Altaf Hamid Rao.
Islamabad/MIRPUR (AJK), (Parliament Times) : Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, during a meeting with a delegation led by Syed Arshad Hussain, President Kashmir Solidarity Council Canada, said that the Pakistan-Kashmir diaspora community has helped open new avenues for the advocacy of the Kashmir issue and the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people.
Mr. Hussain informed the AJK President of the various activities of the Kashmir Solidarity Council, including the holding rallies and conferences in connection to the Kashmir cause and highlighting the atrocities taking place in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK).
Mr. Hussain said that the Kashmir Solidarity Council has collaborated with other organisations to effectively take up the Kashmir issue, adding that the Council along with other similar organisations also helped mobilise support by participating in the massively successful Kashmir rally held in New York during the 2019 UN General Assembly Session.
Mr. Hussain said that over the years they have worked in close coordination with Canadian Member of Parliament, and recently he had corresponded with almost 300 MPs in which the human rights violations taking place in IOJK were highlighted. He said that an overwhelming response was received in which a bulk of them responded.
President Masood Khan while paying his tribute to the Pakistan-Kashmir diaspora community said that they have helped internationalise the Kashmir issue and brought the issue to the streets and squares. “The marvellous outreach of the diaspora community and their commitment to the Kashmir cause will always be a beacon of hope for us”, he said.
Recalling his visit to Canada, the President said that the people of Canada were very responsive and their representatives have helped raise the issue of Kashmir. Canada, he said, has contributed to decision making on Kashmir in the Security Council, in the very earliest phase of the deliberations on Kashmir, and has always supported the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) through its participation.
The President urged that organisations working for the rights of Kashmiris in the US, Canada, UK Europe, Middle East and South-East Asia should unite to develop a common platform and an international network. He added that the world is unravelling the evil face of India and organisations like the Human Rights Council and DisInfo Lab have exposed the truth by negating India’s narrative. “A pivotal role in this development has been played by the diaspora community”, he said.