Shift in Kashmir stance or just UN posturing?

India made a sharp and strong case for itself last week at the UN when Pakistan raked up the Kashmir issue Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj remained unmoved by yet another jumla from a Pakistani head of government and dismissed the 4point formula suggested by Nawaz SharifSwaraj instead spoke about PakistanoccupiedKashmir in relation to terror attacks on Indian Kashmir She said ldquoWe all know that these attacks are meant to destabilise India and legitimise Pakistanrsquos illegal occupation of parts of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir and its claim on the rest of itrdquoShe said these attacks are meant to legitimise Pakistanrsquos illegal occupation of parts of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir and its claim on the rest of it PicPTIEven before she made this speech Indian TV channels had run visuals of atrocities on citizens in PakistanoccupiedKashmir known as lsquoAzad Jammu Kashmirrsquo in Pakistan Nothing is Azad in lsquoAJKrsquo There is an overwhelming presence of Pakistan Army its ISI and there is no democracy whatsoever The people have neither liberties nor power to choose their representatives in actuality It is the writ of Islamabad that runs there But if you were to scan Pakistani media you would not see any reporting from lsquoAJKrsquo or Gilgit Baltistan other than if a terror strike takes place there The woes of the people there are never reported because of the iron curtain on the media However about Indian Kashmir there is constant harping from the jihadis and politicians in PakistanThe Indian media too has largely remained uninterested in what happens in lsquoAJKrsquo or in Gilgit Baltistan Both are technically part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir which India by constitution claims as its own But why blame the Indian media alone when successive Indian governments have remained silent on this not countering Pakistani usurpation and then counterclaims with factsEven today 25 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly are reserved for the people of PakistanoccupiedKashmir Those seats remain vacant Why should it be a mere symbolic gesture to keep them vacant Why not open it out for people of PakistanoccupiedKashmir origin who live anywhere in the world Why should they only be living in PoK or the socalled AJK or Gilgit Baltistan In the Pakistani part the MQM and PPP occupy the reserved seats under some tenuous connection with that region So even if mainline Indian parties stay away from those seats there are enough expats of PoK origin who would gladly occupy the reserved seats in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly and bring to light the plight of people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir ie PoK The move would be legitimate not really out of line with the JampK Constitution and strengthen Indiarsquos handLetrsquos take this one step further why not include seats for PoK in Parliament too After all if PoK is part of India then people from PoK should be represented in the Parliament The seats should be thrown open to people of PoK origin living anywhere in the worldThis way the voice of the people India has abandoned due to Pakistani occupation will be heard in the Indian Parliament For example Pakistan has handed over large tracts of land to China for the construction of the ChinaPakistan economic corridor which runs through Gilgit Baltistan Abdul Hamid Khan chief of the Balwaristan National Front had this to say to Pakistani authorities ldquoThe area is disputed It is not legally or constitutionally a part of Pakistan The UN has kept Gilgit Baltistan as disputed The decision of which is yet to come In such circumstances how can you build permanent structures like dam there Who gave you the authority and right to hand it over to Chinardquo Now this was heard on a TV channel in the US it was played on European TV channels but it never made it to the Indian TV networks And of course Pakistan and China would never run itSo while Sushma Swarajrsquos speech was strong and well delivered the BJP which tomtoms itself as the strongest nationalist party will have to carry forward the theme else the UN stance will be another flash in the pan At one time India used to call it Pakistanrsquos lsquoannual itchrsquo of bringing up Kashmir at the UN Is Indiarsquos response of talking about Pakistani occupation of Jammu and Kashmir also just an annual jerking of the knee Or is it going to be sustainedSmita Prakash is Editor News at Asian News International You can follow her on Twitter smitaprakash