ONCE again, Pakistan over-stepped its limits at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and India rebuffed that over-smartness for “unwarranted” remarks on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Habitually, Pakistan has kept raising the Kashmir issue at the United Nations time and again. And each time Pakistan does that, India steps in to insist that Pakistan should not indulge in over-smart overtures. This time, too, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mr. Parvathaneni Harish rebuffed Pakistan for its uncalled for remarks on Kashmir. No matter how repetitive this exercise may seem, it is not just a customary rebuff by India of Pakistan’s over-smartness. Because India has maintained its consistency not just of stance but also of its rebuff of Pakistan, the world has begun understanding the mischief Pakistan keeps indulging in all the time.

 

For Pakistan, Kashmir may have been a point to be used against India. But beyond this usual game Pakistan plays, it is clear that Kashmir also acts as an eternal irritation. For, in Kashmir under its illegal occupation, the situation is all the time going from bad to worse. The people of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) have already launched what can be described as a freedom struggle. Those people consider themselves unfortunate to have been trapped under Pakistan’s illegal occupation. They see the world of difference between their own troubled condition and the happy condition of Kashmir in India. That is also the reason why the people of occupied Kashmir now want to have their region to get integrated with Kashmir on the Indian side as early as possible.

 

This reality irritates Pakistan all the more. Several international experts on Kashmir have often stressed that the Pakistani authorities are not paying any attention to the Kashmir under their control since they are conscious that at some point of time, the two Kashmirs would get integrated under Indian flag. This reality has begun getting noticed by the people of occupied Kashmir, all right. The Pakistani authorities know this well and somehow want to suppress the agitated feelings of the people of occupied Kashmir. The neglect by the Pakistani authorities and the suppression of public sentiment have begun telling upon the overall situation in occupied Kashmir.

 

The popular movement against Pakistani authorities has been getting more intense with passage of time -- which irritates the Pakistan authorities no end. Factually, the Pakistani authorities are eternally traumatised by the worsening situation in occupied Kashmir. Yet, they often put a shameless face for public consumption and keep raising the Kashmir issue every now and then at the United Nations -- of course only to rebuffed by India each time. In India, the public sentiment about occupied Kashmir is getting more and more intense. No matter the degree of difficulty, the common people want the Government to make smart and tough moves to integrate the two Kashmirs under the Indian flag. Many political leaders, too, have expressed a similar sentiment in India -- including Union Home Minister and Defence Minister. There is a strong talk often going on that India must take occupied Kashmir back under its control -- even by using the military.

 

Though there are some people who feel that the military route would not be easy, the common people insist that one swift and decisive operation would do the trick. The Pakistanis appear to be conscious of the general Indian sentiment on Kashmir. They cannot guarantee that India would never step out of its own restrictions and snatch occupied Kashmir back from the Pakistani control. These fears often line the Pakistani mind when they raise the Kashmir issue at the United Nations or any other international forum. Even though India often rebuffs Pakistan for its over-smartness, it is necessary for the Government in India to understand the strong public sentiment about Jammu and Kashmir.