Sardar Nasir Aziz Khan, the Main Representative of CDP, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status, has called upon the United Nations to urgently address the state of human rights in the forcibly divided erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.
He specifically highlighted the growing extremism, terrorism, and unilateral decisions being imposed in the region. Additionally, he urged a follow-up on the UN reports on Kashmir from 2018 and 2019.
During the 58th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva a written statement submitted under Agenda Item 4 highlited Human Rights Situations that Require the Council’s Attention.
In statement the CDP draw the attention of UN and asked the United Nations to prioritize the follow-up on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ reports from 2018 and 2019, which addressed severe human rights violations in the forcibly divided former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK), and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
These reports highlighted issues such as excessive use of force, arbitrary detention, and severe restrictions on freedoms of expression and association.
Furthermore, it is essential to acknowledge that the entire State of Jammu and Kashmir is a single political entity and constitutes a longstanding political dispute. Forced division and annexation have had adverse effects on the lives, social fabric, culture, and politics of the region. Attempts to promote religious intolerance and hatred will further divide the people of Jammu and Kashmir, leading to more extremism, violence, and terrorism. These issues require urgent attention from the United Nations.
A humanitarian crisis exists in Jammu and Kashmir, demanding the UN’s immediate intervention. The arbitrary borders imposed on the historical State of Jammu and Kashmir have caused tension, violence, and ongoing conflicts, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, contributing to instability and unrest.
Since 1947, the people of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir have been victims of extremism and terrorism, denied their freedom of movement. Forced division has separated families and marginalized secular democratic voices, allowing radical and extremist forces to gain strength, leading to further unrest.
Despite being on the UN agenda since 1948, alongside numerous UN resolutions and the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ reports on Kashmir in 2018, 2019, the region’s plight continues. The European Parliament’s 2007 report and Pakistan’s constitutional Article 257, which acknowledges Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory, further underscore the unresolved status of the region. The 1947 Treaty of Accession with India emphasized India’s responsibility to protect the life, liberty, and property of the people.
CDP urges the governments of Pakistan and India to respect the Jammu and Kashmir State Subject Rule of 1927, which prohibits outsiders from purchasing property in Jammu and Kashmir. This rule is significant in preserving the special status of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan abolished the State Subject Rule in Gilgit-Baltistan in 1974, resulting in demographic changes in the region. Similarly, India is doing the same in Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. Both countries appear to have similar intentions to seize land, exploit resources under the pretense of development, tourism, and defense, and change the demography of the disputed territory, turning the majority into a minority.
India and Pakistan have no right to unilaterally deal with any part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. India entered Jammu and Kashmir through a provisional treaty that explicitly stated its prime responsibility was to protect the life, liberty, and property of the people. The people of Jammu and Kashmir expected India, as a democratic and responsible country, to honor its agreement with them.
However, despite UN resolutions on Kashmir, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ reports of 2018 and 2019, and the European Parliament report of 2007, India, on August 5, 2019, dismembered the historical State of Jammu and Kashmir into two separate union territories. This action, along with the revocation of Articles 370 and 35A, raises fundamental questions about the State’s accession.
Furthermore, forced division, annexation, and unilateral decisions based on military might and majoritarianism have exacerbated unrest, chaos, extremism, and communalism. The UN should follow up on its reports and urgently address this situation.
On 28 April 1949 through so called Karachi agreement Pakistan pressurized Azad Kashmir to ceded to the Government of Pakistan complete control over Gilgit Baltistan. The last item meant that Azad Kashmir lost Gilgit and Baltistan from its control, essentially permanently which laid the seeds of further division.
In September 2020, Pakistan granted Gilgit-Baltistan a de facto province-like status without constitutionally integrating it as part of the country. Currently, Gilgit-Baltistan is neither a province nor a state; it holds a semi-provincial status. Now, Pakistan is planning to merge Azad Jammu and Kashmir with its provinces, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).
The CDP asked the United Nations, the European Union, and the international community to intervene and put pressure on India and Pakistan to stop violating UN resolutions and cease the annexation and further division of the disputed State of Jammu and Kashmir.
In Azad Kashmir, nearly 99% of the population is Muslim. Until the 1980s, the majority practiced Sufi Islam, quietly observing their faith without imposing it on others. However, after Pakistan’s Afghan Jihad project concluded, attention shifted to the Kashmir Jihad project.
