Kashmir and self-determination.

Byline: Ali Sultan

CENTURIES of British colonial rule on the Indian subcontinent ended in August 1947, as Winston Churchill put it, in a 'premature hurried scuttle'. The ill-conceived flight of the British left certain far-reaching elements of the decolonisation process unfinished, including the political fate of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the wishes of its people and consistent with Partition's underlying principles.

Since then, India has stubbornly stonewalled the free exercise of Kashmiris' right to self-determination, embodied in a dozen outstanding United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Besides precipitating an unfolding humanitarian crisis of immense proportions, India's actions of Aug 5, 2019, with respect to India-held Kashmir represent its latest and to date most brazen breach of its moral and legal obligation to respect Kashmiris' right to self-determination. The revocation of the Indian constitution's Articles 370 and 35-A by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-majoritarian government is alarmingly geared towards changing IHK's demographic profile and its political, economic, social and cultural character. In due course, this would irreversibly thwart any meaningful exercise of Kashmiris' right to self-determination in flagrant contravention of international law.

The effective realisation of Kashmiris' right to self-determination is not merely a moral imperative.

The concept of self-determination is an extremely potent one. As Princeton University's Wolfgang Danspeckgruber has put it: 'No other concept is as powerful, visceral, emotional, unruly, and steep in creating aspirations and hopes as self-determination'.

On top of Kashmir-specific UNSC resolutions, the principle and fundamental right to self-determination is firmly established in international law, which recognises that compliance with it is an essential condition for enjoyment of other human rights and fundamental freedoms, be they civil, political, economic, social or cultural. Article I of the UN Charter prominently enshrines it, marking its universal acknowledgment as essential to the maintenance of friendly relations and peace among states.

Moreover, it is recognised as a right in several other international law instruments. These include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Declaration of Principles of International Law Concerning...