[UNSC] A Disaster Of Human Rights: Kashmir



Written by Blaise Hwang, correspondent of Ars Technica

“Everyone wants Kashmir - but no one wants Kashmiris.” - Fatimah Asghar, author of ‘If They Come For Us’
Even without the worst-case scenario of all-out war, Kashmiri citizens are still not safe from the violence of conflict. [Image source: Daily Times]

The Kashmir conflict is a noose that has been hanging over the international community for quite some time. Despite having started in 1947, the Kashmir conflict is no closer to being resolved than it was 74 years ago.

An Emergency In Action

While the UNSC has been engaged in fierce debate over solutions to the Kashmir conflict, the results of said efforts are disappointing to say the least. As it often does, the UNSC found itself bound by the restrictions of international diplomacy. “We can’t violate the sovereignty of not one, but two states!” protested the delegate of Estonia, an argument frequently echoed for the following council sessions. However, it is also not wrong to state that the situation in Kashmir is one that requires urgent intervention.

It is reported that 162 innocent civilians died from conflict-based disputes in 2019 alone. But the horrific abuse of human rights does not end there. Human Rights Watch reported that Indian forces in Kashmir committed gang rapes against 882 Kashmiri women in 1992, a number that does not seem to have died down significantly in the present day. The current situation is best summed up by the delegate of Norway’s outcry at the current resolution.
“There are people being abused, raped, torutured - are we really going to sit around twiddling our thumbs?”
As of now, however, it seems the UNSC is content to do exactly that.

You Can Lead A Horse To Water, But You Can’t Make Him Drink

Expressing annoyance at these valid concerns, the delegate of India sniped back. “We came to the UN for help. We didn’t come to the UN for people to press help upon us.” Stating full support for the newly minted UNSC resolution, they added “we appreciate the UNSC’s efforts to help, and will not require further input.” It seems that most of the UNSC is content to leave the current situation as it is, with a few paltry efforts at increasing the presence of observational bodies such as the UNMOGIP.

The abject helplessness of the international community to put a stop to the detestable human rights violations in Kashmir is reminiscent of another human rights disaster: that of the Rohingya crisis. The Rohingya crisis similarly experienced great international attention, but this attention bore no fruit due to the hesitation of other nations to interfere and face accusations of violating sovereignty. As it stands today, at least 25, 000 Rohingya people have been slaughtered. One can only pray that the same fate does not await the people of Kashmir.

Small Sparks Of Hope

It is clear that a firm guiding hand is required for the two states of India and Pakistan to reach an agreement. One hopes that the UNSC will look into hosting peace talks as a more serious and urgent solution, with a neutral and fair host to adjudicate, such as the United States of America, which has previously hosted fruitful peace talks such as the Bosnian Peace Agreement.

Furthermore, the UNSC should seek to expand its presence in Kashmir as much as possible, as an unbiased source of authority. The current resolution of the UNSC does call for the creation of a United Nations Commision of Inquiry in India and Pakistan (UNCIIP), which would work in tandem with the UNMOGIP. Unfortunately, the UNSC chose to limit the UNCIIP’s ability, stating that it would only be responsible for conveying information to the UNSC regarding human rights, and would not be allowed to intefere directly in conflicts.


Article II of the UNSC’s most recent resolution, detailing the significant restrictions of the newly formed UNCIIP. [Source: UNSC]

Some countries even suggested sanctions on India and Pakistan in an attempt to put pressure on the two states, but these proposals were soon shot down by the delegate of India himself, who stated that he took “great offence” to these suggestions. It seemed that this was enough to cow the other member states of the UNSC, and there was not much further debate on the possibility.

All Things Must Come To An End

Unfortunately, unless the member states of the UNSC are able to muster up the courage and political will to take decisive action on the Kashmir conflict, the UNSC’s hands will remain bound - by ropes of its own making.

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