Pays eulogizing tributes to Kashmiri martyrs

Islamabad: Speakers at a seminar organized by the Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR) while highlighting the dangerous dimensions of the lingering conflict have urged the influential world governments to play their pro-active role to settle the dispute of Kashmir peacefully in line with the UN security council resolutions.

The seminar held in connection with Kashmir martyrs’ day, today, was attended and addressed by the President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Masood Ahmed Khan, Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, Federal minister Fakhar Imam, Foreign office spokesperson Zahid Hafiz Chaudhary, PTI-AJK leader Ershad Mahmud, Executive Director Kashmir Media Service (KMS) Sheikh Tajamulul Islam, Abdul Hameed Lone, Gazala Habib and others. Whereas the event was moderated by the Chairman Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR) Mr. Altaf Hussain Wani.

On the occasion, the speakers said, “Since the situation in Indian illegally occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir is deteriorating day by day, it is imperative that the world community should take notice of the matter and influence the Indian government to resolve the dispute amicably as per the universally accepted principle of right to self-determination”.

They observed that the abysmal human rights situation in the occupied territory was an eye-opener for the world that has chosen to stay silent on the brutalities and barbarism inflicted upon the people of Kashmir by the Modi led fascist regime, which, they said, was hell bent on dismantle every sign that symbolized Kashmiri ethos, culture, history and its distinctive identity.

Paying rich tributes to July 13 martyrs the speakers termed the martyrdom of 22 youth by Dogra Troops as a milestone of Kashmiris’ ongoing struggle for right to self-determination. Paying eulogizing tributes to Kashmiri martyrs they said that the day was not far when decades-long struggle and the sacrifices of the Kashmiri nation would bear fruits.

Stressing the need for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute, they observed that the unresolved dispute of Kashmir has the potential to re-ignite flames of conflict between India and Pakistan. “Especially after India’s 5th August 2019 unilateral action the situation has assumed dangerous proportions”, the speakers said adding that the volatile situation in the region demands that the world community should play its much-needed role to address the issue in its historical perspective.

The speakers while referring to enactment of series of anti-Kashmiri laws, rebranding of demographics and redrawing of Jammu and Kashmir’s electoral map by the Indian government, said that these laws fraught with serious political ramification were part of the government’s sinister design to alter the region’s demography, deprive Kashmiris of their resources, jobs, identity, land and above all the right of self-determination guaranteed to them by no less an authority than the United Nations.

About the unending cycle of vicious violence in the region, the speakers said that India’s antagonistic approach and senseless targeting of Kashmiri youth amount to systematic genocide.

Urging the world community to take effective notice of the stepped-up human rights violations in the troubled region, they said that it was high time that the global community must influence the government of India to resolve the lingering dispute of Kashmir that happens to be the main cause and consequence of the continued unrest and bloodshed in the region.

They speakers on the occasion hailed Pakistan’s continued political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmir cause and incumbent government’s efforts to highlight the plight of Kashmiris at the international level.

They also voiced their grave concerns over the continued detention of Kashmiri leaders and called upon the world human rights bodies to play their role in early release of Kashmiri prisoners who had been arrested under the black laws of PSA and AFSPA.

They also called for the immediate lifting of the restrictions on peoples’ fundamental freedoms in IoK. Urging the Indian government to respect the rights of the Kashmiri people, they asked New Delhi to shun its policies of intransigence and pave a way for peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute in line with the UN Security Council resolutions.