Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s impotent rage over the nullification of the special status given to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and his childish threats of a “bloodbath” and “nuclear carnage” is not going to frighten anybody. India has heard such threats and abuses from the Pakistani leadership for many decades since Independence and has generally tended to ignore them as the fulminations of the uncivilised individuals who have dominated politics in that godforsaken country.
Khan lamented recently in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly and elsewhere in media interviews that the world was not taking cognisance of the issue because the “suffering people” in Kashmir were all Muslims. If those who were locked down like this were “Europeans, Christians, Jews or Americans and not Muslims”, the world would not have been silent.
His attempts to paint the Western world as being made up of Christian communalists, racists and sympathisers of the Jews is just not going to wash because Europe has opened its arms to lakhs of impoverished Muslims who are escaping from Africa and West Asia. Secondly, unlike in the past when confused Nehruvians ruled the roost in Delhi, it appears as if the Narendra Modi government has succeeded in explaining the Kashmir issue to the world. Other nations now know that the former state acceded to India just the way the other 563 princely states did in 1947 and thus became an integral part of India.
Finally, Khan belongs to a nation that has no respect for secular traditions and has, in fact, specialised in ethnic cleansing. On August 14, 1947, the day Pakistan was born, Hindus constituted about 25% of its population. In the last seven decades, they have been reduced to just 1.64%. They were either converted to Islam or killed, or came to India as refugees. Similarly, the population of Christians and other minorities like the Ahmadis have been reduced to a miniscule number, just about 3% of the population. As against this dismal record, India had 35 million Muslims on August 15, 1947. Their numbers have now swelled to 175 million.
The world is aware of these demographics. It is also aware of the fact that Pakistan is a theocracy and has a constitution that reserves key constitutional offices to only Muslims, as against India’s secular, democratic constitution that allows every citizen to aspire for top offices in the land.
The Preamble to the Pakistani constitution says: “Wherein the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice as enunciated by Islam shall be fully observed.” Article 2 states that “Islam shall be the state religion of Pakistan.” Article 41(2) deals with the office of president and says “A person shall not be qualified for election as President unless he is a Muslim and not less than forty-five years of age…” The Third Schedule lists out the oaths to be administered for persons entering various offices. The oath to be taken by an incumbent prime minister says, “In the name of Allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful, I ... do solemnly swear that I am a Muslim and believe in unity and oneness of Almighty Allah…”
Having hounded out religious minorities in this manner, Pakistan wants the world to believe that the Muslim minority is being persecuted in India. That is why nobody believes him.
There is yet another reason why Khan’s arguments will not wash. The former J&K comprised three distinct areas—the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley, the Buddhist-dominated Ladakh region and the Hindu-majority Jammu region. While Muslims live and thrive in all three regions of this former state, over four lakh Hindus who lived in the Valley—the Kashmiri Pandits—were hounded out of the Valley 30 years ago when terrorists were let loose on them. The Muslim majority and its political leadership did nothing to stop this exodus. Also, since the Valley Muslims dominated the politics of the erstwhile state, the people of Ladakh felt persecuted and alienated and were demanding independence from the former state. They had been pleading for autonomy for decades. The recent decision of the union government to turn Ladakh into a Union Territory has been wholeheartedly welcomed by the people of that region.
The Hindus of Jammu were also feeling alienated because of the unfair approach of the politicians of the Valley and their unwillingness to give the people of Jammu a proper share of power. Pakistan is largely responsible for vitiating the secular, democratic credentials of the people of the Valley over the years.
This is the fallout of the two-nation theory that Mohammed Ali Jinnah propounded to divide India and establish a separate Muslim nation. That is why when Khan talks of Kashmir, he just speaks about the Muslims. He has no concern for persons of other denominations. Modi, on the other hand, kept his focus on the big issue—terrorism. His call for global unity against terror, therefore, had greater resonance. In light of all this, one wonders how any Pakistani can raise his voice and become a flag-bearer of democracy and secularism. This time around, India succeeded in alerting the world to Pakistan’s divisive agenda and consequently ensured that other nations do not fall into its trap once again.
A SURYA PRAKASH
Chairman, Prasar Bharati
Email: suryamedia@gmail.com