India’s Objective to Have G20 Meeting in Kashmir Is to Legitimize Its Illegal Occupation: Dr Fai
New York: The Kashmiri American diaspora held a peaceful protest in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York city to convey to G20 countries and the United Nations that holding a G20 meeting in the disputed territory of Kashmir is meant to engineer a façade of normalcy in Kashmir. On the occasion digital trucks were also rented to display messages, such as, “G20 risks legitimizing India’s illegal occupation of Kashmir,” “G20 in Kashmir violates UN resolutions,” “G20 in occupied Kashmir enables genocide,” “Say NO to G20 in Kashmir,” ”Modi: Face of Fascism”, “ “End the Occupation: Free Kashmir”, “Demilitarize Kashmir”, “India: Release All Political Prisoners.”
A memorandum was submitted to the office of the UN Secretary General, demanding among other issues, the unconditional release of human rights defenders and political prisoners, such as Khurram Parvez, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabir Ahmed Shah, Masarat Aalam, Aaasia Andrabi and various journalists, including Irfan Mehraj, Asif Sultan, Sajad Gul, Fahad Shah,and Gowhar Gilani.
“India is holding the third G20 working group meeting on tourism today in disputed territory of Kashmir. Such a meeting is in contravention of more than 16 substantive resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. These resolutions which were agreed upon by both India and Pakistan remain still unfulfilled. By holding G20 meeting in Kashmir, India would like to give an impression of normalcy and the presence of G20 countries in Kashmir will unintentionally provide the seal of approval to reckless and thoughtless decision of Modi Administration,” said Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Secretary General, Washington-based World Kashmir Awareness Forum.
Dr Fai appealed to the G20 countries to listen to Professor Fernand de Vareness, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, who warned the G20 countries that “By holding a G20 meeting (in Kashmir) the Government of India is seeking to normalize what some have described as a military occupation by instrumentalizing a G20 meeting and portray an international ‘seal of approval’, despite what Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human rights, told the UN Human rights Council a few weeks ago was a @worrying human rights situation in the Kashmir region.”
Sardar Sawar Khan, former Member, Kashmir Council and main organizer of the peaceful protest, hoped that the G20 countries, as signatories to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Convention, and other international human rights instruments will adopt a definitive pro-people stance. The credibility of G20 countries is on the line and we urge the G20 countries to stand firm and refuse to be weaponized in the disempowerment and subjugation of a hapless people.
Raja Mukhtar of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front said that the G20 meeting in Kashmir will send a wrong signal that these countries are willing to sacrifice moral values and universal principles for commercial gains and business interests. Raja Mukhtar added that “the people of Kashmir are dismayed by the lack of action by the world powers to help stop the carnage and by their virtual indifference to the situation in occupied Kashmir. The demand of the people of Kashmir is simply to exercise the unfettered right of self-determination to decide the future of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sardar Taj Khan, Senior Vice Chairman, Kashmir Mission, USA said that the people of occupied Kashmir still have confidence that world powers will realize that what is at stake in the dispute is not only the survival of the people of Kashmir, but peace in the populous region of South Asia and also the basis of a civilized worldview.
Sardar Zarif Khan, Secretary General, Kashmir American Welfare Association, asked: How long will the world watch in silence as India carries out the genocide of the people of Kashmir? Zarif appealed to the Secretary General to persuade the Government of India to stop the killings, end its repression and fulfill its promises so that a new era of goodwill, peace and prosperity can dawn in the Subcontinent – home to one-fifth of the human race… - gnfai2003@yahoo.com
