Pakistan’s hypocrisy

24/08/2019

Pakistan's opposition to India's action of revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir only showcases its hypocrisy. Islamabad has been crying foul, saying rights of Kashmiris were subjugated even though it had stripped Pakistan occupied Kashmir of its special status decades ago, opined a former Pentagon official. Pakistan, who has a history of using terrorto achieve its aims at a relatively low cost, has no one else blame as India likely never would have changed the status quo of J&K had it not been for decades of overt Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Terrorism is a tactic the states use to achieve aims at a relatively low cost. In this case, the Pakistani gamble backfired, and Khan, as well as Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, have no one but themselves to blame. Lost in the Pakistani criticism of India's actions, however, is recognition of Pakistan's own hypocrisy. For four and a half decades before India revoked Article 370, Pakistan stripped both Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir (as Pakistan calls the portion it occupies) of their special status. Since India has announced its decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan has ramped up its rhetorics against New Delhi.
Islamabad since then has approached several countries seeking support in order to make a strong case against India. It also approached the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) with the help of China. However, at the end of the UNSC meeting, last week, China and Pakistan stood isolated as members refused to endorse their position. From the beginning, it (Pakistan) has cried that Kashmir's inclusion in India is illegitimate. Article 257 of the Pakistani constitution, confirms that Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory which does not belong to Pakistan. However, on the contrary, it is Pakistan which appoints governor in the region and that the real decision-making ability remains with the appointed governor rather than the chief minister or elected assembly. Further underlining Islamabad's dual standards over its claim, that New Delhi revoked article 370 accorded to Jammu and Kashmir to change the demography of the Muslim majority region, Pakistan tried to change the demography of the Shiite-dominated region by transferring Sunni Muslims.

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