Mournful day for Kashmir

Mr Abdul Qadir (He is a freelancer journalist and young activist)

It was the day when sky was silent, when the people of Kashmir were enjoying their lives with the beauty of nature, when the birds were chirping. Then time became change the pleasures turned into cries, streams of sweet water turned into blood, heavenly beauty became hell due to enemy. It was the day October 27, 1947 when at once stone hearted Indian army invaded on Kashmir which is called the heaven on the earth has been war zone for 67 years. The stone hearted Indian army had no more mercy upon the people of Kashmir. Happiness converted into painful sorrows. Pakistanis and Kashmiri people from all over the world has been observing October 27 as a “Black day” every year.

Kashmir’s dispute started, when the partition was decided into two independent states Pakistan and India by British Empire on August 1947. At the time of partition round about 565 large and small princely states were in the region. These states were indirectly under the British government. At that time some states joined Pakistan and other joined India according to their will. Majority of Muslims decided to join Pakistan, but the ruler was a Hindu named Raja Hari Singh, who did not want to join it Pakistan. He offered Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and Lord Mountbatten, the governor of India to make Kashmir under the dominion of India. Lord Mountbatten decided to immediately send army and air force to land in Srinagar. Radcliffe Boundary Award was the worst turn of the fate of Kashmiri people on August 16, 1947. According to it the majority of Muslim area, the Gurdaspur district forcibly wrest towards India to provide a clear route to the Indian army to enter in Kashmir.

On December 31, 1947, Pakistan sent forces against the aggression of India. But India bore a heavy loss in it and unwillingly had to appeal UN Security Council to interfere on the issue and on January 1, 1949 UN Security Council declared a ceasefire for the resolution of Kashmir. On April 21, 1948 UN Security Council adopted a resolution “47”, according to it UN assured a plebiscite auspices to make the people of Kashmir capable to choose their state either Pakistan or India. On February 5, 1964 India did not follow the directions of UN Security Council and broke down its promise to hold plebiscite and still doing same the type of strategies against Kashmir and line of control.  On March 1964 Indian Parliament forcibly issued a notification that Kashmir is an integral part of India. But recently, Srinagar High Court declared in article 370 that the Kashmir can never be the part of India.

From October 27, 1947 till today Kashmiri people are facing colossal torture, genocide, merciless behave of killings, humiliation of women and children, rape cases, curfews, brutal murders, every type of harassment and disappearance of youth cases without any investigation and proof.  According to a report on human rights violation in the Kashmir by Indian forces, Since 1989, Indians had more than 7,030 custodial killings, near about 22,776 women have become windows, approximately 107,466 children have become orphans, 12,277 people are still under arrest, more than 100,000 innocent people have martyred, more than 1, 05,996 buildings and houses have destructed and burnt and 10,086 women have gang raped. Indian brutality is still going on. But the world’s super powers and UN just arrange meetings and fake dialogs on peace process without any solid action.  This issue is the biggest challenge for human rights organizations, super powers and UN Security council. It seems the entire fake struggle and formalities are completely useless. On August 26, 2014 UN Security Council arranged an emergency meeting on the 154 rape cases issues in Democratic Republic of Congo, these were identified on the priority basis but unfortunately Kashmir is still ignored. In Kashmir more than 10,086 women were ganged raped by Indian forces goes un- noticed.                

Being a human no one can imagine the brutality of Indians in illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. Massive graves of 55 villages in three districts, Bandipora, Baramulla and Kupwara were discovered in the India held Kashmir by civil society organization. Total graves were discovered near about 2700; inside them 2,943 bodies were found.  In the Bandipora province 135 bodies were identified, in the Kupwara province 1,487 bodies were identified and in the Baramulla province 1,321 bodies were found. Almost 177 cases had discovered in which 420 bodies were identified it means a grave contained more than one body.  It was said that almost 99 percent men were buried in these graves. These sacrifices of the millions of innocent Kashmiri martyrs will become fruitful when the freedom of sun will rise. It is the basic rights of any person to take breathe in the open air in the shape of freedom and no one can deny from this reality.  

Kashmiri people are fed up due to the extreme torture of Indian army, but they still not giving up. They will fight till the last drop of their blood. Kashmiri people are still hopeful and trying to defeat India through their struggle and determination. Allah naturally connected Pakistan to Kashmir. The rivers are flowing from Kashmir towards Pakistan and winds from Pakistan are blowing towards Kashmir naturally. All the natural trading routes of Kashmir are directly towards Pakistan. Since before 1947, the Rawalpindi Mandi was the point of central attention for Kashmir and they did their 60 to 70 percent business in Pakistan region. The founder of Pakistan, “Quaid Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah said “Kashmir is a jugular vein of Pakistan”. Then how can it be separated from Pakistan. The whole Pakistani nation stands shoulder to shoulder with Kashmiri brothers to get freedom from cruel India. Their hearts and souls feel each other’s pleasures and grieve. Two nation theory is alive and remains forever. As in the sub-continent Muslims and Hindus, could not live together because of the differences of religion, culture, traditions, customs, and habits. That is why, Pakistan has its own identity and now the Pakistanis are leading their lives according to the principles of Islam. Kashmiri people also have right to rule freely and to lead their lives according to their religion, traditions and customs. They cannot live peacefully and freely with India because India’s religion and traditions are extremely opposite. Kashmir should have given the right to join their desired nation according to their people’s wishes. Even now India became psycho when they saw that Kashmir’s are waving Pakistani flag in front of them. No doubt, Pakistan also wants to resolve the Kashmir issue with peace process and negotiates accordance with the UN resolutions. But still these efforts are not enough. Pakistan should launch a propaganda movement against India and their inhumanity. A multi dimensional strategy should be made related to the human rights violation, which extends full political, economical, diplomatic and moral support to licit Kashmiri struggle for their right to self determination. If nothing else, then the 57 Islamic countries of the world should be the voice of Kashmir against terror and brutality of cruel Indians.  

