London – A fresh report released on Saturday warns that the way the West has kept calling the 1947 bloodshed in Jammu and Kashmir a “territorial dispute” lets Pakistan keep the region as a source of terrorism for decades.
According to the account, Pakistan launched “Operation Gulmarg” on 22 October 1947, presenting a state‑run campaign that masqueraded as a tribal revolt. Rifle‑armed Pashtun militias, backed by regular army troops, entered Kashmir with a single goal: terror. The report describes subsequent massacres and widespread sexual violence that would now qualify as crimes against humanity.
Swedish human‑rights activist Michael Arizanti, writing for the UK‑based The Milli Chronicle, says history should not be “sanitized for geopolitical comfort.” He insists that what happened in 1947 was not a disagreement but an invasion driven by Pakistan’s militaristic ideology. In his view, the country saw Hindu and Sikh communities not as citizens with a right to safety, but as obstacles to a strategic land grab.
Arizanti points out that 78 years after the invasion – which featured mass rape, targeted killings, and the destruction of non‑Muslim neighborhoods – the same mental model still drives Pakistan’s military. “A military that treats territory as a trophy, civilians as expendable and jihad as a policy tool,” he writes, adding that this mindset birthed Lashkar‑e‑Taiba, Jaish‑e‑Mohammad and other proxy terror groups.
He describes a “sequence” that Pakistan has followed repeatedly: exporting terror, denying responsibility, playing victim, silencing dissent. The systematic pattern started in October 1947 and has repeated every decade.
The report also highlights how Jammu and Kashmir has seen major development after the 2019 constitutional reforms that integrated the region more fully into India. According to Arizanti, investment in infrastructure has surged, tourism now surpasses pre‑conflict levels, and new universities, hospitals, and roads serve the population. Local elections report record voter turnouts, signaling growing civic engagement.
In stark contrast, Pakistan‑occupied Kashmir (PoK) remains a study in hardship. The region suffers chronic blackouts, activists go missing, civil‑rights groups face bans, and per‑capita income is less than half that of India‑administered areas. When residents protested food shortages and electricity theft in 2024, Pakistani troops shot at civilians, the report notes.
Arizanti also criticises Islamabad for its long‑standing support of the Afghan Taliban. He argues that the relationship stems not from religious solidarity but from a territorial strategy that keeps Afghanistan unstable and gives Pakistan leverage over peace terms. “Pakistan keeps Afghan instability alive so it can dictate the terms of peace,” he says.
The report calls on the international community to look beyond politicised narratives and confront the human‑rights abuses that continue to shape conflict in Jammu and Kashmir.
Source: ianslive
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