Sacrifices of the People Kept the Kashmir Dispute Alive: Sardar Masood Khan
By Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai
Brooklyn, New York: “India’s belligerent signaling in the recent days forebodes a new wave of Indian-sponsored state terror and atrocities in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). This must be stopped at all costs. India’s irresponsible rhetoric will neither intimidate Pakistan nor deter Kashmiris from pursuing their struggle for freedom and self-determination. On the contrary, such threats strengthen the resolve the people of Jammu and Kashmir to continue to fight for their just cause,” said Sardar Masood Khan, President, Azad Jammu & Kashmir while addressing a gathering of Kashmiri and Pakistani Americans in Brooklyn, New York.
The President appealed to the UN Secretary General to persuade India to put an end to its atrocious and horrendous human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. “India poses a threat not only to its neighbors but also to its own people whose sentiments are being whipped up to participate in a war frenzy,” Mr Khan added.
Sardar Masood Khan observed, “Two things have kept the issue of Kashmir alive for the past seven decades: one, the sacrifices of the people of Kashmir who every day give their blood to attain freedom; and, two, the steadfast position of Pakistan on Kashmir and its steely resolve to continue a peaceful political and diplomatic campaign on Kashmir until Kashmiris under Indian occupation get their fundamental rights.”
President Khan insisted that it “is our collective responsibility to intensify our quest for peace and security and to find just and lasting solutions for the long festering disputes.”
Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Secretary General, World Kashmir Awareness Movement, speaking on the occasion, said, “Peace has eluded Kashmir for more than 70 years ever since the partition of British India into India and Pakistan. Reason: The denial of self-determination that has been enjoyed by countless other peoples in comparable circumstances, most recently in East Timore, Montenegro, Southern Sudan, etc.
The uncertainty over Kashmir will lead not only India and Pakistan to disaster but it will also destroy any possibility of bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan, Fai warned.
Dr Fai added that a real and tangible strategy needs to be initiated with the firm support of the United Nations. There is not the slightest possibility of resolving Kashmir dispute without the involvement of the third party. There cannot be a better agency than the Secretary General of the United Nations himself to facilitate between India and Pakistan to help resolve the Kashmir dispute. The Secretary General has no ambition to assert dominance as great powers do. Mediation by the Secretary General would be free from the jealousies and the ambitions that characterize individual initiative. The Secretary General will have to remain under no obligation to please any particular set of powers or groups. Yes, there will be resistance from India but if India is impressed with what she would gain by a just settlement of the Kashmir dispute, her negativity may not be insurmountable.
The gathering was also addressed by Rohail Dar, Sardar Haleem Khan, Sardar Imtiaz Khan, Ahmad Jan, Sardar Taj Khan, Sardar Imtiaz Garalavi, Ms. Aamna Habib, Sardar Sajid Sawar Khan, Sardar Shafi Khan, Nasim Gilgati and others.
- gnfai2003@yahoo.com
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