Mohammad Jamil
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ four-day visit to Pakistan was unique in many ways, as he had a very hectic schedule ie from attending a seminar, visiting a mosque, meetings with Pakistani civil and military leadership and visit to Kartarpur Corridor. He was all praise for Pakistan on many counts, and stated: “The role Pakistan has played in sheltering and protecting Afghan refugees with limited international assistance, as well as its support to UN peacekeeping, and its steps to take concrete climate action. I call on other countries to support Pakistan and indeed show similar leadership in sharing this responsibility in this region and around the world”. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres maintained the UN position that the relevant resolutions of the Security Council on the issue should be implemented and for effective de-escalation, dialogue, and another very important condition: full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of those in Jammu and Kashmir”.
He has not taken this position only because he was on Pakistan’s soil; last year, he had also said in a statement issued by his spokesperson after India’s decision to revoke Article 370 of Indian Constitution that “he had been following the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, with concern”. Mr. Guterres recalled the 1972 Agreement on bilateral relations between India and Pakistan, also known as the Simla Agreement, which states that the final status of Jammu and Kashmir is to be settled by peaceful means, in accordance with the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions”. He is the only UN Secretary General who has been candid in his views over Kashmir dispute and its implementation according to UNSC resolutions. He also praised Pakistan’s “great work” for the UN peacekeeping missions around the world. He visited the Centre for International Peace and Stability, NUST.
Addressing the participants of a seminar organized by the institute titled ‘Pakistan’s role in the UN Peace Missions’, the UN Secretary-General said: “It is an honour for me to address at such a prestigious organization as NUST.” He said that he is proud to be called as a partner of those working for Peace Missions, acknowledging that Pakistan is doing great work for these UN Peace missions. Mr Guterres said that 150,000 Pakistanis were represented in these peace missions, adding that 157 of them lost their lives for global peace. Though Pakistan’s role has been lauded by the UN, but UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ highlighted Pakistan’s commendable role in this regard. On Tuesday, he said that he had been moved by the show of religious unity and interfaith harmony he had witnessed in Pakistan after paying visits to Kartarpur Corridor, the visa-free crossing for Sikhs.
Of course, Antonio Guterres is the first UN Secretary General who believed that Kashmir dispute should be resolved through dialogue but within the parameters provided in the UNSC resolutions. The question is why he gave such bold statements. The answer is that Mr. Guterres, was elected by the UN General Assembly unanimously, unlike the past when the selection of a new United Nations Secretary-General, was traditionally decided behind closed-doors by a few powerful countries mainly the US. Mr. Guterres was not a lackey of any powerful country, but has had excellent past. He was Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015. The first-ever UN report on human rights in India-Occupied Kashmir released last year focused mainly on serious human rights violations in the region from July 2016 to April 2018.
“In responding to demonstrations that started in 2016, Indian security forces used excessive force that led to unlawful killings and a very high number of injuries,” the report had said. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, in a statement had called for a Commission of Inquiry by the Human Rights Council into all violations before opening a three-week session in Geneva in 2018. Previous Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s focus was on resolving the Kashmir dispute through bilateral talks, knowing full well that many rounds of talks had been held in the past including composite dialogue, and there was no progress due to intransigence of India. On the other hand, Antonio Guterres specifically mentioned Security Council resolutions on Kashmir dispute, and said that UN resolutions on Kashmir should be implemented.
The catastrophe is big enough to move any conscious human being, but unfortunately the apathy and insensitivity of international community had encouraged India to perpetrate atrocities on the people of Kashmir in violation of universally accepted human rights. Not that international community is unaware of repression and heinous crimes in India-occupied Kashmir (IoK); it is rather the vested interests of western governments to remain mute just to please India. Congress leaders have also criticized Modi’s policies. It is a matter of record that the first Prime Minister of India Jawahar Lal Nehru had accepted the UNSC resolution bestowing the right to self-determination, and asseverated on the floor of Indian Parliament that India would honour the commitment made with the international community.
The United Nations Security Council had, indeed, passed the resolution after taking into consideration all the facts including the intrigue of Lord Mountbatten and Nehru who got Maharaja’s signature through fraud and coercion. Having all said, the US and the West should realize that India’s refusal to implement the Security Council resolution is reflective of utter disregard to the UN Security Council resolutions. It goes without saying that people to people contacts, cultural exchanges and economic cooperation are not alternatives to the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. International community should, therefore, help resolve the Kashmir dispute to avert the impending disaster in case of war between the two atomic powers.
—The writer is a senior journalist based in Lahore.
