India has rejected a proposal of the Jedda-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation to send a delegation to volatile Kashmir, which remains under siege following the ending of its special status in August 2019. The OIC proposal came during a meeting of the OIC Secretary General Yusef Al-Othaimeen with the Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ausaf Sayeed. .

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India has rejected a proposal of the Jedda-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation to send a delegation to volatile Kashmir, which remains under siege following the ending of its special status in August 2019.

The OIC proposal came during a meeting of the OIC Secretary General Yusef Al-Othaimeen with the Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ausaf Sayeed.

The OIC said in a statement that the Secretary-General reviewed with Ausaf Sayeed a number of issues "concerning the situation of Muslims in India, along with the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and relevant UN and OIC resolutions opposing any unilateral actions on the issue".

He also conveyed to the Indian ambassador the "desire" of the OIC General Secretariat to dispatch a delegation to the "disputed territory" in line with relevant resolutions of the OIC Council of foreign ministers.

The rare meeting is significant as OIC has repeatedly criticized India's decision to reorganize the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir.

Referring to the meeting, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing that "During the meeting, a wide range of issues were discussed. Our ambassador conveyed the need to correct some of the misperceptions about India that are perpetrated by vested interests in the OIC."

The OIC, he said, should be "watchful that their platform is not subverted by these vested interests for comments on internal affairs of India or for anti-India propaganda through biased and one-sided resolutions".

Pakistan's statement

Responding to media queries regarding a meeting between the OIC Secretary General and the Indian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the spokesperson stated:

"During the meeting the Secretary General underscored the OIC's principled position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute during the meeting.

"The OIC Foreign Ministers in Niamey in November 2020 categorically rejected India's unilateral actions since 5 August 2019. It also demanded that India rescind its illegal actions and respect the inalienable right of the Kashmiri people to self-determination, as promised by numerous UNSC resolutions.

"The OIC resolutions, inter alia, call on the Secretary General to dispatch a Fact-Finding Mission to IIOJK to ascertain the situation on ground and report its findings to the next CFM. The OIC Foreign Ministers resolutions also call on the Secretary General to take up the matter with the Indian authorities.

"India has consistently ignored OIC resolutions and evaded its responsibility of protecting the fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people. This is the first time that the principled position of the 57 OIC members states has been duly conveyed to India. India should review its policies in Jammu & Kashmir and fully implement UNSC and OIC Resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute."

Abrogation of Article 370

On August 5, 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government abrogated Article 370 of India's constitution that granted the Muslim-majority region a special status, with powers to make its own laws in all matters except finance, defense, foreign affairs and communications.

The region was placed under an unprecedented security lockdown and internet shutdown for months following the decision, drawing condemnation from rights organizations and the United Nations.

A year on, life remains hard in Kashmir with several checkpoints still in place and half a million jobs lost in the region by the end of 2019, according to the Kashmir chamber of commerce.

Kashmiris fear New Delhi's decision to allow Indians from other states to buy land and compete for local jobs are aimed at demographic change in the region of nearly eight million people.

Indian Prime Minister's meeting with Kashmiri leaders failed

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a number of leaders from the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir held a meeting on June 24, but failed to build a consensus on any major issue involving the disputed territory, media reports said.

No formal statement was issued after the crucial meeting as all the participants left after the meeting individually.

However, the media quoted Kamishiri Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad as saying that Kashmiri leaders put five demands to Modi during the meeting: (1) restore the Indian-occupied Kashmir as a state, (2) hold state-assembly elections, (3) rehabilitate Kashmiri pundits in the disputed region, (4) domiciles rules, and (5) release all political workers who were detained after the Modi government's decision to revoke the special status of Kashmir on August 5, 2019.

Azad said that 80 percent of the Kashmiri leaders spoke on Article 370, but the matter was sub-judice in the court. "Our demands included restoration of Kashmir as a full-fledged state, elections to restore democracy, rehabilitation of Kashmiri pundits, release of political detainees and provision of land employment guarantee," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.

Modi chaired the meeting in New Delhi attended by the Himalayan region's 14 political leaders, including Modi's own party members. Among those invited were occupied Kashmir's former three top elected officials: Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti, who was a regional coalition partner of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party for nearly two years after the 2016 state elections.

Experts say the meeting was meant to ward off mounting criticism at home and abroad after Modi's Hindu nationalist government in August 2019 downgraded the region's status, split it into two federal territories--Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir--and removed inherited protections on land and jobs for the local population.

Sushant Singh, a senior fellow at the Center for Policy Research, a public-policy think tank in India, said geopolitical reasons forced "Modi's hand for an outreach towards Kashmiri political leaders." In a tweet, he said that the UAE-brokered backchannel talks led to "certain commitments from the Modi government on Kashmir."

Tellingly, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed the Centre over Prime Minister Modi's meeting with J-K political leaders, saying the country's name was tarnished globally when J-K statehood was revoked. "I don't know what was the need for removing the statehood in the first place. Country's name was tarnished globally due to that move," Mamata Banerjee said.

Authors Bio:

Author and journalist.
Author of
Islamic Pakistan: Illusions & Reality;
Islam in the Post-Cold War Era;
Islam & Modernism;
Islam & Muslims in the Post-9/11 America.
American Muslims in Politics.
Islam in the 21st Century: Challanges, conspiracies & Chaos
Muslim Word in the New Global Order
Currently working as free lance journalist.
Executive Editor of American Muslim Perspective: www.amperspective.com