By Aroosa Hafeez

Selected delegation of 24-members of envoys and ambassadors of European Union (EU) and other foreign countries arrived in Srinagar for two day visit on February 17^th, 2020. The members included European Union (EU) ambassador Ugo Astuto, who leaded the delegation and ambassadors of key European states such as French envoy Emmanuel Lenain, Italian envoy Vincenzo de Luca, Swedish envoy Klas Molin, Irish envoy Brendan Ward and Dutch envoy Marten van den Berg. The visit was arranged to assess the ground situation of the region by meeting with local civil society groups, political leaders and students. This was the third visit by foreign diplomats to illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) since August 2019, when the Government of India revoked the special status and split the territory into two federally run territories.

Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India invited 25 foreign envoys for visit to IIOJK. However, Russian ambassador to India Nikolay Kudashev did not accept the invitation. The visit was not announced officially but the EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS) confirmed the acceptance of the MEA’s invitation. The delegation after arriving to Srinagar headed for Magam in Budgam district and met with the District Development Council (DDC), panchayat members and selected locals to give the impression of Fake normalcy. They also visited Hazratbal Shrine, Srinagar. All shops and other business establishments were closed while traffic was off the roads in Srinagar and other areas of the Kashmir Valley. Many bunkers from various parts of Srinagar city were moved to show the situation was alright. The visit was planned by Indian government under an initiative to showcase false efforts to restore normalcy and development in the union territory. Meanwhile, the visiting EU delegation issued statement after their visit to IIOJK that made the world know the true face of India.

UN human rights experts showed their concerns about India’s decision to end IIOJK’s autonomy and enact new laws could curtail the previous level of political participation of Muslim and other minorities in the country, as well as potentially discriminate against them in important matters including employment and land ownership. UN experts said Jammu and Kashmir changes risk undermining minorities’ rights. It was India’s only Muslim-majority state, India granted them partial autonomy out of respect for the ethnic, linguistic and religious identities of its people.

On 5 August 2019, the Government unilaterally revoked its special status and in May 2020, passed the so-called Domicile Rules, which removes protections for those in the territory.

Situation of Kashmir sparked the concern of two UN-appointed independent human rights experts. “The loss of autonomy and the imposition of direct rule by the Government in New Delhi suggests the people of Jammu and Kashmir no longer have their own government and have lost power to legislate or amend laws in the region to ensure the protection of their rights as minorities,” said Dr Fernand de Varennes RP, Doyen, United Nations Special Rapporteur on minority issues and Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.

District Development Council (DDC) first elections after abrogation of Article 370 and 35a were held from November 28 to December 22, 2020, Bharati Jannata party(BJP) claimed to have won the majority because it was not possible that pro-Indian candidate could lose the elections. These elections were merely the artificial resumption of a democratic electoral process in the union territory to signals the international community to move on.

“The number of successful applicants for domicile certificates that appear to be from outside Jammu and Kashmir raises concerns that demographic change on a linguistic, religious and ethnic basis is already underway,” said the experts.

“These legislative changes may have the potential to pave the way for people from outside the former state of Jammu and Kashmir to settle in the region, alter the demographics of the region and undermine the minorities’ ability to exercise effectively their human rights,” the experts said. The new laws override previous ones that had granted the Kashmiri Muslim, Dogri, Gojri, Pahari, Sikh, Ladhaki and other established minorities the right to buy property, own land and access certain state jobs.

Indian PM Narendra Modi changed Kashmir’s residency laws for the first time since 1947, paving the way for ethnic cleansing in the region. BJP announced new set of laws for IIOJK to institutionalize a system of domination over native Kashmiris by ending the people’s exercise of their right to self-determination. UN experts urged the Government of India to ensure that the economic, social and cultural rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir are protected, and that they are able to express their political opinions and participate meaningfully in matters affecting them.

Previously, UN recommended self-determination through a plebiscite however; repeated efforts by UN to implement the plebiscite have been in vain because India knew that if an impartial plebiscite was held, Muslim majority population of Jammu and Kashmir will vote for accession to Pakistan. Moreover, the India also opposed the involvement of third-party mediators in the conflict. Indian policies posed a major hindrance to the Kashmir issue.

India is involved in gross violations of Human rights in the region. Extra Judicial killing, rape, mass arrest, firing of tear gas shells, disappearances, pellet gun shootings, and many other methods are used to torture people of Kashmir. Cordon and search operations are regularly occurred in IIOJK. With over half a million of Indian soldiers in Kashmir, making it one of the most militarized zones in the world, these massive force are just to protect India’s interests. Which shows the veil on India’s face and behind this veil is India’s scary face which is just misleading the world. The visit of envoys to IIOJK was just a smokescreen to misguide the world that everything is back to normal but the reality was different. India’s stage managed visit in tight security was to project normalcy in the region albeit; ploy to paint normalcy in occupied Himalayan region was all in vain and the visit of diplomats clearly unfolded the real face of fascist Modi government in-front of the world.