UN CONFERENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE (COP21)

Muhammad Mumtaz. (The writer is a PhD fellow in Public Administration & Govt at FGV-Sao Paulo, Brazil)

The twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) is due to be held between November 30 to December 11 this year. The COP is supreme body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Main objective of the COP is to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate from all the nations of the world.

It is estimated that the temperature of the world will rise up of 4C by the end of this century. Some studies are indicating that the rise in temperature will be even more than the projected temperature if the challenge of climate change is not tackled properly. Greenhouse Gases (GHG) are one of the major reasons for climate change, causing the rise in temperature, and ultimately threatening the planet.  

It is indicated that natural causes do not explain most observed warming, especially warming since the mid-20th century. It is extremely likely that human activities have been the dominant cause of that warming. The industrialized nations are more responsible for emission of the GHG. Only 7 developed countries account for more than 60% of total GHG emission in the world. 

The National Academy of Sciences indicated that the present concentration level of the GHG in the atmosphere is unprecedented in the past million years which is a very alarming sign. It is imperative to act in order to maintain the temperature of earth and to overcome the projected fatal impacts from such rise in temperature.

The conference is more important than any other universal agreement. It is important to highlight that the focus of the conference is to stabilize the concentrations of the GHG in the atmosphere and to bring it at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic impacts on the climate system of the earth.

It is expected that the world leaders will sign a climate accord in which all nations will agree to take constructive steps to reduce the GHG emissions. The success of the conference is expectedly high as various nations from every corner of the world have accepted the reality of climate change and ready to take resolvable measures. Some of the major emitter of the GHG like United States, China and Canada etc are agreed and offering to take steps to control the emission of the GHG. The recognition of climate change from these countries is a very positive development as previously these developed countries were far away from accepting the reality of climate change. The US is committed to reduce the emission upto 25-26% and to bring at the level of 2005 by 2025. China not only is ready to cut its GHG emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 60-65% from 2005 levels but would increase the share of non-fossil fuels as part of its primary energy consumption to about 20% by 2030. Many other countries have also submitted their commitments to reduce the GHG.

Latin America and Brazil, in particular has a key role in climate talks. It is worth noting that about 25% of the world’s arable land, 22% of its forests, and 31% of fresh water are found in Latin America. Brazil has presented its plan for the conference stating it would cut its emissions by 37% by 2025 through fighting deforestation and boosting the share of renewable in its energy mix.

One of the prominent features of the conference is to make an agreement based on voluntary basis which should be verifiable and contributively. This voluntary approach is adopted new technique in comparison with the Kyoto Protocol (KP). This voluntary step will likely to bring positive result keeping in view the minor contribution of the KP. In the KP it was proposed that emissions abatement would take place from top-down emitters’ countries and it excluded developing countries. However, the present agreement will equally be applicable to all nationals including developing world.

Climate change is an established global phenomenon and it is debated and discussed around the globe. It is the responsibility of everyone to act to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to the problem. Religious scholars, experts and teachers from around the world are united and have the same opinion about climate change which can be one of harbingers for an agreement at the conference.

The religious communities even have issued comprehensive statements on climate change and stressed to confront the challenge. Back in 2005, Islamic leaders issued climate change declaration in Istanbul, Turkey. In the declaration, it is addressed 1.6bn Muslims around the world to work towards phasing out the GHG emissions by 2050 and a 100% renewable energy strategy.

Likewise Pope Francis has a clear-cut stance on climate change. He considers climate change as a ‘principal challenge’ for humanity. He issued a comprehensive document on climate change. He called on humanity to collectively acknowledge a ‘sense of responsibility for our fellow men and women upon which all civil society is founded’.  In his one of prominent addresses while highlighting the issue of climate change he stressed ‘Climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation’. This is yet another religious strong commitment to curb the GHG emission.

One of other key objectives of the conference is to raise $100 billion per year by the developed countries from 2020. Such funds are very important to counter climate change keeping in view many developing countries lack considerable finances to address climate change. This commitment should enable developing countries to combat climate change properly and it would be helpful to promote sustainable development as well in these countries. It is believed and well perceived by the commitment of developed world that such funds would be established and provided to poor nations to manage climate change.

