The Government of Pakistan is selling its narrative by castigating India’s decision to repeal Article 370 on August 5, 2019. Every year, the Pakistani ‘militablishment’ makes an effort to propagate an alternate truth through fabrications and lies, masquerading India as an evil force in Kashmir. The sense of failure among the Pakistani army due to India’s action (revoking article 370) is so acute that there is a desperate attempt every year to regurgitate the same lies, persuading the world community to believe that India has unleashed a reign of terror in Kashmir after revoking the special status in August 2019.
Public opinion in Pakistan has been fed on the Kashmir rhetoric for the last 76 years, and the power elite of Pakistan believe that it would be equally easy to sell the same rhetoric worldwide and turn international opinion against India on Kashmir. However, other than creating political noise at home, funding popular protests in Kashmir, and raising the specter of nuclear war, Pakistan has been incapable of doing anything significant.
Since 1989, Pakistan has tried in a more pronounced manner to use terrorism as an instrument of its foreign and security policy to force India’s hand, but that has not worked either. India has proceeded with its Kashmir policy and, in recent years, hardened its position on the issue, disregarding its adverse impact on the relationship with Pakistan. That Pakistan was caught unawares is attested by its desperate moves to influence international opinion by all means. At a time when New Delhi promises growth and investment in Kashmir and the wider region, Pakistan has consistently “rejected” all moves to improve connectivity and trade among states and regions, refusing to allow the use of its land as transit. Rather than investing in peace and prosperity, it has mindlessly invested in erecting an architecture of terror in the region, using non-state actors as pawns to advance its strategic goals. Pakistan can take back-handed credit for midwifing changes in the region that have had massive global ramifications. One of these led to the demise of a superpower (read Soviet Union) and the end of an era in global politics (read Cold War), while another led to the defeat and decline of the foremost power in the world (read USA). Its use of the same tactic vis-à-vis India (by sponsoring unremitting subversion and violence) has not met with equal success, however.
In this context, Pakistan’s allegations against India are baseless because, after the abrogation of Article 370, there has been a marked improvement in the security situation in the Valley, and the prevalent culture of corruption and nepotism has disappeared.
The incidents of terrorist attacks have registered a decrease of over 40 per cent, and fatal casualties among the security forces showed a remarkable decrease compared to the previous year. In fact, currently, a small group of militants is active in Kashmir, and the majority is eliminated by the security forces. The level of recruitment into terrorist organizations has also dropped. So, in the Kashmir Valley, things are looking up. Several new initiatives have started bearing fruit. People have tasted the benefits of life without strife, and they are now presented with the opportunities to partake in growth, just like any other state. Kashmir has not known that for a long time now. Bandhs, closure of schools, and protests had earlier deprived them of normal life, while now there is development and abundant sources of livelihood.
Empowering grassroots by a three-tiered panchayat system for the first time has borne fruit. Approximately Rs 3800 crore has been allocated through this route to fulfill regional aspirations. Most of all, people are able to live without the constant fear of the gun.
After 4 years of the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, there is a genuine hope for the return of normalcy in Kashmir among the people. The government data suggest that there has been a decline in the number of terrorist incidents and that a lesser number of security forces and civilians have lost their lives since 5 August 2019. Over the past five years, security forces have effectively neutralized more than 1,000 militants, leading to a notable weakening of leadership within major terrorist organizations. Presently, approximately 80 militants remain, with over 50 identified as part of Pakistani cadres affiliated with Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). One of the main arguments propagated by Pakistan is that the removal of Article 370 would lead to changes in Kashmir’s demography. However, Pakistan has done it quite brazenly in Gilgit-Baltistan over decades. The state subject rule, enacted by Dogra rulers, barred outsiders from seeking permanent residence in the Princely state, was removed by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the 1970s, with the deliberate intention of changing the demographic profile of the region.
Over the years, the Pakistani state has encouraged the migration and settlement of different groups, especially Pashtuns and Taliban cadres, to colonize the Shia and Ismaili-dominated region, leading to a rise in sectarianism and religious extremism there. The Pakistani establishment has also forced population displacement, masking it as a consequence of development by constructing dams such as Diamer-Basha and Skardo-Karzura, forcing thousands of local residents to relocate, effectively killing local culture and identity. The same is being done by Pakistan’s ally, China, in Xinjiang, where Muslims are not being allowed to even practice their faith openly. If Pakistan feels so compelled to speak up for Muslims in Kashmir, it should perhaps first question why its country has been silent towards cultural and religious repression of Muslims in China’s Xinjiang province.
Moreover, the sectarian conflict between the Shias and the Sunnis is a creation of the Pakistani state. Zia-ul-Haq made numerous attempts to introduce Sunni-Deobandi Islam in the region, encouraging radical militant groups such as Sipah-e-Sahaba to suppress the Shias and Ismaili populations. Through the years, clashes between the groups have become an unfortunate regular occurrence, involving the destruction of homes, businesses, lynchings, targeting of Shia clerics, policemen, and local representatives. This has made the life of minorities miserable in Pakistan. Tariq Ali, a British Pakistani writer, affirmed this reality in his book ‘Can Pakistan survive? The death of a state’ by writing that “the oppression of minority nationalities has become deeply embedded in the consciousness of a mass that increasingly begins to question the very basis of the state.”
The army of Pakistan, the most powerful institution in the state, has tried to keep the occupied territory of Kashmir under its jackboots. By welcoming China into the region through CPEC, it has allowed the recolonization of Kashmir land and seeks to establish joint control of the people and territory with Chinese help. Nevertheless, Pakistan’s goal is to spread lies and propaganda about India’s policies in Kashmir, and furthermore, it is using the menagerie of non-state actors to bleed India with a thousand cuts. Overall, it is very important to remember that Pakistan remains committed to propagating lies about Kashmir, and there is a need, therefore, to retell the facts pertaining to Kashmir to nail the Pakistani lies on India’s Kashmir policy.
(Mudassir Bhat is an independent observer focusing on politics in Pakistan. He is based in Abu Dhabi)