TWO years ago today, New Delhi took the condemnable step of revoking India-held Kashmir’s special status by tinkering with constitutional provisions in an attempt to brush the over seven-decade-old issue under the carpet. However, this reprehensible move has failed to break the Kashmiris’ spirit and their longing for freedom and dignity.

Pakistan’s foreign minister has written to the UN Security Council to remind the world body that the stalemate in IHK continues, and the people of the occupied region continue to be denied their fundamental rights by the BJP-led government in New Delhi. As Shah Mahmood Qureshi observed in the letter, India’s actions of Aug 5, 2019 are a “violation of ... international law, including the UNSC resolutions”, while adding that New Delhi continues to keep a massive military presence in the disputed region. Moreover, thousands of Kashmiris have been held in detention, while others have been killed extrajudicially, the foreign minister’s letter points out.

But it is not just Pakistan that has been speaking up about the dismal situation in occupied Kashmir. Human Rights Watch has spoken of India’s “harsh and discriminatory restrictions on Muslim-majority areas” of the held region while Amnesty International has also criticised India’s ham-fisted approach in IHK. Moreover, several members of the European Parliament have urged the EU to take note of the “humanitarian situation” there. In a letter to the European Commission president, they have expressed “grave concern” over the situation in occupied Kashmir while slamming the arbitrary detentions and the misuse of antiterrorism laws by India.

Read: Why Kashmir matters

Normally, such bad press would urge governments to review their methods, but the pro-Hindutva dispensation in New Delhi seems unfazed, although Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached out to loyalist Kashmiri politicians, including some his government had until recently held in detention. The Indian leader had summoned some of the pro-India leaders, including former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, to New Delhi in June, though the pro-freedom Hurriyat factions were excluded from the audience. But even here, Ms Mufti told Mr Modi that political prisoners should be released and Article 370 should be restored. While Mr Modi may have listened to such entreaties, he clearly wasn’t interested in acting upon the suggestions.

When even loyalists condemn state policies, it is time to review them. Sadly, this reality has not sunk in in New Delhi. India’s attempts to smother the Kashmiri freedom movement have failed and it is indeed time for it to review its policies. For starters, Kashmir’s people must be allowed to assemble and express themselves, while detained leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, must be freed. Moreover, attempts to change Kashmir’s demography should end, and New Delhi must open channels with the genuine Kashmiri leadership, as well as Pakistan, to resolve this decades-old dispute in a democratic and judicious fashion.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2021