Many international key players have launched not only national deliberation on climate change but also focusing on international diplomacy in this regard. The conference is recognized as a defining event for the entire globe and the results of the conference will certainly have global implications too. Stakeholders are extremely committed and are debating the way forward and strategies in various parts of the world so that a comprehensive pact can be attained.

Based on aforementioned developments and commitments showed by various countries specially developed world, it is hoped that the world will come up with an appropriate solution. It is highly likely that the conference will bring a positive and balanced way forward for the whole world. Climate campaigners and many experts see an opportunity in the conference and they believe that affords the best chance for agreeing to worldwide reductions in the GHG emissions.

The twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) is due to be held between November 30 to December 11 this year. The COP is supreme body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Main objective of the COP is to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate from all the nations of the world.

It is estimated that the temperature of the world will rise up of 4C by the end of this century. Some studies are indicating that the rise in temperature will be even more than the projected temperature if the challenge of climate change is not tackled properly. Greenhouse Gases (GHG) are one of the major reasons for climate change, causing the rise in temperature, and ultimately threatening the planet.  

It is indicated that natural causes do not explain most observed warming, especially warming since the mid-20th century. It is extremely likely that human activities have been the dominant cause of that warming. The industrialized nations are more responsible for emission of the GHG. Only 7 developed countries account for more than 60% of total GHG emission in the world. 

The National Academy of Sciences indicated that the present concentration level of the GHG in the atmosphere is unprecedented in the past million years which is a very alarming sign. It is imperative to act in order to maintain the temperature of earth and to overcome the projected fatal impacts from such rise in temperature.

The conference is more important than any other universal agreement. It is important to highlight that the focus of the conference is to stabilize the concentrations of the GHG in the atmosphere and to bring it at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic impacts on the climate system of the earth.

It is expected that the world leaders will sign a climate accord in which all nations will agree to take constructive steps to reduce the GHG emissions. The success of the conference is expectedly high as various nations from every corner of the world have accepted the reality of climate change and ready to take resolvable measures. Some of the major emitter of the GHG like United States, China and Canada etc are agreed and offering to take steps to control the emission of the GHG. The recognition of climate change from these countries is a very positive development as previously these developed countries were far away from accepting the reality of climate change. The US is committed to reduce the emission upto 25-26% and to bring at the level of 2005 by 2025. China not only is ready to cut its GHG emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 60-65% from 2005 levels but would increase the share of non-fossil fuels as part of its primary energy consumption to about 20% by 2030. Many other countries have also submitted their commitments to reduce the GHG.

Latin America and Brazil, in particular has a key role in climate talks. It is worth noting that about 25% of the world’s arable land, 22% of its forests, and 31% of fresh water are found in Latin America. Brazil has presented its plan for the conference stating it would cut its emissions by 37% by 2025 through fighting deforestation and boosting the share of renewable in its energy mix.

One of the prominent features of the conference is to make an agreement based on voluntary basis which should be verifiable and contributively. This voluntary approach is adopted new technique in comparison with the Kyoto Protocol (KP). This voluntary step will likely to bring positive result keeping in view the minor contribution of the KP. In the KP it was proposed that emissions abatement would take place from top-down emitters’ countries and it excluded developing countries. However, the present agreement will equally be applicable to all nationals including developing world.

Climate change is an established global phenomenon and it is debated and discussed around the globe. It is the responsibility of everyone to act to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to the problem. Religious scholars, experts and teachers from around the world are united and have the same opinion about climate change which can be one of harbingers for an agreement at the conference.

The religious communities even have issued comprehensive statements on climate change and stressed to confront the challenge. Back in 2005, Islamic leaders issued climate change declaration in Istanbul, Turkey. In the declaration, it is addressed 1.6bn Muslims around the world to work towards phasing out the GHG emissions by 2050 and a 100% renewable energy strategy.

Likewise Pope Francis has a clear-cut stance on climate change. He considers climate change as a ‘principal challenge’ for humanity. He issued a comprehensive document on climate change. He called on humanity to collectively acknowledge a ‘sense of responsibility for our fellow men and women upon which all civil society is founded’.  In his one of prominent addresses while highlighting the issue of climate change he stressed ‘Climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation’. This is yet another religious strong commitment to curb the GHG emission.

One of other key objectives of the conference is to raise $100 billion per year by the developed countries from 2020. Such funds are very important to counter climate change keeping in view many developing countries lack considerable finances to address climate change. This commitment should enable developing countries to combat climate change properly and it would be helpful to promote sustainable development as well in these countries. It is believed and well perceived by the commitment of developed world that such funds would be established and provided to poor nations to manage climate change.

Many international key players have launched not only national deliberation on climate change but also focusing on international diplomacy in this regard. The conference is recognized as a defining event for the entire globe and the results of the conference will certainly have global implications too. Stakeholders are extremely committed and are debating the way forward and strategies in various parts of the world so that a comprehensive pact can be attained.

Based on aforementioned developments and commitments showed by various countries specially developed world, it is hoped that the world will come up with an appropriate solution. It is highly likely that the conference will bring a positive and balanced way forward for the whole world. Climate campaigners and many experts see an opportunity in the conference and they believe that affords the best chance for agreeing to worldwide reductions in the GHG emissions.