Human and environmental impact in conflict zone

London: A parliamentary organised by Jammu Kashmir Liberation League was held in House of Commons today.  The lobby was attended by Julie Cooper MP Burnley Fabian Hamilton MP Leeds NE and others.

Heads of various political parties representing JK National Independence alliance including Mahmood Kashmiri, Ghulam Hussain, Amjad Yousaf, Abbas Butt attended the lobby. Among the JKLL members those who participated included Barrister Ashraf Mughal Shakil Rathore, Ibrahim Hassan Raja Fazil Barrister Naeem Khan.Describing the objectives of the event president Jammu Kashmir Liberation League Dr Misfar Hassan informed the meeting Kashmir is oldest outstanding unresolved issue on the agenda of UN Security Council.

It is a case of self Determination agreed by the august house of the UN. Over the years the two countries have failed to fulfil their obligations to the people of Jammu Kashmir. Meanwhile, there have been full-blown wars in which people of Kashmir have suffered immensely, while people of both countries have suffered heavy losses.

In 1961 founder of the JK Liberation League Mr KH Khurshid presented a political strategy but it was not given a go-ahead by rulers of Pakistan and as a consequence, the conflict lingered on. In 1971 Pakistan lost half the country as an aftermath the two governments reached Simla agreement in 1972 that converted the issue into a bilateral issue that was not accepted by the people of the State as their wishes were not taken into consideration. As a consequence, a third of the population is living under poverty lines with no access to healthcare education clean drinking water and housing facilities.

The development has also suffered due to the conflict. Recently the development of Hydel power projects in the areas under Pakistan administered Kashmir owing to the flawed design of the NJ Hydel Project a large population of Muzaffarabad city and surrounding areas will be water deprived. The project will have adverse impact on the ecosystem due to rising temperatures from the project.

Recently people and civil society has raised their voices about the impact of the project and if matters are given serious consideration it could lead to worst ever human made disasters. It would impact on regional and global environment adversely to an extent that it is feared that human survival would be incompatible in and around the capital city of Muzaffarabad. Due to the size of the project, it is feared that the adjacent areas would also be affected and ultimately it could have an impact on the glacial systems of the Himalayas that are source of water for many rivers in the region.

Concerns of the people and those raised by the experts in field require a serious and immediate action and intervention by the local authorities, owing to disputed status of the region intervention and monitoring by UN authorities is deemed necessary.

As large populations of the British Diaspora come from affected regions it is deemed absolutely essential that the elected members of the parliament play their due role in addressing and resolution of existing conflict with intentions to establish lasting peace in the region by providing a free and fair chance to the people of Jammu Kashmir o decide their future and address the arising issues affecting the environment adversely Addressing the meeting MP Julie Cooper reiterated her support to the just cause of the people of Jammu Kashmir in accordance to the UN Security Council resolutions.

MP Leeds North East Mr Fabian Hamilton said the environmental and human issues raised are a cause of concern to many of his constituents from Leeds and require serious efforts to address them according to the wishes of the people of Kashmir.Others who spoke on the occasion included Mahmood Kashmir Mr Amjad Yousaf Mr Ghulam Hussain, Mr Abbas Butt of JK National Independence Alliance addressed the meeting. While others who spoke on the occasion included Barrister Ashraf Barrister Naeem Khan Raja Fazil, Raja Wasif Wajeeha Suman and others.It was agreed that the issues arising on new developments in the region would be highlighted and cascaded to other members of Parliament to find a way to peace and a just resolution of longstanding issue of Kashmir.