ISLAMABAD Youth Forum for Kashmir (YFK), an international Kashmir lobby group Friday organized a webinar that brought together Kashmir experts to explore steps to avoid the possibility that a global focus on COVID-19 pandemic might take attention away from the situation in Kashmir. The webinar was titled, “How to Avoid Kashmir Defocus Amid Pandemic Concerns,” said a press release issued here. Altaf Hussain Wani, Chairman, Kashmir Institute for International Relations, Dr Waqas Ali Kausar, Head of Department of Governance and Public Policy at NUML, Prof. Shagufta Ashraf, University of AJK at Kotli, Advocate Pervez Shah from APHC, and Ahmed Quraishi, Director, YFK participated in the discussion. During the discussion Dr Kausar dismissed the notion that the current pandemic would strike Kashmir from the headlines. The conflict in Kashmir, he argued has seen highs and lows over the past seven decades and the occupation forces in that territory had failed to suppress the freedom movement. The Kashmiri freedom movement was resilient and the global focus on the pandemic would not hurt coverage of the situation, Dr Kausar said. Altaf Wani endorsed the assessment and cited the example set by Pakistan’s permanent representative to United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Khalil Hashmi, who, on April 9 during an informal video-link meeting of Human Rights Council with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, “highlighted that pre-COVID-19 human rights abuses perpetrated by India against Kashmiris had exacerbated amidst this pandemic.” This and other developments, said Wani, confirmed that sidelining Kashmir in global news coverage despite the pandemic was not possible. Advocate Pervez Shah briefed the participants and the online audience on the situation inside the disputed region with India’s lockdown and communication blackout. Ahmed Quraishi highlighted the need to generate debate among rights’ activists and policy experts on how to link the global discourse on the pandemic and lockdowns to Kashmir. —APP
