Another Kashmir Day was observed on Saturday, 5th February, expressing solidarity with the Kashmiris. As usual various public and private organisations held special events across the country to show unwavering support to the Kashmiris for their right to self-determination. Even the Senate held a thorough debate on the Kashmir issue on Friday to highlight the plight of people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), expressing complete solidarity with the oppressed Kashmiris. And the people in general enjoyed the public holiday. But mere display of solidarity is, of course, not enough.

However, this Senate session was different in way as for the first time in the history of Senate a Hindu presided over the Senate session on Kashmir in Pakistan. The House welcomed Senator Krishna Kumari Kohli by loud thumping of desks when the chairman Senate asked her to do the honour in connection with Kashmir Solidarity Day. It’s indeed a strong message going out to show the difference between Pakistan and India.

Since we all know that Kashmir issue cannot be settled on battlegrounds, Pakistan needs to accelerate diplomatic efforts on Kashmir. Addressing lawmakers in Muzaffarabad Imran Khan rightly said, “It is now our job to inform the world. I assure you we will speed this up. On every forum we should remind the people that 80 million people in the Indian Occupied Kashmir are under lockdown.”

A Parliamentary Special Committee on Kashmir was also formed to take Kashmir issue to next level in world capitals. But unfortunately Committee’s lackluster performance has been highly disappointing.

It seems that no government was serious in setting up the Parliamentary Special Committee on Kashmir which was constituted by the National Assembly through a motion on August 19, 2008. The Committee, in its first meeting held on September 16, 2008, unanimously elected Maulana Fazlur Rehman as its chairman with the status of a federal minister. The Maulana was absolutely clueless about the Kashmir issue and did nothing. He had only been enjoying perks and privileges related to the slot including a bulletproof car and a residence in the Ministers’ Enclave.

As such the Kashmir Committee since its inception has not contributed anything. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the former chairman of the Committee always smiled when he had no answer to a difficult question. Whenever questions were raised by the opposition leaders and the media about his role as decade-long chairman he had no answer. In fact, he was appointed the chairman to settle political issues and not Kashmir issue. Had the government been serious instead of Maulana Sahab some seasoned retired career diplomat, well versed in foreign relations, would have been assign the task to develop global consensus on Kashmir issue.

Though 5th February is observed as Kashmir Day to remind the Kashmiris that Pakistan has not left them at the mercy of circumstances, ever since the Narendra Modi government diluted Article 370 stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its special status the severity of Indian atrocities in the illegally occupied Kashmir have become war crimes instead of human rights violations. So it’s time to forge a global solidarity for Kashmir by very effectively highlighting the plight of the Kashmiris at various global forum. And for that we need somebody who can effectively present the case of Kashmir on international forum.

Since 1947, more than 10 lakh Kashmiris have been killed during clashes with Indian authorities, according to press reports. Kashmiris have repeatedly urged the international community to fulfill its moral and legal obligation by giving Kashmiris the chance to realize their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with Security Council resolutions. The deafening Western silence over ‘Kashmir genocide’ baffles experts. Though Imran Khan is definitely serious on resolving the Kashmir issue and is ready to resume bilateral talks with India, his selection of Shaharyar Afridi as the chairman of the Kashmir Committee is not a good selection for he is too young to present the Kashmir issue at global level.

Observers in Pakistan believe that India’s misinformation campaign needs to be countered more effectively which Shaharya Afridi cannot afford to do. Referring to the recent Indian atrocities, foreign policy experts say, Pakistan needs to be more aggressive when it comes to showing India’s true face to the world. “Pakistan has to counter India’s lies — particularly related to Kashmir — on every platform,” the Karachi-based foreign policy experts concluded.

There cannot be two opinions that the talks with India have to be on equal terms without giving unilateral concessions to New Delhi. But if we believe that Kashmir is an integral part of Pakistan there is a need to do much more.  Anchor person and author Nasim Zehra very rightly said, “Pakistan lacks clarity on India policy and subsequently the decision-making on Kashmir is weak. Pakistan is doing a lot but that’s not sufficient and needs to move much faster. Otherwise, within a few months, the current Indian dispensation will leave nothing for it,”

It goes without saying that failure of Pakistan’s foreign policy managers is evident from their inability to develop a global consensus on Kashmir issue after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) into two union territories. Sadly enough only three UN member countries — Turkey, China and Malaysia — raised concerns over India’s Kashmir move at the United Nations.

