WHAT do desperate people do when they are beleaguered, harassed and subjugated by a powerful oppressor? They appeal for help for justice. The people of Kashmir, who have been tyrannized, brutally trodden under the might of Indian armed forces supported by draconian laws authorizing them the persecution and intimidation, have appealed time and again to the one world body that could provide them justice—the United Nations. On its part, the UN did listen to them when it passed Resolutions calling for a free and fair plebiscite under its own supervision for the people of Kashmir but after 63 years, the UN failed to have its own Resolutions implemented and subsequent Indian regimes have trampled the UN Resolution under a combination of its guile and might. The plight of the Kashmiris has gone from bad to worse. Disheartened and disgruntled, the Kashmiris took courage in 1989 to stage an armed uprising. Unaided and without international sustenance, Indian might brutally crushed the armed freedom struggle, which was the right of the Kashmiris. Pakistan was only in a position to provide moral and diplomatic support. After sacrificing 100,000 innocent lives, their property, houses and hearth, the Kashmiris are down but not out. The spark of the struggle for freedom lives on but requires a Herculean effort to overthrow the yoke of Indian slavery. The youth of Kashmir have taken the struggle to the forefront through an unarmed resistance, however, 115 of them have been slaughtered and a sizable number jailed. The Kashmiris have therefore turned on the President of the sole superpower of the world, President Obama of USA. Barack Hussain Obama is viewed as a straight talking, pragmatic man of compassion. In his run up the Presidential elections, while campaigning, recognized the gravity of the plight of the Kashmiris and promised to help resolve the issue if elected. It is unfortunate, that having become engrossed in trying to extricate the US from the quagmire of Iraq and Afghanistan, where his predecessor had plunged the US forces and got bogged down, he put the Kashmir issue on the backburner. Fate has afforded him now a unique opportunity to fulfil his promise to the Kashmiri nation. He will be visiting India later this week and there is a lot of hype in India and in fact in the US media through its Indian sponsors regarding the possible endorsement of US-Indian civil nuclear energy pact as well support for India’s bid for a permanent seat at the UN. It is not surprising since the US is a key trading partner for India.
The total trade for the period of January to July this year stood at $27.96 billion. Indian companies are present in 35 of the 50 US states and have bent backwards to boost the U.S. economy and create jobs for Americans, while millions in India continue to starve and die. About 239 Indian firms have invested $21 billion in the U.S. through 267 acquisitions between 2004 and 2009. These have been spread over manufacturing, IT, biotechnology, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications. In this backdrop, President Obama is bound to try and appease his Indian hosts, whom the US is trying to build up both as a regional power and a bulwark to contain what it perceives as threat from China. Under the circumstances, the plight of the Kashmiris is not likely to even be mentioned.
At least that is what Mr. Obama’s advisors are proposing. However, the Kashmiris, whose life is hanging by a thread, have managed to get a petition soliciting President Obama’s intervention in Kashmir, signed by nearly 5000 people. The Kashmir American Council has released a petition titled, “Tragic Situation in Kashmir Demands the Urgent Attention of President Obama”. Over the weekend, the petition had been signed by 4,500 people all over the world and now swelled to 5,000 with more and more freedom loving people endorsing it. President Obama’s work is cut and dried. All he has to do is ask the Indian government to withdraw its troops, stop the terrorization of the Kashmiri population and permit the UN to conduct its plebiscite. All this will be in consonance with the UN Resolutions. If President Obama wants history to remember him as a truly great President, this is his chance. The Daily Mail prays and hopes he does not mess it up like his predecessor – Dailymailnews
