Altaf Hamid Rao
MIRPUR (AJK):(Parliament Times) A side event at United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, attended by a visiting Kashmir delegation, on Wednesday concluded that international pressure on India to prevent a war with Pakistan has opened the door to a similar intervention to resolve Kashmir conflict, says a message reaching and released to the media here Wednesday night.
“International pressure on New Delhi is a positive development and that strengthens the case for a similar intervention in Kashmir”, said human rights defenders, according to the message.
Two members of the Kashmir Delegation to 40th session of Human Rights Council participated in the side event at Palais des Nations, Geneva, organized by World Muslim Congress, an ECOSOC-status international nongovernmental organization, it said.
Prof. Mehmet Sukru Guzel from Turkey, Representative of CAPAJ, an INGO, chaired the session, with the participation of speakers from the United States and Western Sahara, and with human rights defenders and experts in the audience.
Altaf Hussain Wani, Leader of the Kashmir Delegation, told the event that the Indian criminal justice system is clogged with cases of human rights abuses in Kashmir that remain pending or unresolved. India has failed to make progress on any case where the victims are Kashmiri citizens and the perpetrators are Indian military and law enforcement.
The world successfully intervened to stop India from a military adventure last week and applied pressure on New Delhi, the same can be done on Kashmir conflict resolution, said Ahmed Quraishi, executive director, YFK-International Kashmir Lobby Group.
Ambassador Ronald Barnes, an expert on the right to self-determination, explained how human rights defenders are pushing the agenda on the right to self-determination.
India’s position on Kashmir conflict has further weakened after last week’s standoff with Pakistan. The crisis has refocused international attention on Kashmir.
