Kashmiri people’s struggle – The Students' Herald

Shoaib Khan

On 5 February, the Kashmir solidarity march was held across the country. Different rallies were observed, slogans were reiterated at different places and four provinces capitals, and people showed their wholehearted support of the Pakistan nation to the just struggle of Kashmiri people for self-determination under the UN resolution. And this solidarity has been observing the state of Pakistan since the 1990s.
People take part in the protest to express their grievances over Kashmir being held by India since independence. Nothing is more important to them than being infuriated by Indian occupations, it does not matter at all to people how they have been treated by the state; their basic human needs, their right to expression, poverty reduction, and jobs opportunity and education. The same as true on the border, other sides hate and warmongering slogans have been showing, they have gained nothing, but hate is earned in societies. Paralyzing the societies, both sides’ ruling elite are serving their interest better, after all.

Will the Blame game ever stop?
Both Pakistan and India claim that it is their integral part of their territory occupied by enmity. Besides, it is being said by either that we would serve these oppressed people thoroughly, but they have forgotten the ill-treatment of the peoples and communities that are already part of these two states; genocide of communities on both sides of the border, the fanning of religious intolerance and conflict, the endemic of sexual violence against gender minorities in the subcontinent is on its peak. States can resolve this long-term conflict, but ruling elites would not accept it and likewise want people to be exploited and serve their interests well.
The blame game has long been going on and is likely to continue. Both states blame each other at the international level, sometimes intervene in enemies’ territories to flare up conflict. States were actually preserving the ruling elite’s political and economic stakes; and whenever they needed to go to war, they fought and then maintained so-called peace at Kashmir’s cost.
Externally, stakeholders have interests in the so-called Kashmir dispute. There is general acceptability among scholars and policymakers that the Western and America exercises leverage in Pakistan. It is their interest that they would never want to be at peace in Kashmir territory, Pakistan and India are dependent upon Western and American imperial powers for military equipment and industry, and technological advancement. Kashmir is an unresolved issue between South Asia’s most advanced military powers, and it is the most beneficial market for military equipment.

Capitalists create tensions and go to war when their interest demand, the great example could be seen when world war one and two was fought for imperials expansions and their interest collide in far-reaching colonies and almost 17 million peoples put to death and if we go ahead there were almost 60 million casualties occurred in the second world war, they never hesitated to care of annihilations of humanity. Demanding their interest, when interest converges at the same point, capitalist societies integrate as European Unions, despite so much despoilment, is the best example ever.
The only choice states have then is to upgrade as mentioned in the so-called four-point agenda of Musharraf’s era, which was centred on the provisional arrangement for self-governance within a region and erstwhile regions of Jammu & Kashmir: regions were supposed to have self-governance; free trade and movement, education reinvigoration, administration and security, and law enforcement agencies mean optimum autonomy. It went through an ill-fated when the Mumbai attacks took place.
But Kashmir’s fate is luckless; there is no chance for the integration of the Kashmir region divided between Pakistan and India since independence. Externally and internally (on both sides), capitalist’s interests have never coincided: and usually, people are exploited through slogans, curriculum textbooks, and hate-mongering. The Kashmir issue serves as an effective dormant conflict to create an “other” for these nation-states and continue their military race of arms. A conflict that does not disrupt trade and economics by active violence but still serves the ideological purposes for the nations.
The only hope for Kashmir remains to have people decide whether they would be with the state or remain free as they have right, and it would be resolved when people would pursue both nations to declare independence for Kashmir. They are illogical to have a state being rejected and take decisions by people, but states are also not in a position to accept people’s right to independence. And again, people of the subcontinent know how to get freedom from the master. If they took on 1947s, their way of life would be standard and grievances would be ended. Then, states would focus on genuine issues faced by people when real freedom takes place.