Various factions and militant organizations began pouring into Azad Kashmir, raising funds and flaunting weapons in towns and cities. Slogans of “Al-Jihad, Al-Jihad” echoed, and youth were sold dreams of liberating Srinagar. Followers of Sufi Islam were labeled terrorists, and the State of Jammu and Kashmir was reduced to a union territory.
On January 5, 2025, Azad Jammu Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq chanted “Al-Jihad, Al-Jihad” slogans, instigating violence in Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir, and assured that the AJK budget would be allocated for jihad. Is this to please his benefactors and remain in power? Or, like the 1980s “Operation Tupac,” is another plan in motion? Operation Tupac, Pakistan’s proxy war in Kashmir, conducted under the guise of jihad, resulted in the deaths of an estimated 150,000 people.
Pakistan’s military dictator General Pervez Musharraf admitted in interviews that jihadis are “our assets,” trained by Pakistan. These UN-proscribed international terrorist organizations resurfaced under new names, led by the same individuals. Fundraising and militant activities became more systematic, extending influence into rural areas and village mosques.
If Azad Kashmir is turned into another Waziristan or FATA, the consequences will be disastrous. Recently, another campaign was launched in Rawalakot Poonch, Azad Kashmir, to remove billboards, advertisements, and posters featuring women, claiming them to be “un-Islamic.” Businesses received strict warnings against displaying such posters or selling products featuring women.
Armed groups harass locals while law enforcement and government institutions remain silent. A few months ago, a cleric in Rawalakot Poonch Azad Kashmir declared liberals, secularists, and nationalists wajib-ul-qatl (deserving of death) in a public speech, flanked by masked, armed guards.
Clerics like Maulana Qudoos have been issuing fatwas for the killing of liberal and nationalist leaders. These fatwas and threats, broadcast live on social media, were ignored by the state despite the public and armed presence of the cleric’s supporters.
The people of Azad Kashmir have endured decades of neglect. Political parties in Azad Kashmir are created, dissolved, and restructured to serve external and personal interests. Billions of rupees allocated annually for development disappear into corruption, leaving citizens to rely on donations for basic infrastructure.
The UN should act to end this destructive cycle and reunite families divided for 77 years. Divisive slogans like “Al-Jihad, Al-Jihad” must cease. The right to self-determination, as outlined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, must be respected. Article 1, Sub-Article 1 of this covenant states that all peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right, they freely determine their political status and pursue economic, social, and cultural development.
Freedom of movement and people-to-people contacts are vital for building confidence and resolving disputes. It is imperative to reopen all traditional routes of the forcibly divided State of Jammu and Kashmir to foster interaction and eradicate misunderstandings, differences, and hatred.
The most urgent issue is the kidnapping of minor children from various areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad in Pakistan. Innocent Kashmiri children have been abducted in broad daylight, and despite some kidnappers being identified, the police have failed to take action.
For instance, Saad Haroon was only eight years old when he was kidnapped in October 2014. His father, serving as an Additional Civil Judge in Pakistan-administered Azad Jammu & Kashmir, has made every legal effort to recover him, but without success.
Saad’s mother has lost her mental health and emotional stability due to this tragedy. Similarly, Arslan Zubair, a two-year-old boy, was kidnapped on June 14, 2022, near Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) in Islamabad. His father, Mr. Zubair, filed a writ petition in the Islamabad High Court after exhausting all possible avenues, yet his son remains missing.
Additionally, Muhammad Tabish Khan, a three-year-old Kashmiri boy, was kidnapped on July 23, 2021, from Kahuta, Rawalpindi. His father, Zaffar Hussain, has used every legal means to recover his child, but the police have shown no interest in pursuing the case.
The issue of Jammu and Kashmir is not a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan; it is a matter of lives of millions of Kashmiris and fundamental human rights and must be resolved with the active participation of the Kashmiri people.
CDP calls for an end to the aggression, extremism, and violence inflicted upon the people of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947. The forced division and suffering on both sides of the Line of Control must cease immediately.
CDP is urging the United Nations, European Union, United States, and the international community to intervene and pressure India and Pakistan to:
- Halt the violations of UN resolutions and respect international human rights norms.
- Cease actions that forcibly alter the demographic and political status of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Restore the right to free movement and right to self-determination for the people, as enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 1.
Sardar Nasir Aziz Khan, originally from the state of Jammu and Kashmir, lives in exile in Switzerland. He is a Main Representative of CDP to UN , Columnist, human rights defender and political analyst.
https://x.com/nasirkhanukpnp
