On Thursday, the Pakistani National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution calling on India to end its “unilateral and illegal actions” in Kashmir. Referring to the abrogation of the region’s special status and the conduction of a delimitation exercise, it says India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is imposing its Hindutva agenda on the region.
According to the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan, the National Assembly criticised India’s decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood in August 2019 and instead declare it as a Union Territory, which effectively brought it under the control of the central government.
FM @BBhuttoZardari stressed that the report was another blatant attempt by India to:
— Spokesperson 🇵🇰 MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) May 12, 2022
➖Alter demographic structure of #IIOJK &
➖Disenfranchise & disempower Kashmiri ppl.
FM underscored that 🇵🇰, Kashmiris & int’l community categorically rejected the latest Indian move.
The resolution condemned the decision as “illegal, unilateral, reckless, and coercive” and said that it altered the status of the disputed region. The document also highlighted that these “alarming” actions were “in violation of international law and [United Nations] Security Council resolutions.” It further highlighted that Kashmir is an “internationally recognised dispute and a long standing issue before the United Nations Security Council.”
It went on to say that the decision was in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which imposed an obligation on “occupying forces” to refrain from changing the democratic structure of the regions.
The National Assembly also criticised India’s recent delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir, which it said seeks to “change the demographic composition of the occupied territories in stark violation of international law.” The resolution denounced the “demographic engineering” the Delimitation Commission, which was established by the Indian government in March 2020. It accused India of using the exercise to artificially alter and diminish the “electoral strength” of Muslims in Kashmir and further “marginalise, disenfranchise, and disempower” the region.
Orders of the day for the meeting of the National Assembly to be held on Thursday, the 12 th May, 2022 at 11.00 a.m.#NASession #NAatWork @SyedAghaPPP @MemberNA15 @ShahidaRehmani @RTanveerPMLN @JunaidAkbarMNA @ImranKhattakMNA @ShehryarAfridi1 pic.twitter.com/InwBmlda8B
— National Assembly of Pakistan🇵🇰 (@NAofPakistan) May 11, 2022
The resolution also highlighted that political parties across Kashmir had rejected the delimitation commission’s report. For instance, Kashmir People’s Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti has said, “The Delimitation Commission has overlooked the basis of population and acted as per their wish. We outrightly reject it. We don’t trust it.”
Similarly, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader M.Y. Tarigami said the process was “suspicious” and alleged that it was designed to instil mistrust amongst people. He also highlighted that the Delimitation Commission’s changes violated the 84th Amendment of the Constitution that barred delimitation exercises until 2026.
To this end, the Pakistani National Assembly’s resolution reassured Kashmiris of Pakistan’s “complete support and solidarity” for their “just struggle for freedom and self-determination.”
The National Assembly said that the delimitation exercise creates a “façade of elections” and asserted that, despite its efforts, the Indian government will not be able to achieve the “legitimacy and indispensability of a free and impartial plebiscite.”
In light of these concerns, the House urged the Pakistani government to continue to vehemently work to oppose India’s actions in bilateral and multilateral platforms such as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the United Nations. The resolution also called upon the international community to recognise India’s “grave and persistent violation of human rights and war crimes” and urge India to end its unilateral actions in the region.
The resolution was brought before the National Assembly by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. While introducing his proposal, he said since August 2019, India has been “relentlessly pursuing its sinister design of demographic change including through measures such as issuance of millions of domicile certificates to non-Kashmiris and allowing non-Kashmiris to buy property” in the region.
وزیر خارجہ بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے قومی اسمبلی میں پالیسی خطاب کرتے ہوئے مقبوضہ کشمیر کے لئے بھارت کے حد بندی کمیشن کو مسترد کردیا@BBhuttoZardari pic.twitter.com/Wy3mXwbHtF
— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) May 12, 2022
In this regard, he said that the delimitation commission had “confirmed the worst fears of the people of Jammu and Kashmir” and would advance the Indian government’s plan to turn Kashmiris into a minority on their own land. He highlighted that by the “outrageous gerrymandering” the Indian government has “artificially tilted” the electoral balance “in favour of Jammu a non-Muslim majority area” despite it accounting for merely 44% of the population of the region. Despite Kashmir making a majority of the Jammu and Kashmir population, the region has been given just one additional seat as compared to the Hindu-majority Jammu, which was given six more seats, Bhutto-Zardari highlighted.
To this end, the Pakistani Foreign Minister said that the commission disregards “the universally accepted criteria of taking population as the fundamental basis of delimitation.” Bhutto-Zardari thus accused the Indian government of attempting to make its occupation of the region permanent and set up a “puppet” government that promotes the “Hindutva ideology.”
The resolution comes in response to the Indian Delimitation Commission’s final report, which was published earlier this month. While the process is usually conducted based on Census population, this time around the report relied on several other factors, including size, remoteness, and proximity to the border. Furthermore, the Commission accounted for “geographical features, means of communication, public convenience, contiguity of areas as various factors.”
Delimitation was to be based on the 2011 Census. Ten districts in Kashmir had a 56.2% share in population, as per Census, while 10 districts in Jammu had 43.8% share. Kashmir has been allotted 52.2% seats, less than its share in population, while Jammu is allotted 47.8% seats. pic.twitter.com/AEKYokEqR5
— Vijdan Mohammad Kawoosa (@vijdankawoosa) May 5, 2022
As pointed out by the Pakistani Foreign Minister, the changes mean that the Hindu-dominated Jammu, which houses 44% of the region’s population, will now hold 48% of the seats in the Assembly, a significant increase from its previous share of 44.5%. Of the six new seats in Jammu, four have been set aside for Hindu-dominated regions. Meanwhile, Kashmir’s new seat is situated in Kupwara, a stronghold of BJP-ally People’s Conference.
Following the release of the report, Pakistan’s foreign ministry summoned India’s envoy to Islamabad, M. Suresh Kumar, to voice its opposition to the Indian Delimitation Commission’s “farcical” report.
India is yet to comment on the latest resolution passed by the Pakistani National Assembly.