“The people of Jammu & Kashmir on both sides of the Cease-fire line and worldwide observe the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence Day as a black day because of India’s failure to honour its pledges that it has given to the people of Jammu & Kashmir at the United Nations,” this was stated by Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman, World Forum for Peace & Justice.

Fai added that India has defied United Nations Security Council resolutions for more than 75 years because she knows that Kashmiris will never vote in her favour. The irony of the fate is that even the United States would like India to be a member of the Security Council whose resolutions have been blatantly violated by India right from 1948.

Dr Fai reminded that it happened 75 years ago when Indian troops invaded Kashmir under the auspices of a fraudulent Instrument of Accession. British Scholar & historian, Alistair Lamb has convincingly demonstrated that the Instrument was a bogus document.  An original has never been found, and there is no plausible explanation for a disappearance if an original had ever existed.  

India persists in allying itself with a position that has no legal, moral or constitutional authority to celebrate this auspicious Day in Indian-occupied Kashmir which is not an integral part of its territory. In fact, under international law, today, Kashmir does not belong to any member country of the United Nations. It is recognized by the United Nations as a disputed territory whose future is yet to be decided by its people.

Speaking on the occasion, Fai underscored that it was evident that maintaining the status quo is not conducive to a peaceful settlement of the conflict. Tensions on both sides continue to spiral upward and the introduction of nuclear weapons into the equation has raised the stakes considerably. For addressing the human rights violations in Kashmir and bringing India to the negotiating table, the international community lacks neither the carrot nor the stick. The stick is nothing but the reverse side of the coin that signifies the carrot. And India badly needs the carrot.  The International community might consider alternatives whose mere mention can send signals to India that it is not necessarily a sacred cow, in the world's eye.

Dr Fai hoped that the consistent application of human rights standards would allow a just and peaceful resolution of the seventy-five-year-old issue. It would directly help India to extricate itself from the quagmire of international conflicts and accumulation of weaponry, realize its economic and technological potential and truly rise to the stature of great power. It would also release Pakistan from a crippling burden. It would thus bring lasting credit to United States foreign policy. The refusal of omission to take a well-considered initiative neither responds to a long-term peace strategy nor answers the demand of the human conscience.