Istanbul, (PR): “Liberty, dignity, and self-determination pulsate in the breasts of the people of Kashmir. That innate craving for justice is no different from the people of other countries, like Namibia, East Timor, Southern Sudan, etc. The people of Kashmir, however, have not abandoned their right to determine their political future and continue to resist India’s annexation even today, despite the RSS/BJP-led Modi Administration. All the brutalities and suffering inflicted by Indian occupation forces have proven impotent in seeking to extinguish that popular demand,” this was stated by Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman, ‘World Forum for Peace and Justice’ during a Zoom conference on Kashmir, organized by Istanbul-based ‘Kashmir Monitoring Center and Asia-Pacific Workshop under the Divan Research and Education Association.”
Dr. Fai added that “India maintains its hold on Kashmir only with severe oppression, ruthless laws, and over 900,000 military and paramilitary forces. Might will never make right in the eyes of Kashmiris, and they hope that saner elements in world capitals will enlighten the world powers to this elemental lesson. The Kashmiri people have not forgotten the promise of a plebiscite. Instead, pressure from the Kashmiri people to exercise their right to self-determination has grown. Each time Kashmiris have renewed their demands, Indian authorities have answered with renewed repression. Modi Administration has taken it to its highest level through settler colonial projects and Changing the demography of Kashmir to turn the majority community into a minority,”
Dr. Fai explained “The crisis in Kashmir dates from 1947 when the British-empowered Maharajah turned Kashmir over to India against the wishes of the people of Kashmir. There has been Kashmiri resistance to India’s illegal rule ever since. The Security Council, in its resolutions 47 of 1948, 80 of 1950, 122 of 1957, and more than a dozen resolutions sought to restore peace and to carry out a plebiscite to determine the future of Kashmir by setting out steps ‘for the expeditious determination of the future of (the state of Jammu and Kashmir) in accordance with the freely expressed will of the inhabitant.” However, the Security Council has yet to fulfill its mandate to demilitarize the area and arrange for the plebiscite.”
World powers might wish to consider the question of whether it is a matter of either law or ethics for the United Nations to turn a blind eye to the plight of the people of Kashmir until the RSS-led Modi Administration completes what a campaign of genocide is evidently. The campaign, we must repeat, is being conducted in a territory whose status is yet to be decided under the auspices of the United Nations under its resolutions.
Fai warned that we know where the mushroom cloud would most likely appear in real life. It is the place that United States intelligence agencies label the most dangerous nuclear hotspot on the plane — Kashmir. That ought to inject a sense of international urgency to resolve the 76-year-old Kashmir conflict. The nuclear war over Kashmir is too important and frightening to be left to India and Pakistan.
In response to a question, Fai emphasized that India’s nefarious design is to incarcerate the Kashmiri leadership and muzzle free speech so that the political resistance movement is subdued and dismantled. Otherwise, how can one explain the illegal detention of Yasin Malik, Shabir Ahmed Shah, Masarat Aalam, Khurram Parvez, Aasia Andrabi, and dozens more?
In response to another question, Fai thanked the people of Turkey and in particular the leadership of President Erdogan who has always stood with the oppressed people of Kashmir. He said that President Erdogan has spoken about the issue of Kashmir not only in Ankara and Islamabad but also at the most prestigious platform in the world- the United Nations.
