Muslim nations during OIC’s Kashmir Contact Group meeting held on the sidelines of the UNGA session in New York came up with a firm support to Kashmiris’ right to self-determination, expressing deep concern over the worsening human rights situation in Indian held territory of Jammu and Kashmir and demanded the UN Security Council to ensure implementation of the relevant UN resolutions to seek an amicable settlement of the long running dispute.
In his statement, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan Khawaja Asif while highlighting the plight of Kashmiris said that since 1989 due to the oppression unleashed by the Indian Occupation forces, more than 95,000 Kashmiris had embraced Shahadat. Around 10,000 women had been raped in IOK by the Indian forces. Many of them had been gang raped. “During custody, worst forms of torture were being inflicted. There was absolute lawlessness in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. No human rights organizations were being allowed access to IOK, as India wanted to hide its shameless acts of sheer barbarism against the oppressed Kashmirisâ€, Asif said.
The OIC Secretary General, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Ministers & Representatives of Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Niger expressed their full support for Kashmiris, whereas Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to finding a just and peaceful solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UNSC resolutions. He said that Pakistan would continue to extend its steadfast political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris in their indigenous struggle for realization of fundamental rights.
Expressing deep concern over the grave situation in the IoK, the OIC Secretary General called for an immediate cessation of Indian oppression and atrocities and urged the government of India for peaceful settlement of the dispute, in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people and the UNSC resolutions. He said that though the Indian occupation forces could physically blind the Kashmiri people by their pellet guns, they could not block their vision for the realization of their right to self-determination.
The OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir, which was established during an extra-ordinary session of the conference of foreign ministers in Islamabad way back in 1994, usually meets once a year with a view to review the political and human rights situation in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir under Indian occupation. The group, comprising of Foreign Minister of five countries, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and Niger, has been a steadfast supporter of Kashmir cause and a strong proponent of peaceful settlement of Kashmir dispute. The group of five important countries and OIC in particular have always extended their consistent and unwavering support to Kashmir cause and reaffirmed their resolve to remain the voice of the Kashmiris’ at the international stage but unfortunately the Muslim body has so far not been able to translate its commitments into a reality. The two oldest unresolved disputes i.e. Kashmir and Palestine stand witness to the fact that the Muslim body has failed to seek settlement of these long running disputes. Issuing mere statements, adopting resolutions, decrying, mourning and chest-beating is not the solution to any of the daunting challenges faced by the Muslims living under foreign domination. It is time that the OIC should move beyond the rhetoric, revisit the wisdom and come up with a tangible policy and plan of action to translate its ideas into reality.
