Unknown to most people in the Muslim world, India has been carrying on a systematic genocide of Muslims in Kashmir who oppose the Indian occupation of their homeland. Since 1989 when opposition to the Indian military occupation turned into an armed uprising in Kashmir, more than 100,000 Muslims have been martyred by the Indian troops.

India has deployed 600,000 troops in the occupied Kashmir, which is the largest concentration of troops in any single area in the world today. The troops are heavily armed with the most modern weapons acquired by India from Russia and the western countries including Israel. India has also acquired the services of Israeli experts who have been sharing their experience of suppressing the Palestinian freedom fighters, with the Indian military commanders in Kashmir.

Like Israel, India also calls the Kashmiri freedom fighters 'terrorists' to solicit support of the west in the context of the US-led 'war on terror'. In this way India counters Pakistan's support for the Kashmir^ Muslims struggling for freedom. In fact, India's main objective in opening the so called composite dialogue' with Pakistan is to stop Pakistan's support for the Kashmiri mujahideen to make the work of the Indian troops easy. India is in a hurry to wipe out all opposition to its rule in Kashmir.

It is noteworthy that notwithstanding all the tall talk about the dialogue with Pakistan, India has not conceded an inch in its territorial disputes with the former. On the contrary, it has stepped up its military campaign in occupied Kashmir against the mujahideen.

India has also told Pakistan point blank that there can be no redrawing the boundaries in Kashmir; the most that it can offer to Pakistan is to give up its claim on the rest of Kashmir which is under Pakistan's control. India wants Pakistan to forget about Kashmir altogether, stop supporting the Kashmiris' freedom struggle and open its market to Indian goods.

A review of the progress that the current talks between India and Pakistan have achieved would reveal that the talks have moved only in the direction that India wants i.e. resumption of travel and trade between the two countries and Pakistan's distancing itself from the Kashmiri freedom fighters. The Indian commanders in occupied Kashmir have also acknowledged that there has been a reduction in 'cross border terrorism' as they call it, though they would not say that it has ceased altogether. Which means that they would like Pakistan 'to do more'. Meanwhile, India, possibly on the advice of the Israeli experts, has fenced the Line of Control between the Indian-occupied Kashmir and the Azad Jammu & Kashmir. The Kashmiri Muslim freedom fighters have, however, been carrying on their struggle against the Indian occupation troops , though at a very heavy cost; hardly a day passes when no Kashmiri is martyred on wounded at the hands of the Indian forces.

The Kashmiris' freedom struggle, it may be mentioned here, actually predates the establishment of Pakistan and independent India. It started during the days of the British rule in the sub-continent when the British had sold Kashmir to a loyal Hindu prince. That was in mid-19th century. But the overwhelming Muslim majority of the state was never at ease with the cruel and autocratic rule of the Hindu raja. The unrest took the shape of a movement in the 1920s. There were uprisings in the 30s, but every time they were brutally suppressed by the cruel ruler.

However, the Kashmiri Muslims continued their struggle in the hope that they would be finally liberated with the departure of the British rulers and the territory would be merged with Pakistan in accordance with the principle of partition of the British India in which Muslim majority areas formed part of Pakistan and the Hindu majority areas remained with India. But there was to be no freedom for the Muslims of Kashmir even after the departure of the British. Despite their overwhelming majority in Kashmir, the rulers of independent India would not let the Kashmiri Muslims join Pakistan.

There was revolt against the Raja's rule but India came to his support and launched a full scale invasion on Kashmir. And to this day half of Kashmir, including the capital Srinagar, and most of the major towns, remain under military occupation by India. The Kashmiri Muslims continue their 150 year old struggle for freedom.

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