International Kashmir Conference on Challenges and Prospects

Brussels: International Kashmir Conference on Challenges and Prospect was held at Room PHS1A002 European Parliament. Organised by Jammu Kashmir Self Determination Movement International with the support of Friends of Kashmir in European Parliament. The conference was chaired jointly by Anthea McIntyre MEP Conservative MEP for the West Midlands and co-chair of Friends of Kashmir group in the parliament, Richard Corbett MEP and Raja Najabat Hussain Chairman JKSDMI.In attendance were MEP’S, Pakistani Senators. Kashmiri stakeholders, the leadership of different parties, the delegates from UK and Europe including representatives of the APHC and several organisations working on the Kashmir issue, in public and Parliaments as well as in United Nations. Anthea McIntyre MEP expressed her views on her recent visits to Azad Kashmir and Pakistan. She said it was a very successful visit where she was able to explore the real situation of the Pakistan Administered Kashmir. She explained in the conference that Violence and oppression in Kashmir can no longer be seen as a private matter between India and Pakistan. It must be treated seriously as an urgent and global Human Rights issue and resolution sought by the whole international community. Miss McIntyre, Conservative MEP for the West Midlands and co-chair of Friends of Kashmir group in the parliament set the agenda for delegates by outlining the findings of her visit last week to Azad Jammu and Kashmir with a delegation of British Parliamentarians. She said: “This is one of the longest-running conflicts in the world and the ordinary citizens of Kashmir are the forgotten victims. We heard heartbreaking accounts from people tortured and shot by the Indian authorities, who have lost loved ones and been divided from their families”. We spoke to a woman who suffered beatings at the border in front of her daughter then was forced to separate from her husband who is gravely ill in Indian Occupied Kashmir”. She said the delegates heard repeated accounts of civilians, including infants, being blasted with shotguns and insisted: “Whatever justification may be claimed – and in these cases there really is none – there can never be any excuse for killing and maiming and blinding small children.” Chairman JKSDMI Raja Najabat Hussain expressed his views and said he will continue to struggle for the self-determination of the Kashmiri nation not only in the European Parliament but also in every effective platform available in the world. He also announced his future plans at the end. Also present were MEP Julie Ward, Alex Mayer MEP, His Excellency Nughmana Hashmi the High commissioner of Pakistan in Brussels, Senator Faisal Javed, Senator Karim Tareen, Dr Syed Nazir Ahmed Gillani President Jammu Kashmir Human Rights Council in United Nations, Shaikh Tajammul Islam Director Kashmir Media Services Islamabad, Abdul Hameed Lone Secretary Information of Hurriyat Conference Azad Kashmir Chapter, Syed Aijaz Ahmad Deputy Chairman Hurriyat Conference Azad Kashmir Chapter, Zaffar Ahmad Chairman Kashmir Campaign Global, Ali Raza Syed Chairman European Kashmir Council, Naeem Chaudhary Chairman Jammu Kashmir Forum France, Zulfiqar Butt Secretary General of Jammu Kashmir Forum France, Mohammed Azam Secretary General JKSDMI, Cllr Yasmine Dar Chairperson JKSDMI UK, Harry Boota Director Administration JKSDMI,Sardar Sadiq Khan President PTI Belgium, Ambassador Anthony,Nughmana Kanwal Sheikh, Sabeena Khan, Rubina Khan, Nasarah Khan, Asifa Hashmi, Shahida Jarral, Tariq Butt, Abida Iqba, Rukhsana Kiani, John Furbisher, Mrs Khadija Kiani, Faye Keny, Shahida and others.Report by S M Irfan Tahir Photojournalist National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Great Britain.