Madrid: Peace in South Asia is not possible without a lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, said Sardar Masood Khan, President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir while addressing the prestigious Elcano Royal Institute here. Speaking on Security Challenges in South Asia, President Masood Khan said that South Asian security faced many challenges and risks including nuclear and conventional race, terrorism and extremism, poverty and economic underdevelopment, climate change, and fair distribution of waters, but the most daunting challenge was non-resolution of the Kashmir.
The President said India’s posture of non-engagement of Kashmir and its systemic violations of human rights in the Indian Occupied Kashmir are fraught with most serious risks for peace and security in South Asia.
The President said that Kashmir could be a trigger for a wider and more disastrous conflict in the region, as in the past it has been the cause of war – cassus beli – for four wars between India and Pakistan. Sardar Masood Khan clarified that the Kashmir dispute was not about secession of a province of India like Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Assam or Bengal, but the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir who never became part of India. “They have yet to exercise their will under the auspices of the United Nationsâ€, he said.
In the meantime, and instantly, he demanded that the ongoing massive violations of human rights in Kashmir should come to an end, emphasising that, despite severe restrictions, international human rights NGOs had gathered damning evidence of killings, bringing, rape and enforced disappearances in Kashmir. These crimes are being committed everyday with impunity, he said.
Responding to a question, Sardar Masood Khan said that Kashmiri Pandits had not been “ethnically cleansed†from Kashmir by Kashmiri Muslims. In fact, there are historical bonds between Pandit and Muslim communities. For a way forward, Sardar Masood Khan suggested a proactive role by the UN in resolving the Kashmir dispute, resumption of engagement between India and Pakistan, demilitarisation of the Indian Occupied Kashmir, elaboration of nuclear and conventional confidence building measures, strengthening of regional cooperation, and a better use of the additional space created by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Masood Khan said that India should stop using waters flowing from Jammu and Kashmir as a weapon of war. The Indus Water Treaty, he said, should be implemented faithfully and fairly; and waters should benefit all.
Meanwhile, in a meeting with Senator Oscar Lopez, Secretary International Relations and Spokesman of the Socialist Party of the Spain, President Masood Khan urged Spanish Parliament and European Parliament to take notice of the serious human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.
He said: “A whole nation, who has yet to decide its future, is being brutalised by India as retaliation for its aspiration for freedom and self-determinationâ€, he said demanding that India should be held accountable for its crimes against humanity in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.
Senator Oscar Lopez said that the situation in Kashmir was worrying and the human rights of the people of Kashmir must be respected and protected. He said that lawmakers in the Spanish Parliament were already seized of the situation and would cooperate in the efforts to ameliorate it.
Pablo Yanez, Head of the International Cooperation of the political party Ciudadanos, called on President Masood Khan and expressed concern over the continuing tensions in South Asia and the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Spanish leaders underlined the need for dialogue between India and Pakistan to address the longstanding issue of Jammu and Kashmir and contribute to peace and security. Sardar Masood Khan said that the people of Kashmir appreciate attention of Spanish Parliament and Spanish Members of European Parliament to the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Kashmir.
Later in the day, the President of Azad Kashmir also briefed editorial boards of leading Spanish newspapers – El Pais and ABC about the killings, torture, blindings, and incarcerations in the Indian Occupied Kashmir and urged the European media to highlight the atrocities in IOK. He also address addressed a gathering of Pakistani and Kashmiri community hosted by Pakistan’s Ambassador to Spain, Mr. Rafat Mahdi.
