Geneva: The British expert and historian Victoria Schofield has said that if holding a plebiscite across the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir is a problem, the United Nations could instead go for holding regional plebiscites.
Schofield, the author of several books and papers on Kashmir conflict said this while speaking at an international panel during the 35th session of Human Rights Council (UNHRC) here on Monday. She was joined by activists from Indian-occupied Kashmir, Palestine and Western Sahara, and UN’s independent expert on the promotion of equitable international order, Alfred de Zayas. Senior APHC leader Altaf Hussain Wani moderated the event, and Sardar Amjad Youssef Khan, Executive Director, Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR) was a keynote speaker.
Three international NGOs with special status at the UN organized the event: World Muslim Congress (WMC), the International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations (IIFSO), and International Muslim Women’s Union (IMWU).
Speaking on the occasion Schofield said hat politics and logistics contributed to the delay in holding the plebiscite, but this can be resolved. One idea that she floated to ensure plebiscite implementation is for the UN to hold the plebiscite in every region of Kashmir separately instead of one, big exercise.
“Holding a UN-supervised plebiscite is a key requirement under UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSC) on Kashmir conflictâ€, she said adding that after seven decades of Indian military occupation of Kashmir, Kashmiris have become “hard, but not harmful.â€
Kashmiris, she said, are fighting for self-determination since 1931, which means sixteen years before India invaded and occupied the territory in 1947. She compared life in Kashmir under Indian army curfews to the life in cities in Europe to highlight daily Kashmiri misery.
UN Independent Expert Alfred de Zayas said the United Nations has a duty toward India, Pakistan, and Kashmiris to get UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions on Kashmir Conflict implemented. Referring to states that became independent without bloodshed after the fall of Soviet Union, de Zayas wondered why Kashmir freedom is taking time despite so many sacrifices in lives.
Sardar Amjad Youssef explained the multiple ways in which the international community could benefit from resolving Kashmir conflict. The world must invest in Kashmir peace, he told the panelists.