LONDON/BRUSSELS A joint statement issued at the end of COVID–19 Kashmir Conference has called for implementation of the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir as well as the recommendations contained in the 2018 and 2019 Reports of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights . The conference was organized by the All Parties Group on Kashmir – European Parliament (APGKEP) and Organisation of Kashmir Coalition (OKC) via video link simultaneously in Brussels and London, and it was attended by politicians, academics, jurists, human rights defenders and journalists. The speakers on the occasion said, India unashamedly is using COVID–19 guise to persist reign of terror in Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir with its iron fist. The joint statement said that the crisis around COVID-19 pandemic was overshadowing all other pressing issues worldwide. ‘Therefore, we are especially concerned, during these unprecedented times, that the Indian authorities are using the pandemic to silence Kashmiri voices by eradicating Kashmiri leadership and demoralising and destroying civil society.’ ‘We call for international solidarity in joining forces to resolve the COVID-19 crisis and endorse the United Nations Draft Declaration on the Right to International Solidarity,’ the declaration said. The statement noted with concern that the Indian constitution was modified in order to change the status of Jammu & Kashmir through allowing a demographic development to convert Kashmiris into a minority in their own land. Following is the text of unanimously adopted joint statement: We continue to advocate that pertinent United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir must be implemented, as well as the recommendations contained in the 2018 and 2019 Reports of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The common thread of all the presentations was expressed in terms that India unashamedly is using COVID–19 guise to persist reign of terror in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir with its iron fist; arbitrary arrests and detentions (including political leadership and civil society leadership), enforcing demographic change and limited internet services with no 4G. We agreed to organise and to hold a COVID–19 Kashmir Conference via video link to take stock of happenings in IOJK on the ground. We have in the past over the years either followed the conflict or have been a part of it. Individually, we made recommendations, advised the international community and undertook concrete proposals to overcome the deadlock in that territory in the Himalayas. We continue to advocate that pertinent United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir must be implemented, as well as the recommendations contained in the 2018 and 2019 Reports of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Now we want to bring together our knowledge, our experiences, our aspirations, our ideas and our proposals to ensure that the fundamental human rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir are protected and promoted and their right to selfdetermination realized, as stipulated in Article 1 common to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights. We know that the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir is not the only burning subject in international politics, but we shall continue to undertake all such measures to maintain the Jammu & Kashmir conflict higher on the agenda at the international fora. We are conscious that the crisis around COVID-19 Pandemic is overshadowing all other pressing issues worldwide. Therefore, we are especially concerned, during these unprecedented times, that the Indian authorities are using the Pandemic to silence Kashmiri voices by eradicating Kashmiri leadership and demoralising and destroying civil society.—KMS
