Our Correspondent
Hyderabad
The Kashmir issue has resurfaced as an acute concern of the international community in the aftermath of August 5, 2019 revocation of Article 370 and 35 A of the Indian constitution by Indian government nullifying independent status of Kashmir. Speakers opined at a daylong national seminar titled ‘Internationalization of Kashmir Issue: A Diplomatic Success of Pakistan’ on Thursday, and suggested Pakistan government to approach International Court of Justice for revocation of Article 370 and 35 of the Indian constitution.
The seminar, organized by Sindh University Pakistan Study Centre, was presided over by the Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Fateh Muhammad Burfat while Prof. Dr. Uzma Shujaat, Dr. Khalil-u-Rehman Shaikh, Dr. Ishrat Afshan Abbasi and Dr. Sumera Umrani were the key speakers. Dr. Burfat said that the will of the people of Kashmir counted supreme as it related to their lives and the lives of the generations that were to come. ‘This seminar condemns in consensus Indian violence, Indian bid to flip in its favor the demographic landscape of the valley and ruthless use of formidable force to suppress judicious voice of people of Kashmir’, he remarked.
Dr. Burfat said that war between two nuclear states entailed catastrophic disasters, hence it had better be treated as a last, not-to-be desired option, whereas ‘dialogue’ be opted as a peaceful means to hammer out mutually-agreeable deal. ‘India needs to shun its belligerent, bellicose, hate-motivated, irresponsible and irrational attitude to move ahead on Kashmir imbroglio in the interest of global peace’, he asserted.
Keynote speaker, member Prime Minister’s strategic policy planning cell and Director, KU Centre for European Studies Prof. Dr. Uzma Shujaat said that South Asia was a region, where as a colonial legacy, all major nationalist and ethnic conflicts had a long and chequered history. ‘To resolve Kashmir conflict, one needs to demystify its overlapping layers like culture, religion, identity and ethnicity to formulate a viable reconciliation policy framework’, Dr.Uzma opined.
Dr. Uzma said India had never been a secular state; it had rather always projected disguised communalism as secularism as an eye-wash for the world. ‘The Pakistan Government should engage its civil society, youth, academia, intelligentsia and media to change public perception on Kashmir issue. Pakistan also needs to be Kashmir-centric if it wished to win global support’, she stated.