Amidst New Delhi, the Indian Army’s thunderbolt, and hail of bullets, countless civilians have been burning in the flames of conflict over the years. They are sometimes taking to the streets in protest. Many innocent lives have been lost.
The atrocities committed by the Indian forces have made the situation of Kashmiris no less endangered than that of the Palestinians. However, just as the world media is not paying much attention to the Kashmiris, the United Nations is also silent. As a result, Indian oppression of them is increasing day by day.
The Kashmir Valley has been searching for peace and a permanent solution for seventy years. Day by day, that hope seems like a mirage. Is it possible to solve the Kashmir problem?
When the subcontinent was getting independent, the Indian army began to bleed the entire Kashmir. India unleashed a flood of blood to oust the freedom fighters from the heavenly valley and then controlled everything through a cease-fire.
After this, on the advice of Mountbatten, the then-Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru took the dispute to the UN. Which finally gave the international seal to the proposal for a referendum in Kashmir, which India has not followed up with to date.
Indian politics has so far failed to resolve the Kashmir issue in favor of the will of the people. Will Kashmir continue to burn, people will continue to die for years, and war will continue not only around Kashmir but also in the entire subcontinent? No one would want that. However, the unpleasant situation with Kashmir is going on.
Kashmir indeed has a history of inhumanity. People’s will is not valued. India has also blown the decisions of the United Nations. Kashmiris have staged movement after movement for generations, refusing to accept anything less than full independence.
The current movement in Kashmir is moving along the path of complete freedom. Kashmiris have taken their demand for freedom to a logical level by shedding blood. Perhaps there is no way for Kashmiris to back down from their demand for independence. The sooner India realizes this fact, the sooner the problem will end.
To make the South Asian subcontinent a region of peace, the existing problems need to be resolved. In this regard, the Kashmir problem is the oldest and most complex problem. It is impossible to make the region peaceful without solving it.
The Kashmir issue is not only military or political but also has a humanitarian dimension. The endless torture that the people of Kashmir are facing in the generation-long movement is indescribable. Children, old people, and women are victims of inhuman treatment.
A solution to the Kashmir issue is essential for the peace and security of South Asia and it must be as per the aspirations of the people there. Kashmiris are not going to stop with imposed decisions. They are holding the place of full freedom.
With blood and life for seventy years, Kashmiris have been carrying forward the unstoppable caravan of Kashmir’s freedom. Many families in Kashmir have included all their men in the martyrdom of the freedom struggle.
Freedom movements never die in the history of the world. Power or arms against the people are ultimately defeated. The Kashmir movement is also a struggle for freedom, carried on by blood and life. Therefore, such a sacrificial struggle does not seem to be easily suppressed or defeated. When people give their lives freely, nobody can stop them.
From the events in Kashmir, one can understand the people have reached the last stage of their movement for complete freedom. Force will no longer work against people’s movements. Accepting people’s freedom and rights is the solution to the Kashmir problem.