three of them in time became Presidents of AJK. Each one of them was rudely disillusioned and left in disgust . Khurshid committed the blunder of taking the "Independence" of AJK literally and seriously. In a bid to modernise AJK battalions , he directly contacted the Government of China for supply of sophisticated weapons. The Chinese informed the Pakistan government. Khurshid was unceremoniously booted out and left AJK in disgust. A totally disillusioned Mirwaiz Moulvi Yusuf Shah wanted to return to Kashmir to die in peace . The Government of India was inclined to accommodate him. In fact, he came to Amritsar awaiting permission to go to Srinagar. However, Bakshi Ghulam Mohd, the then Prime Minister of J&K did not agree. He felt that return of the aged and sick former Mirwaiz would have upsetting effect on the even tenor of perfectly normal and fast developing state. The Moulvi returned to AJK and died a frustrated man. The Pak facade is further demonstrably exposed when we refer to Article 31(3) of the AJK JCA which ceded the many functions to the Government of Pakistan. These include; “i) The responsibilities of Pakistan under the UNCIP Resolutions. ii) The defence and security of AJK iii) The current coin, or the issue of notes, bills or other paper currency and (iv) the external affairs of AJK including foreign trade and foreign aid.” Additionally there are more than 52 matters under Third Schedule in conjunction with Section 31. This flip-flop has neither served the people of AJK well nor served the cause of Pakistan. In fact a prominent Pak journalist Aijaz Haider was of the opinion that this could become a trap for Pakistan if ever the issue were before the people under the auspices of a third party. He claimed that Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan , a top lawyer and a political leader of eminence had told him " Our position (on AJK) under international law is different from our position under domestic law(view from Pakistan by Ajaz Haider-Friday Times).He had obviously mellowed down his comment. Suddenly we hear some of our top government leaders shouting their determination to retrieve Pakistan occupied territories. The Vice President has joined the chorus and innocently though loudly asked Pakistan to hand over POK to India. Whatever the motivation the cause these leaders have taken up needed to be pursued. In fact, the 1994 Resolution of the joint session of Parliament mandated the Government to retrieve the territories of Jammu & Kashmir under the forcible and illegal occupation of Pakistan. The million dollar question is, how do we go about complying with the Parliament mandate? The first step that seems to be feasible as well as necessary is to reach out to the people of occupied J&K, identify their problems and woes and vigorously project them in the international fora'. We must demand that Pakistan government immediately put a stop to the abominable violations of human rights and yield to the people of the occupied territory their fundamental right of self- governance. Rest can and should follow.

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The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article.

Courtesy: The State Times: 30th August, 2019