The Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) recently organized a symposium to mark the day to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir who are fighting for self-determination. Kashmir Day was observed to commemorate the day when the Indian forces occupied Kashmir following a request from Maharaja Hari Singh, the Hindu ruler of Kashmir. Several prominent figures from the Pakistani community in Jeddah attended the symposium, which started with recitation of a few verses from the Holy Qur'an. The speakers focused on the struggle of the Kashmiri people and their suffering under the Indian occupation, which is contrary to all international laws and conventions that guarantee Kashmiris their right to self-determination. The speakers called on the government of Pakistan to work together with the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to implement international resolutions that call for holding a plebiscite in Kashmir so that its people can decide the future of Kashmir on the basis of self-determination. They also demanded that the government of Pakistan repatriate and rehabilitate stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh who have been living a miserable life in squalid camps for more than 45 years. As for the Kashmir problem, it still remains a bleeding wound in the subcontinent. The Kashmir problem dates back to the time of the partition of the subcontinent when British colonial rulers agreed with the leaders of the Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League on the division of British India into two nations – India and Pakistan. The partition was based on the two-nation theory under which Muslim majority regions would become part of the new nation of Pakistan while Hindu-majority regions would remain part of India. However, the princely states, which enjoyed autonomy, were left to choose whether to join India or Pakistan after taking geographical and demographic considerations into account. All the princely states, except three, joined India or Pakistan on the basis of the desire of the majority of the people in those states. Hyderabad, Junagadh and Kashmir were the three states. As for Hyderabad, its ruler, Nizam of Hyderabad, decided to remain independent while the Muslim ruler of Junagadh wanted to accede to Pakistan. However, the Indian army invaded these two princely states on the grounds that the majority of the people in those states were Hindus. Considering the fact that the majority of people were Muslims, Kashmir was supposed to join Pakistan. However, the Hindu king Maharaja Hari Singh agreed to Kashmir's accession to India. But Pakistan was vehemently against this as it totally contravened the Independence Document and the Partition Plan, agreed by both sides as the basis for the partition of the subcontinent. The Kashmir issue led to the first war between the two countries, and India was able to occupy two-thirds of Kashmir while Pakistan took control of the remaining third. Subsequent to the war, the United Nations intervened as a mediator to enforce a ceasefire and end the conflict. The UN established a body called the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan to investigate the facts that gave rise to the Kashmir dispute and the UN mandate called for appointing a Plebiscite Administrator to supervise a free and impartial plebiscite through which the people of Kashmir would determine which country they wanted to belong to. The plebiscite would have been an acceptable solution to the problem had India not backtracked from its earlier promise of holding it. India's main justification for not holding the plebiscite was the result of the elections held in Kashmir in which the National Conference was victorious. However, this election, which scuttled the UN-sponsored plebiscite, was not acceptable to the United Nations, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir. The Kashmir problem has been instrumental in straining bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries for several decades. The two sides held several rounds of talks in the past to solve the Kashmir problem, but to no avail. India and Pakistan fought a number of wars over Kashmir that claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people and affected the interests of both countries adversely. It also lead to the waste of resources that otherwise could have been spent for the massive development of the two countries. It is high time to resolve this contentious problem on the basis of the resolutions passed by the United Nations. India, which has turned Kashmir into military barracks, should realize that the security and stability of the region demands the resolution of this problem through fulfilling the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, and that it is not possible for the government of India to subjugate the people of Kashmir by using military force. Also, the United Nations must shoulder its responsibility to resolve this long-standing problem by holding a plebiscite in line with its decision at the time of the eruption of the crisis. The big powers must also play a greater role in demanding that a plebiscite be held in Kashmir similar to the way they acted to have a referendum held in Indonesia and Sudan, which resulted in the creation of the new states of East Timor and South Sudan. The speakers at the symposium also dealt with the plight of stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh who are waiting to be repatriated and rehabilitated in Pakistan, which was the country of their choice at the time of the partition and later after the secession of East Pakistan. Finally, I would like to repeat the words of PRC Convener Syed Ehsanul Haque who demanded that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif activate the Muslim World League (Rabita) Endowment that was created for the repatriation of these hapless people. — Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
