New Secretary General of UNIW Elected at Istanbul Conference

 

Istanbul, Turkey: The 9th Ordinary Elective General Assembly Meeting of the Union of Non-Governmental Organizations of the Islamic World (UNIW) was held on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at the MUSIAD Headquarters, İstanbul, Turkey. Today, UNIW has around 400 members from 69 countries of six continents.

UNIW was established on May 1, 2005, to work for global peace, human rights, freedom, and justice. UNIW’s goal is to cooperate, collaborate and coordinate the activities of the Muslim NOGs of the world. UNIW’s mission is to play effective role at the UN, OIC and other world forums to seek their understanding towards the issues of the Ummah. Its strategy has been to have global networking of Muslim NGOs all over the world.

Attorney Ali Kurt, a graduate of Istanbul University, Faculty of Law, was the Secretary General of UNIW until June 5, 2022.  He has been the founding partner of Faisal Finance Institution and a shareholder and chairman of the board of companies operating in the food sector and education, as well as a company that has been dealing with gold chain manufacturing in the jewelry sector. 

On June 25, 2022, the General Body elected Mr Eyup Akbal as the new Secretary General of UNIW. Albak is the Chairman of the Board of Fuzul Holdings and was featured on Forbes Magazine as one of the top-notch businessmen in Turkey. Fuzul Group deals with real estate development, tourism, insurance, finance, property management, and electronic payment systems. Akbal is a very modest, courteous, and humble person. It is hoped that under his leadership, UNIW will achieve its objectives and reach the zenith of success. Insha’Allah! We must also convey our gratitude to the hard work and dedication of Abdul Hamit Erten and Umer Farooq who worked day and night to make this meeting a success.

Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, member of the Board of Directors of UNIW since its inception in 2005, highlighted the duplicity of the world powers towards Muslim conflicts. He cited the example of the people of Ukraine who are suffering, and world powers feel their pain, and rightly so, and so do Muslims all over the world. The question arises why do the world powers turn a blind eye when it comes to the pain and suffering of the people of Palestine and Kashmir?

He claimed that the world powers have proved to be selective when it comes to the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions. He asked: Is it not true that the United Nations intervened in Namibia, East Timor, Southern Sudan, implemented UN resolutions, held elections and gave these countries total independence from the occupation of South Africa, Indonesia and Sudan respectively? How can the world body justify that the UN Security Council resolutions remain unimplemented in the case of Palestine and Kashmir? 

Dr Fai added that the nightmare of the people of Kashmir began in 1947 and it is no tribute to international justice that it continues ‘as I speak today. The community of nations must seize the opportunity to promote an initiative towards bringing about conditions necessary for settlement of the Kashmir dispute. Should not the international standards and principles play a commanding role in the settlement of international conflicts including that of Kashmir,’ Fai asked?

Later, Dr Fai addressed the students of various Turkish universities at the main auditorium of Recep Tayyip Erdogan Anadolu Imam Hatip Lisesi, Istanbul. Speakers on the occasion included Shakeel Ahmed, Nazim-e-Aala, Islami Jamiaat-e-Talaba, Pakistan; Hafiz Uzair Ali Khan, President Pak-Turk Students Group; Ms Sanaa Rafique, Ms Nousheen,  Abdullah Zubair, and Anas Awan.

When asked if Kashmir was an integral part of India, Dr. Fai categorically said no. Under all UN resolutions, agreed upon by both India and Pakistan and adopted by the Security Council, Kashmir does not belong to any member state of the UN. If Kashmir does not belong to any member state of the UN, then the claim that Kashmir was an integral part of India does not stand.

Fai also had detailed discussion with the leadership of Kashmir House, Istanbul, Dr. Mubeen Shah and Dr Asif Dar, both of whom have sacrificed a lot for the cause of Kashmir.

Last but not the least, Dr Fai was delighted to spend a few moments with Ustaaz tugray Rvren who has become the “Poet of Kashmir.” He has given a voice to the pain and suffering of the people of Kashmir. The song “I am Kashmir” is dedicated to Kashmir and “We will not betray” is dedicated to both Kashmir and Palestine. Both songs have millions of views on Tweeter and YouTube.