Mowahid Says No Peace without Justice in Kashmir

Washington, DC: Peace in South Asia is inextricably linked with a fair resolution of longstanding Jammu and Kashmir dispute, said Mowahid Hussain Shah, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister, Punjab, and a noted policy analyst on international affairs, while urging that India should reconsider its policy of military subjugation of Kashmir.
In a well-attended and high-powered panel discussion on “New Models of South Asian Cooperation and Peace Building,” held at the American University in Washington, DC, and hosted by Professor Akbar Ahmed, Mowahid said India must heed the call of justice in the occupied Kashmir and stressed that matters should be seen in totality, not in isolation, for achieving the goal of long-term peace and progress of one fifth of humanity living in South Asia.
“India must seriously reconsider its policy of military occupation of Kashmir – Kashmir may have been occupied but the spirit of Kashmiri people remains unconquered,” he observed.
Mowahid stated that the UN resolutions, urging free and fair plebiscite under the auspices of the world body, offer a viable solution to the lingering Kashmir dispute.
On several occasions, he countered remarks by Indian participants by underlining the fact that Pakistan has been a land that fostered tolerant and peaceful coexistence of cultures.
Pakistan, he said, has a vibrant civil society where women and minorities have unprecedented representation in parliament. He pointed out that 200 million untouchable Dalits living in India face the worst forms of caste discrimination.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------