New York: In a joint memorandum addressed to the UN Secretary General Mr. Antonio Guterres, the secretary General World Kashmir Awareness Forum Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, and President PTI Barrister Sultan Mehmood Choudhary while seeking the highest body’s attention towards the unending sufferings of Kashmiri people have said that in view of the simmering situation in the Indian occupied territory the UN should redouble its efforts to settle the lingering dispute to ensure durable peace in the region.
The communiqué said, “We are writing to urge a leadership role of the United Nations in resolving the 70-year-old Kashmir conflict that has inflicted pain, agony, and injustice on a scale that makes East Timor, and Southern Sudan pale in comparison: more than 100,000 killings in the past two decade alone, and routine rape, torture, mutilation, plunder, disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and ruthless punishment of peaceful political dissentâ€.
“Kashmir conflict is perhaps the most dangerous conflict in the world because of the spiraling nuclear and missile race between India and Pakistan coupled with historical enmities that have occasioned three wars between the two rivals. It is implausible to believe that these two neighboring countries will either cap or renounce their respective nuclear genies after they have escaped the South Asian bottle unless the chief source of antagonism between the two — Kashmir — is resolved. It is obvious that no settlement can last if it is not based on justice for the people of Kashmir and recognition of their inherent rightsâ€, memorandum said adding that the past 70 years have proven that bilateral India-Pakistan negotiations to resolve Kashmir conflict are simply charades that achieve nothing but more strife and horror stories in Kashmirâ€, the memo said.
“A new negotiating formula is thus urgently required both in the name of international peace, security and human rights. The element that has been missing in efforts towards a settlement is the political representation of Kashmiris on the negotiating table along with India and Pakistan. The All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) that represents the broader spectrum of the opinion of the Kashmiri people is unswervingly devoted to a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute, and is eager to explore constructive approaches to jump-starting the longstanding Kashmir stalemate that has ensued when the problem has been perceived as bilateral, to the exclusion of the 20 million Kashmiri peopleâ€, the communiqué said adding that if Northern Ireland required the participation of Sinn Fein in negotiations to succeed, Kashmir is no different.
The memorandum said, “We completely endorse the statement of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights who expressed serious concern about the situation in Kashmir and proposed on September 13, 2016 that ‘an independent, impartial and international mission is now needed crucially and that it should be given free and complete access to establish an objective assessment of the claims made by the two sidesâ€.
“We place the trust in the statesmanship of the Excellency, as the Secretary General of the United Nations that you will not countenance any attempt to ignore the wishes of the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir and bypass the expression of those wishesâ€, the memo said.
