Oaths and promises in Indian style, or another nightmare in Kashmir New Delhi finds allies in its own kind

When, back in 1933, Cambridge University student Rahmat Ali proposed naming a part of British India, populated by Muslims, "The Land of the Pure," he, as one of the most active supporters of the independence movement, could not have imagined how much dirt his nearest neighbor would try to pour onto this country. Moreover, the neighbour started doing this almost immediately after gaining independence, which happened in 1947, the same year that "The Land of the Pure" gained its independence during the partition of British India.

The most interesting thing is that the country, whose name used the capital letters of its five constituent regions — Punjab, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Sindh, and Balochistan — and which became Pakistan, practically lost one of these regions, Kashmir, from the very first day. It lost it because the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh, who had previously decided to declare his independence and not join either India or Pakistan, eventually chose to unite with India. This led to Indian troops entering Kashmir. This happened despite the fact that the vast majority of the principality’s population was Muslim, and the very idea behind the partition of British India was to divide territories populated by Muslims and Hindus. In the end, Pakistan only received the region of Gilgit-Baltistan from the vast principality. 

So, despite the fact that Jammu and Kashmir is embedded in the very name of Pakistan, it has never fully gained control over this territory, with the exception of the aforementioned region and 900 sq. km that were seized in the Second Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. A territory that, I repeat, belonged to Pakistan at the very formation of this relatively young state in historical terms. Since then, for almost 90 years, India, known for its dirty politics on various issues (including those regarding Azerbaijan), has tried to tarnish the "Land of the Pure", accusing it of almost every conflict, even domestic, on the territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Any shot fired in Kashmir, regardless of who fired it, is presented by India as "Pakistan's support for terrorism," with no evidence whatsoever. It’s as if the country’s authorities are guided by Goebbels’ principle — "the more monstrous the lie, the faster people will believe it." After all, it’s no coincidence that fascist symbolism was borrowed from Indian culture.

At the same time, India finds allies in those similar to it — those who covet foreign territories, like Armenia. This makes the Indo-Armenian cooperation in armaments unsurprising, as India, by its very nature, could not remain indifferent to the strengthening of the trilateral alliance between Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Pakistan, nor to the increasing visibility of Pakistani flags in Baku (despite the Azerbaijani population's fondness for Indian films)

Moreover, the measures taken by Armenia and India are also identical: just as, after the occupation of Karabakh, Yerevan changed the demographic situation in the region by resettling even Lebanese Armenians there (since the Yerevan Armenians were unwilling to leave their "comfort zone"), so for more than half a century, Pakistan’s neighbors have been attempting to populate Kashmir with Hindus, creating rosy prospects for them ever since the release of the movie "Love in Kashmir" in 1969.

Guided by Vladimir Lenin's thesis that "of all the arts, cinema is the most important," India year after year tries to influence foreign minds through Bollywood, repeatedly promoting Kashmir as "the most beautiful and inseparable part of India," drawing millions of tourists to the region.

The terrorist attack that took place on April 22 in the tourist area of the Baisaran Valley marked the beginning of yet another nightmare in Kashmir and once again pitted the armies of two countries against each other. This happened because five militants from some obscure group, the "Resistance Front," carried out an attack that resulted in the deaths of 26 civilians — 24 Hindu tourists, one Christian, and one local Muslim guide. For two weeks now, blood has been shed, mostly by innocent people. And the full responsibility for this lies squarely with the Indian authorities, who, by any means necessary, using "oaths and promises," are trying to delay the inevitable — the return of the entire region to the "Land of the Pure." 

However, as history has already shown (at least in the case of our country), no one can forever claim foreign lands, for sooner or later, historical justice prevails. And as a nation, we stand completely on the side of justice in this matter. After all, "Love in Kashmir" is one thing, but love for Kashmir as the historical homeland of Pakistan's Muslims is entirely different. Isn't that right, gentlemen?

By Vugar Vugarli, exclusively for Caliber.Az