Surprisingly enough they (Foreign policy managers) even failed to get the required full-fledged support from Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), despite the fact that some of India’s strategic partners and longstanding friends expressed concerns and criticised the communication clampdown, the detention of political leaders and the restriction of civil liberties in the occupied Kashmir. Even the Indian foreign policy analysts say that it has now arguably become India’s biggest diplomatic challenge to combat the narrative that the Indian State is suppressing the rights of Kashmiris.

What started as Kashmir Day in 1990 to be observed for a nationwide strike to protest against the Indian occupation of Kashmir and also a day to pray for the Kashmiri freedom movement’s success remained merely a day to remember. The only achievement however, is the fact that the pro-Pakistan sentiment in the illegally occupied Kashmir is neither dead nor diminished, it’s suppressed and the reasons are rooted in the conditions we are going through since the 1990.

On the way forward, Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, former foreign minister, was of the opinion that there was a need for complete national unity at the current moment. “All political parties must rise above partisan political considerations. Pakistan must realise that the support Kashmiris are getting from the international community is because India is unable to say that the currents situation in Kashmir was created by Pakistani non-state actors,” he added.

A significant progress was however, made during the Gen. Mushrraf rule when concerted efforts were made to resolve the issue. But then the deal could not be materialised due to lack of sincerity from the Indian side. Foreign policy analysts still remember the Agra Summit as one of the greatest missed opportunities of India-Pakistan relations. Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri in his book ‘Neither a Hawk nor a Dove’ discussing the Agra Agreement writes, “Solution to Kashmir was in the grasp of both governments”.

Gen. Musharraf had proposed a ‘Four-point solution’ to Kashmir. According to different accounts, the solution was, in principle, acceptable to Prime Minister Vajpayee but the agreement fell through hours before the signing ceremony.

Musharraf’s four points were:

1. Demilitarisation or phased withdrawal of troops. Both India and Pakistan would have to scale back its troops in the region for a lasting peace.
2. No change of borders of Kashmir. However, the people of Jammu and Kashmir would be allowed to move freely to the other half of the region.
3. Self-governance without independence
4. A joint supervision mechanism in Jammu and Kashmir involving India, Pakistan and Kashmir.

Years after the Agra Summit fell through, Musharraf had claimed that the Indian side had gone back on the agreement even though a draft resolution was ready to be signed. “I was told that the Indian Cabinet had refused to give its nod,” Musharraf had said at an event in 2004.

But according to one account, there was only one man who became a roadblock in the peace deal – separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Kasuri wrote in his book, “He (Geelani) described President Musharraf’s four-point agenda as vague, and criticised the president’s statement on United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions’ relevance to Kashmir.”

He added, “Fortunately, other Kashmiri leaders I met recognised the need for unity in the ranks of Kashmiris. They were more pragmatic and by and large unwilling to go along with Geelani’s rigid approach.”

Again some hope was revived when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise stopover in Lahore to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif. Since Modi’s decision to drop in on Nawaz Sharif was completely spontaneous and sudden, just to attend the wedding of his granddaughter at Raiwind, this intimate meeting could have been utilized to initiate a serious dialogue on Kashmir at least foreign secretaries’ level. Nawaz Sharif’s close aide and special advisor Tariq Fatemi also confirmed that Sharif was taken “totally by surprise” when he received a call from Modi. Nawaz did develop a cordial relation with Modi which could definitely be utiulised to initiate a dialogue on Kashmir.

But then all is not over. According to former foreign minister Khurshid kasuri, Modi’s actions had made dialogue in the near future very difficult but the ground reality would compel him or his successors to come back to the negotiation table. Kashmir, he said, was not like a one day cricket match but that Pakistan must be prepared for a long diplomatic innings which had commenced with a flying start with the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) discussion on Kashmir and PM Imran Khan’s meetings with various world leaders.