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| 'Kashmir issue about right to self-determination' | | What about Jammu, Ladakh? | | Neha
JAMMU, May 8: An international conference hosted by anti-India Washington-based Kashmiri American Council (KAC) on May 5 at Islamabad said that Kashmir was an issue of right to self-determination "that gives people the power to decide their future without foreign interference". The International Kashmir Conference titled "Is Kashmir an Issue of Election or Self-determination" was participated in by leaders of various political and religious parties of Pakistan, academicians, scholars, diplomats, Parliamentarians, journalists and human rights activists - apart from some self-styled Kashmiri leaders from both sides of the dividing line - and was presided over by Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan, President of Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). Imtiaz Ahmed Khan, chairman of Kashmir American Council and professor of microbiology at George Washington University, USA, was chief guest at the conference. Some of those who spoke in the conference included chairman of Kashmir Committee Moulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, Sardar Zulfiqar Khan of KAC Sheikh Waleed Rasool, chief coordinator of the conference former PoJK president, Sardar Anwar Khan, Jamaat-e-Islami PoJK chief Abdul Rasheed Turabi, Barister Sultan Mehmood Choudhary, Ghulam Mohammad Safi, Mehmood Ahmed Saghar; Sheikh Tajamul Islam, executive director Kashmir Media Service; Syed Yousuf Naseem; London-based Kashmiri Syed Nazir Gilani; Ghulam Nabi Nowsheri; Altaf Hussain Wani; Rafique Ahmed Dar; Engineer Mehmood; Manzoor-ul-Haq; Mashal Yasin Malik; and Nayar Malik. Messages of Kashmiri separatists Syed Ali Shah Gilani, Shabir Ahmed Shah, Mohammad Yasin Malik and Syeda Aasia Indrabi were also read out at the conference. They and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq wanted to attend the anti-India conference on Jammu and Kashmir but they couldn't make it as they couldn't get the necessary travel documents.
Everyone who spoke talked about right to self-determination and asserted that it is the "cardinal principle of international law and the main axis around which the post colonial world revolves". As for the elections, the speakers while referring to international covenants said that the "world body (UN) in its historic resolution on 24 January 1957 made it absolutely clear that election could not be a substitute to Kashmiris' inalienable right to self-determination". The people of Kashmir have time and again boycotted what they called "farcical polls" in Kashmir, and added that elections have nothing to do with Kashmiris' freedom struggle.
"Kashmir issue has a legal international dimension and needs to be addressed accordingly," they maintained. The speakers also used the opportunity to appreciate the services and contribution of US-based ISI agent of Kashmir origin Ghulam Nabi Fai, saying that he had been projecting the Kashmir cause at international level since decades. Besides, they welcomed Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif's recent statement on Kashmir wherein he stressed the need for resolution of Kashmir dispute in line with Kashmiris' aspirations and in accordance with the United Nations resolutions. Kashmir is Pakistan's jugular vein, he had said - a statement that was condemned in Delhi both by the Congress and BJP, with the leadership of both these parties warning the Pakistani army chief to behave and telling the Pakistani establishment that the only issue which still remains unresolved between the countries was the political future of PoJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, which were legitimately Indian.
What did the declaration that was issued at the end of conference say? It urged the United Nations Secretary General to appoint a special envoy of international standing on Kashmir to seek early and amicable solution of the lingering issue. The nasty declaration did not refer to the aspirations and political attitudes of the people of Jammu province and Ladakh region, which house more than half of the state's population and occupy over 88 per cent of the state's land area. The declaration was, as expected, Kashmir-centric. No one in New Delhi would ever endorse the Pakistani line on Kashmir. The reason is that the Indian nation is committed to the territorial integrity of India and the country's sovereignty. Remember, PM Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi were all for a compromise on Jammu and Kashmir, but they could move in this direction under the intense pressure from below. The Congress-led UPA is destined to vacate the crucial South Block next week and new Government, which most probably would be the Narendra Modi Government, will surely adopt a pro-active foreign policy vis-a-vis Pakistan. In other words, things would change in Delhi after the formation of new Government in Delhi. In fact, the prospect of Modi becoming the Prime Minister has been keeping the Pakistani leadership and Kashmiri separatists awake in the night. |
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