Iqbal Khan

Denial, deceit, disruption and destruction are the high marks of struggle of Kashmiri people. The Journey of helplessness and agony that began for the hapless Kashmiris of Indian occupied Kashmiris, as a consequence of induction of Indian military in to Kashmir on October 27 1947 continues despite numerous UN resolutions supporting the grant of right of self-determination. Had it been a conflict where non-Muslims were the sufferers, it would have been resolved within months, if not weeks. Unfortunately, current political World Order is increasingly anti-Muslim.

Accession letter by Maharaja, was a fraudulent document, singed by Maharaja under duress much later than October 27 after Indian military was in firm control of Jammu and Kashmir; if at all he ever signed. Acceptance or request by Maharaja for providing military assistance by the Union government was condition based that whenever the law and order situation is restored, future of Jammu and Kashmir would be decided by ascertaining the wishes of its people.A prominent British Historian Alistair Lamb has challenged Indian narrative in his book “The Birth of Tragedy” by stating that the instrument of accession was drafted in Delhi and presented to maharaja.

“Silenced and shut down” via lockdown and information blackout has been the status of Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) since revocation of Articles 370 and 35A on August 05 2019; IIOJ&K was divided it into two federally ruled territories and a complete lockdown and communications blackout was imposed.

According to an October 22 report by Aljazeera, India has extends high-speed internet blackout in Kashmir. Indian government says such restrictions are ‘absolutely necessary in the interest of Indian sovereignty’.High-speed internet was cut off in August last year, when India revoked Kashmir’s semi-autonomous statusThe government in Indian-administered Kashmir has extended its ban on high-speed internet in 18 of 20 districts of the disputed region until November 12.The order said security agencies “apprehended that anti-national elements might misuse” high-speed connections “for carrying out activities inimical to the public order besides persuading the youths to join militancy”.:

In September Amnesty International closed its office in India due to “reprisals” from the government. Amnesty said its bank accounts had been frozen and it had been forced to lay off staff in the country and suspend all its campaign and research work.   Rajat Khosla, Amnesty’s senior director of research, advocacy and policy, told the BBC: “We are facing a rather unprecedented situation in India. Amnesty International India has been facing an onslaught of attacks, bullying and harassment by the government in a very systematic manner. As usual Indian is in a denial mode. India’s government said in a statement that the accusations were “unfortunate, exaggerated and far from the truth”.

Mobile internet speed in most of the region remains painstakingly slow.Kashmiri groups call India’s internet ban as ‘digital apartheid’. Kashmir’s political parties have united to fight for return of autonomy. Kashmir newspapers’ officesare raided and sealed by India officials as a matter of routine.It is“far worse censorship than anywhere in the world”.

According to, the Jammu-Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), a prominent rights group in IIOK&K, the communications blackout is a “collective punishment” against the Kashmiris. JKCCS has urged the international community to question New Delhi over the “digital apartheid”.Several human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly urged India to restore full internet access in the disputed region.

India is supressing the struggle of the people of IIOK&K with brutal force. It is employing highly disproportional force to quell peaceful demonstrations. It has deployed over a million military and civil armed forced personnel in the occupied territories.  IIOJ&K is most densely militarised conflict zone of the World. Fear of life and sense of insecurity is so pervasive that the IIOJ&K is often referred to as an open prison where law enforcers are supported by nearly a dozen draconian laws to usurp Human Rights with impunity. Not even a single Indian soldier has been meaning fully punished for crimes against humanity.Hundreds of Thousands of people including Hurriyat leaders have been put behind the bars, they are interned in the jails far away from their areas of domicile and their whereabouts are not communicated to their kin and kith.

Since the second wave of struggle for right of self-determination by Indian Kashmiris, since January 1989, Indian troops have martyred over 95,686 Kashmiris, widowed over 22,920 women, orphaned over 107,802 children and molested or gang-raped over 11,219 Kashmiri women.More than 340 youth have lost their one or both eyes to the pellet injuries while over 1,020 are at the verge of losing their eyesight.Rape of women being used as a weapon of war to intimidate the Kashmiris into submission. More than 8,000 innocent youth have been subjected to disappearance in custody and their whereabouts remain untraced. Many of those are feared to be buried in thousands of unmarked graves in IIOJ&K. Human Rights Watchdogs have so many time pointed towards exact location of mass graves where freedom fighters are buried after killing them in fake encounters.

