THE visit of President-elect of the UN General Assembly Volkan Bozkir to Islamabad provided a good opportunity to Pakistani leadership to effectively project the plight of oppressed Kashmiri people who have been under an inhumane military siege over the last one year after the occupied territory was stripped of its special status by Modi Junta. Prime Minister Imran Khan in his meeting with Bozkir stressed that the UN should play its rightful role in addressing the grave situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and ensure that Kashmiris exercise their right to self determination as promised to them in the UN Security Council resolutions. Bozkir whilst addressing a news conference along with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi stressed the need for resolution of the lingering dispute for sustainable peace and stability in South Asia.
There is nothing new in these statements which, in fact, are not enough to bring relief to the life of Kashmiris facing worst kind of state terrorism unleashed by Modi government in the disputed region. It is unfortunate that the UN has not done anything to solve the oldest dispute lying on its agenda. It was the world body which first legitimized the struggle of the Kashmiri people but has done little to honour its commitment to them. Over the last seven decades, the Kashmiri people have been rendering blood for their right to self-determination but since 5th August last year, all records of repression and oppression have been broken with millions of people locked down in their homes in the valley. It is a slap in the face of the UN and the global community at large for failing to hold a plebiscite as they promised. The only crime of Kashmiris is that they are Muslims. Had these atrocities been committed against the followers of any other religion, the world community would have come into swift action. The question is if East Timor and South Sudan can get independence, why not the Kashmiris can be given their birthright. Whilst it is time for the world community including the Muslim world to stand with the oppressed rather than seeing India as a big market, it is also for the UN to move towards saving the Kashmiri people from the cruel clutches of New Delhi by ensuring implementation of its resolutions.
