Ambassador Masood Khan Advocates Diplomacy to Give 20 Million Kashmiris Self-Determination
By Elaine Pasquini
Photos by Phil Pasquini
Washington: On October 27, 2023, the Embassy of Pakistan held a seminar on the 76th observance of “Kashmir Black Day” in solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir who lost their lives when Indian troops took over Srinagar, Kashmir’s largest city, after India and Pakistan gained independence following nearly 90 years of British colonial occupation.
“This was the day liberty and freedoms of the Kashmiris were taken away from them,” Masood Khan, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, said. “India got freedom, Pakistan got freedom, but Kashmir did not.”
Calling for a “recalibration” of the strategy on the issue of Kashmir, Ambassador Khan stated: “The strategy that we have pursued for the past several years has not worked.”
In the meantime, “India has violated all international laws and conventions in IIOJK (Illegal Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir),” he pointed out. “They have violated the political, economic, social, and cultural rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. They have violated the ICC (International Criminal Court) statutes with impunity.”
“We should persevere in our struggle,” he continued. “The people of Kashmir continue to suffer…and being targeted by Indian forces every day.”
“We will not give up the struggle under any circumstances,” the ambassador averred. “When you try to sweep such issues under the carpet, they erupt with intensity as has happened in the case of Palestine.”
Noting the similarities of the plight of Kashmiris to the Palestinians who have suffered under Israeli attacks and oppression for 75 years, he related there are 900,000 active-duty Indian soldiers who are sentinels and targeting the Kashmiris every day.
Differences between the Palestinians’ situation and that of Kashmiris, Ambassador Khan explained, are that “Palestinians have an observer status in the United Nations. They have a quasi-diplomatic status.”
Addressing the Kashmiri leaders in the United States, Ambassador Khan noted Kashmir does not have a strong international voice or lobby and he urged Kashmiris to build their own “information ecosystem.”
“Today, truth becomes falsehood and falsehood is projected as truth and, therefore, you have to have your own set of facts, data and vehicles to broadcast the truth,” he added.
The people of Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir are ready for talks under the auspices of the UN, bilaterally, and through the facilitation of third parties, Ambassador Khan said. “The right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir was inherent even if there were no UN Security Council Resolutions,” he noted. “The UN resolutions passed in accordance with the Charter recognize the inalienable rights of the Kashmiris to choose their own political future.”
Former Norwegian MP Lars Rise, speaking to the gathering via Zoom, underscored the need for making world leaders realize the gravity of the situation and the need to find a permanent solution to the long-standing issue.
In his remarks, Dr Mohasin Ansari, president of the Islamic Circle of North America, observed that the voice for justice may take long but truth and justice would finally prevail.
Speaking via Zoom, renowned author and historian Victoria Schofield stressed the urgency to galvanize civil society and raise awareness about the issue of Kashmir.
US Army Col (ret) Wesley Martin, a security and defense analyst and strong voice for Kashmiris, highlighted the precarious humanitarian situation in the occupied territory stating that the entire region was facing a grave threat. He opined that the wave of violence would continue under the present Indian leadership.
Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Secretary General of the World Kashmir Awareness Forum, said that the people of Kashmir were facing existential threats and genocide. He noted the Indian government was taking steps to change the demography of the region and called for US intervention in Kashmir.
Zafar Qureshi, chairman of Kashmir Campaign Global, highlighted the dire situation in Kashmir, calling for assistance from the international community, including the United Nations, to bring about a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmiri conflict. “We have all witnessed how India has ignored – like the true Fascist state that it is – UN resolutions and the people of Kashmir continue to suffer in silence,” he said. “Our call for freedom…is about honoring the will of the people who have been longing for freedom, justice and peace through promises made at the United Nations.”
Naeem Baig, former president of the Islamic Circle of North America, expressed the need to engage at all levels in the struggle for freedom for Kashmiris. And he reminded attendees of the profound statement by the iconic late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr that “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people, but the silence over that by the good people.”
Dr Imtiaz Khan from George Washington University enumerated the thousands of atrocities committed against Kashmiris each year by the occupying Indian forces. “In Kashmir, Indian forces can kill people with immunity,” he said, basically targeting the youth, just as the Israelis have been doing in Gaza.
“We are not asking for anything illegitimate,” he insisted. “We are asking for our rights which the UN has given us; and for this we are being punished.”
In their remarks, World Kashmir Freedom Movement President Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur and Sardar Zareef Khan, advisor to the president of Azad Kashmir, reiterated the demand for giving the people of Kashmir their right to self-determination.
The participants thanked Ambassador Masood Khan and the Embassy of Pakistan for commemorating Kashmir Black Day and showing solidarity with all Kashmiri brothers and sisters.
Surrounded by a photographic exhibition highlighting Indian atrocities and the ground situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, messages from the President of Pakistan and Caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan were read to the attendees.
In closing, Ambassador Khan emphasized that “We should look to the past to change ground realities for the future, but we would also continue to pursue the path of diplomacy because an alternative to diplomacy is war.”
(Elaine Pasquini is a freelance journalist. Her reports appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.Ink.)