The formula dictated that J&K should join Pakistan as nearly 80 percent of population was Muslim.However, India’s first Prime Minster Nehru, being a Kashmiri, was not comfortable with the thought of the region falling to Pakistan. Therefore as a carefully crafted plan to create a pretext for induction of Indian military in to Kashmir, on behest of Indian government, Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) militants alongside Dogra troops attacked Jammu and massacred thousands of Muslims. As a reaction, volunteers from Pakistan’s tribal areas started to move to Kashmir, on October 22, to help the Muslims being cold bloodedly murdered by Dogra soldiers and RSS goons. Maharaja Hari Singh got unnerved and fled the area. It was during his absence from the scene that high drama of Accession letter was staged and India troops were airlifted to Srinagar.Indian troops landed first and Accession Letter saw the light of the day later.India took the matter to the UN, where it voted for UN SC Resolution 47 calling for a UN supervised plebiscite.Ever since, India is defaulting its voluntary commitment.October 27 is observed in Pakistan and by Kashmiris, the World over, as Black day, on this day India had annexed Kashmir region by inducting her forces illegally in complete disregard of Indian independence Act and Partition Plan. As British left sub-continent in 1947, independent princely states were asked to choose between India and Pakistan as per majority population (Hindus/Muslims).

United Nations needs to stand up to the occasion and fulfil its obligation of holding a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir, as per its geographical combination stood on August 14, 1947. The matter has been brought up for discussion I the UNSG more than once since August 05, 2029. The befitting starting points for the UN could be appointment of UNSG’s special envoy on Kashmir followed by a UNSG resolution for undoing India’s rash actions of August 05, 2019.

Writer is a freelance contributor; e-mail: [email protected]

Abdul Rashid Shakir
[email protected]

Pakistan is a country with a rich demographic dividend, as 65% of its more than 220 Million population is below the age of 35 while 29% of it is in the age group of 15-25, which is the United Nations definition of youth. These stats make Pakistan one of those few countries in the world that have predominantly young population, second to Afghanistan in the South Asian region.

It goes without saying that it is the youth, rather a well-educated and trained youth which determines the future of a country. Therefore, sheer numbers are of no much significance if not exploited to the maximum by providing quality education, professional training and effective engagement opportunities.

Cognizant of the fact, the Government of Pakistan has started Kamyab Jawan Program (Successful Youth Program), a dedicated wing in the Prime Minister’s Office. Moreover, Pakistan has developed National Youth Development Framework (NYDF) in order to regulate and coordinate various initiatives aimed at the socio-economic development of youth in the country. The said National Youth Development Framework (NYDF) is perfectly in line with the United Nations System Wide Program of Action for Youth (Youth-SWAP) and Pakistan’s Vision 2025. It is modelled on a principle of 3 Es: Education & Training, Entrepreneurship and Engagement.

In Education & Training, the Government of Pakistan has launchedHunarmand Pakistan Programme (Skilled Youth Programme) under ‘Skills for All Strategy’. National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) of the Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training is executing this Initiative in collaboration with provincial Technical Education and Vocational Training Authorities (TEVTAs) under the guidance of Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Programme (KJP). Under this Initiative, Pakistan is imparting professional and technical training to 170,000 youth both in conventional and high-tech trades to equip them with cutting edge technologies for playing a productive role in the socio-economic development of Pakistan. Out of 170,000 youth targeted to be trained under this Programme, 50,000 urban youth would be trained in high-tech trades, 50,000 youth of less developed areas would be trained in conventional trades, 20,000 youth would be imparted apprenticeship training, whereas 50,000 youth would earn professional certificates under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

Besides capacity building of youth through technical and Vocational training, the Government of Pakistan is also focused on improving its Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system to ensure quality training of its abundant human resource. The Government has planned to establish a National Accreditation Council for the accreditation of 2,000 TVET institutes. It is also working on developing 200 Standard National Qualifications, besides establishing 75 Smart Class Rooms for distance learning. It is also setting up training facilities in 70 Madrassas (Religious seminaries) in order to mainstream them in the national development stream. Moreover, Pakistan plans to develop 10 Country of Destination Specific Facilitation Centers to enable its skilled youth to grab rewarding employment opportunities in those countries.

In Entrepreneurship, Pakistan has initiated Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES) In collaboration with National Bank of Pakistan and 20 other commercial banks to provide subsidized business loans for young entrepreneurs who want to start a new business or expand an already-existing one. Within almost a year since the launch of Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES) In October 2019, 2,919 loans worth PKR 1.3 Billion have been disbursed among potential young entrepreneurs. Out of 2,919, 36% loans have been disbursed among existing businesses who want to expand their operations, whereas 64% borrowers are those who intend to start a new economic venture. 84% of the 2,919 borrowers are male while 16% of them are female. Major sectors in which loans have been approved include auto, fashion/cosmetics/jewellery, shop keeper, retailer/super store, dairy, education services, technically services workshop, pharmaceutical and medical services.

In Engagement category, Pakistan has notified first of its history, National Youth Council (NYC), comprising of prominent young leaders in different walks of life including business, IT, Show biz, sports and politics. National Youth Condo (NYC) is headed by the Prime Minister, Mr. Imran Khan himself,and is mandated to provide input for effective policy formulation for the socio-economic development of youth in the country.

Another flagship initiative of the Government of Pakistan to engage youth in social work, and coordinate with the local administration to ensure better service delivery to the public is Prime Minister’s Youth Tiger Force. Under the initiative, more than one million youth across length and breadth of Pakistan has registered themselves through online portal to assist local government authorities to ensure effective monitoring and seamless delivery of civic services to the public.

