Dr. Syed Nazir Gilani
The River Jhelum is more than a transboundary river. It is one of the principal natural arteries of the historic State of Jammu and Kashmir. Rising from the ancient spring of Verinag in the District of Anantnag, it traverses the Kashmir Valley before flowing through Azad Jammu and Kashmir into Pakistan, where its waters ultimately join the Chenab River. Today, its waters are governed internationally by the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan. Yet a fundamental legal question has received remarkably little attention:
What are the rights of the people whose land gives birth to the River Jhelum?
This question cannot be answered solely by reference to the Indus Waters Treaty. It requires consideration of international law relating to natural resources, self-determination, human rights, and the legal status of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
A River Born in Kashmir
The Jhelum originates not in India or Pakistan as sovereign territories, but in the territory of the former princely State of Jammu and Kashmir. For centuries, its waters have sustained the economic, agricultural, ecological, and cultural life of the region. The river is inseparable from the history and identity of Kashmir.
This geographical reality gives rise to an important legal principle. International law increasingly recognises that the people of a territory possess a collective interest in the natural resources of their homeland. Rivers, forests, minerals, and other natural resources are not merely economic assets to be allocated between States; they also form part of the common heritage of the people whose territory contains them.
The River Jhelum is therefore not simply an international watercourse. It is a natural resource that originates in the homeland of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indus Waters Treaty Regulates Use—Not Ownership
The Indus Waters Treaty allocates rights of utilisation between India and Pakistan. It establishes mechanisms for cooperation, engineering works, data exchange, and dispute resolution. It is one of the world’s most enduring agreements on shared rivers.
However, the Treaty does not determine ownership of the waters of the Jhelum. Nor does it purport to extinguish the collective rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Treaty is an agreement between two States. It was not negotiated by representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, nor does it address their legal interests as a people whose territory contains the river’s source.
Accordingly, while the Treaty regulates interstate utilisation, it does not answer the broader question of who possesses the enduring legal interest in the river as a natural resource.
Permanent Sovereignty Over Natural Resources
One of the most significant developments in international law since the adoption of the Indus Waters Treaty has been the recognition of the doctrine of Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources, affirmed by the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 1803 (XVII) of 1962.
The doctrine establishes a simple but powerful principle:
People have permanent sovereignty over their natural wealth and resources.
This principle is deliberately framed in terms of peoples, not merely governments. It reflects the understanding that natural resources belong fundamentally to the community whose land gives rise to them and whose social, cultural, and economic life depends upon them.
For the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the River Jhelum is one such resource.
Self-Determination and Control Over Natural Wealth
The principle of permanent sovereignty is reinforced by common Article 1 of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
These treaties provide that:
“All people may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources.”
They further declare:
“In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.”
These provisions establish an intrinsic connection between self-determination and control over natural resources. Where a people has not yet exercised its right to determine its political future, international law discourages arrangements that permanently alienate or disregard its natural wealth.
The unresolved status of Jammu and Kashmir gives this principle particular relevance.
The Human Right to Water
International law has also evolved to recognise access to safe drinking water and sanitation as a fundamental human right. The United Nations Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly have affirmed that every person is entitled to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and affordable water.
For the people of Jammu and Kashmir, this means that their entitlement is not merely symbolic. They possess enforceable human rights relating to water, irrespective of the political dispute surrounding the territory.
However, the human right to water addresses individual access. It does not exhaust the broader question of collective rights over the river itself.
The Collective Interest of the People of Kashmir
The strongest contemporary legal argument is that the people of Jammu and Kashmir possess a continuing collective interest in the River Jhelum because:
- the river originates within their homeland;
- it forms part of their natural wealth and resources;
- international law recognises the permanent sovereignty of peoples over such resources;
- the unresolved status of Jammu and Kashmir preserves the relevance of the principle of self-determination; and
- no bilateral treaty between India and Pakistan can, without the participation of the people concerned, finally determine their enduring relationship with their natural resources.
This does not mean that India or Pakistan lack rights of utilisation under the Indus Waters Treaty. Rather, it means that those rights coexist with the continuing collective interests of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sovereignty and Stewardship
The principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources does not imply unrestricted ownership or exclusive control. It carries corresponding responsibilities of stewardship, environmental protection, sustainable development, and equitable use.
The waters of the Jhelum sustain millions of people downstream. International water law rightly requires cooperation between riparian States and prohibits significant harm.
Yet such cooperation should not obscure the prior reality that the river originates in the homeland of a people whose collective legal interests remain unresolved.
The people of Jammu and Kashmir are not passive observers of agreements concluded over their natural resources. They are the original stakeholders in the river that rises from Verinag.
A Missing Voice in Water Governance
For more than six decades, discussions concerning the River Jhelum have largely been framed as a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan. The people whose land gives rise to the river have rarely been recognised as participants in decisions concerning its future.
This omission has constitutional, legal, and moral implications.
The international community increasingly accepts that indigenous peoples, occupied peoples, and peoples entitled to self-determination should participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their natural resources. The people of Jammu and Kashmir should not constitute an exception to this evolving principle.
Their voice deserves recognition not because they seek to disrupt existing water-sharing arrangements, but because international law increasingly acknowledges that sovereignty over natural resources ultimately resides in peoples as much as in States.
Conclusion
The River Jhelum begins at Verinag in the heart of Kashmir. Before it becomes an international river, it is a Kashmiri river. Before it is divided for interstate utilisation, it is part of the natural heritage of the people whose homeland gives it birth.
The Indus Waters Treaty remains an important instrument governing the use of the river by India and Pakistan, but it does not extinguish the collective legal interests of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Contemporary international law—through the principles of permanent sovereignty over natural resources, self-determination, and the human right to water—supports the proposition that the people of Jammu and Kashmir retain an enduring legal interest in the waters originating from their land.
As debates over water security, climate change, and regional stability become increasingly urgent, it is time to recognise an overlooked legal reality: the River Jhelum is not merely a shared resource between two States. It is also part of the natural patrimony of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, whose land gives it life and whose collective rights deserve recognition in any just and durable framework for its governance.
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