New York
An event in connection with the Kashmir Solidarity Day was organized by the All Pakistani American Council in New York to highlight the Kashmir issue at the international level.
Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Secretary General, World Kashmir Awareness Forum speaking at the event said, “The unflinching resistance by the people of Kashmir is a living proof that they are not going to compromise, far less abandon, their demand for Azadi (freedom) which is their birthright and for which they have paid a price in blood and suffering which has not been exacted from any other people of the South Asian subcontinent.”
He said, “The participation of Pakistani American community in highlighting the issue of Kashmir at the international level couldn’t be forgotten by the people of Kashmir. And they deserve the gratitude and appreciation of the people of Kashmir, who are literally under siege since August 5, 2019.”
Fai added, “Kashmir continues to bleed. We see the horrendous brutality, unstopped and unpunished barbarities unleashed against the defenseless population. A deliberate, systematic and officially sanctioned massive campaign of brutal oppression launched against the people of Kashmir is still on the increase. There is a deliberate targeting of youth in flimsy hopes to crush a legitimate and popular uprising against occupation. The irony is that the impunity that is being granted to the violator of human rights is not in the context of a new dispute. It is being allowed to arise and to persist in a territory which, under international law, is not part of any member state of the United Nations and whose status is yet to be determined through a free and impartial plebiscite under supervision and control of the United Nations.”
Fai quoted Srinagar based NGO, The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), which said: “Post abrogation of Article 370 by the Indian Parliament, the State of Jammu and Kashmir has been in a state of siege and lockdown; the lockdown has egregiously affected the daily lives of the people living in the valley. Fai also quoted Human Rights Watch, which issued a report on January 14, 2020, “The Indian government’s actions in Kashmir have led to loss of livelihood and access to education. The repression resulted in international criticism including in the United States’ Congress, the European Parliament, and the United Nations Human Rights Council.”
He said Kashmiris want peace but peace with dignity and honor. No country whatsoever has the right to decide the fate of Kashmir saying that it were the people of Kashmir who were granted the right to determine the political future.
The United Nations has the opportunity to affect a positive resolution to the conflict and resulting humanitarian situation by promoting the conditions of the original mandate. It is only through international recognition and inclusive representations that a genuine and lasting peace can ensue. The risks of maintaining the status quo – for Kashmir, South Asia and the world – are too great to ignore, Fai added.
Dr. Fai urged the Trump administration to place Kashmir on its radar screen, because of the American and international consensus that Kashmir pinched between nuclear-capable India and Pakistan is the most dangerous place on the planet. Now is no time for complacency or temporizing. The nuclear clock is moving forward, not backward. And the chilling suffering and misery of the Kashmiri people continues every day a peaceful resolution is deferred.
Senator Captain Khalid Shaheen said that Pakistan has always stood by the side of Kashmir’s demand for a plebiscite, because they felt cheated when India invaded Kashmir. According to agreements then in place in 1947, majority Muslim provinces within British India would have joined the new state of Pakistan while those primarily Hindu would have stayed in what remained of India. Kashmir was very solidly Muslim with only a small minority of Hindu and other communal groupings, and a plebiscite would have determined whether or not Kashmir would choose to join Pakistan instead of India.
He said the killings of innocent civilians in Indian occupied Kashmir must shake the conscience of all peace loving people. He condemned the efforts to muzzle the press and further expressed need to restore the right to assemble and freedom of expression in Indian occupied Kashmir
We stand in solidarity with the people of the occupied Kashmiris. We condemn in the strongest terms the ban on Internet, social media and restrictions on freedom of opinion and freedom of assembly, said Senator Shaheen.
Sardar Sawar Khan, former advisor to the prime minister of Azad Kashmir said that it was our duty to support the people of Kashmir who are struggling for their right to self-determination. Our objective is to draw the attention of the world powers to the situation in Kashmir and to exert pressure on the government of India and to resolve dispute over Kashmir and help stop human right violations in Indian occupied Kashmir.
Sardar Sawar said that the way the Kashmiri youth is confronting the Indian forces and turning the entire Kashmiri movement into a peaceful resistance not only impresses the people of Jammu and Kashmiri but also international community.