By Lieutenant Colonel Khalid TaimurAkram (Retd), Executive Director, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad

The Syrian conflict is almost a decade old now with two important players; Russia and Turkey. Turkey and Russia have negotiated several times in the past to strike a deal to control the worsening security situation of the opposition held areas in Syria, but despite all these agreements, the situation in the area,particularly in the Idlib province has only worsened that seems to continue in the future as well with no possible solution in sight.

In May 2017 an agreement has been signed between Turkey, Russia, and Iran for de-escalation of Idlib and to make this area a demilitarized buffer zone. The agreement called for the cessation of hostilities between various conflicting parties including jihadists, Turk forces, Mainstream rebels obstructing supply channels, and Russian-backed Syrian forces. The parties were forced to pull their heavy weapons out of the zone. But the agreement was never fully implemented and the situation became worse in Syria, thus resulting in hundreds of civilians killed, and the tensions between Ankara and Moscow rose to extreme.  The recent military reinforcements in Syria hint that the balance in the province is still fragile and could provoke a regional crisis.

Turkey in the Idlib

Turkey has set up 12 ceasefire observation stations in and around Idlib following the 2017 agreement that warded off a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive that threatened to collapse rebel rule in the province and force millions of refugees to the Turkish border. The establishment of these observation stations in the area  came under the deal between Russia and Turkey, however, recently after Russia’s efforts to hinder the Turkish supply chain and the increased protests against Turkish presence in Syria; Turkey has been compelled to withdraw its military forces from four observation stations mainly in the hard areas such as Morek, Sheik Aqil, Tal Touqan, and Shir Maghar and two military sites near Saraqeb that are surrounded by the Syrian forces who have recently launched an assault against the rebel in the Idlib province of Syria.

For Turkey, which shares a border with Idlib, the area along with some other parts of Hama, Latakia and Aleppo is of utmost importance. Furthermore, Ankara wants to limit the autonomy granted to the Syrian Kurdish groups that govern much of north-east Syria but are a national security threat for Turkey. Turkey has long been facing the refugee crisis due to the ongoing conflict in Syria that has caused millions of Syrian nationals to seek refuge in the country. Turkey which has provided refuge to approximately 3.6 million Syrians is worried about another influx.

Idlib holds immense significance for the Turkish leadership because the current economic situation of the country is not favorable to afford another Syrian refugee crisis. Ankara has given an ultimatum to the Syrian army to withdraw behind the line of Turkish observation posts or else military action will be taken against them.

Ankara has begun pulling back forces and equipment from its observation posts initially established to monitor a fragile ceasefire in the Syrian conflict. Some of these stations such as the Morek base in the Idlib province were long encircled by Russian-backed forces. Evacuation from these observation stations does not necessarily mean that Turkey is going to reduce the number of its troops in the area, rather it has been observed that the number of Turkish military forces is on the rise, means Turkey is not withdrawing from the area it is taking a strategic turn. Currently, Turkey has deployed troops in the area, but providing logistic and military support to the troops especially in a situation where the supply chain is obstructed due to observation stations being encircled by the regime forces have become a matter of concern for Ankara.

Russia has either blocked or severely impeded Turkey’s ability to resupply its position. On the other hand, the regime forces have also launched an offense against the Turkish forces thus provoking them to take military actions against them. Tensions between Turkey and Russia have risen after a series of talks between the two countries on Syria and Libya failed in Ankara and both the countries are now embroiled in a conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia as well.Turkish officials claim that Russia does not want to stabilize the situation in the area for the long term and it can trigger a conflict in Idlib at any moment.

More recently, the situation at the observation posts became increasingly challenging for Turkey as the Assad regime organized demonstrations seeking to storm Turkish outposts. The attack on the Turkish check post that killed approximately 60 Turkish military personnel is a major issue in this regards that led to the withdrawal of Turkish military forces from these observation stations.  The withdrawals are related to the Turkish expectation of a new military operation by the Assad regime supported by Russia. The geographic distance is a threat to Turkey and due to the obstructed supply chain, the Turkish soldiers could become a target for the regime forces.

Conclusion

The latest moves in Idlib, however, cannot be separated from the wider dynamics in the Russian-Turkish relationship, which include the unfolding conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Russia is backing Armenia which has been occupying Azerbaijan’s land for almost 30 years. The developments come after Turkish and Russian delegations held talks in September over the ongoing crises in Idlib and Libya, where both the countries are supporting opposing sides in both conflicts. This is a sign of further weakening of the modus vivendi between Turkey and Russia in Syria. A new war for in North-Western Syria between Russia and Turkey would be a very hard blow for both economies, which are now increasingly interconnected. By clashing with Turkey, the Russian Federation could lose an easy access to the Dardanelles and its own Syrian bases, as well as to the Bosphorus.