An Eventful Discussion to Pursue Kashmir Cause
By Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai
Washington, DC
Today, September 21, 2024, I was gratified to meet with a few guests from Azad Kashmir at my residence in Fairfax, Virginia. Rizwan Abbasi, who is affiliated with ABN Television in Pakistan has come to attend the United Nations High Level Segment in New York between September 22-28 when more than 130 heads of State and Government will make their addresses during the 79 th session of the General Assembly. Atiq Ahmed Sadazoi who is affiliated with SUNO Television has recently arrived in Virginia and will be reporting from the Washington metropolitan area. HIifzan Yaqub, an IT expert, Sardar Shoaib Irshad, Secretary General of Kashmir American Welfare Association (KAWA), and Malik Hamid, a prominent community leader and businessman kindly joined us in this discussion.
Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman, World Forum for Peace & Justice, told the visiting guests that we have always acknowledged the dedication and selfless contribution of members of the Kashmiri American and Pakistani American community in highlighting the cause of Kashmir. The nation of Kashmir is appreciative of the sincerity of the people of Azad Kashmir and Pakistan for standing alongside each other with people who have been and are being, persecuted by over 900,000 Indian military and paramilitary forces. Unfortunately, the silence and passivity of the world powers have given a sense of total impunity to the occupation authority in Kashmir. This inarticulateness has encouraged the Indian occupation army to commit crimes against humanity in Kashmir.
The visiting guests appreciated the initiative taken by the Kashmiri American community to protest during the speech of the Indian delegate to the UN General Assembly on September 28. The guests said that it is vital to hold such rallies to remind the United Nations that Kashmir continues to be an unresolved issue today.
In response to a question, Dr Fai said that the issuance of more than 4.3 million Domicile Certificates guarantees the demographic change in Kashmir. As the Chief Election Officer has publicly confessed more than 2.5 million people who are non-Kashmiris would be eligible to cast their vote in the recent elections in Kashmir. Besides that, India is confiscating the lands and destroying the properties of Kashmiris with vengeance. These changes have brought Kashmir to the brink of a genocide, Fai emphasized.
The visiting guests were extremely concerned over the imprisonment of Kashmiri political leaders, in particular Mohammad Yasin Malik, Shabir Ahmed Shah, Masarat Aalm, and Aasia Andrabi. They pledged to raise this issue in various talk shows in Pakistan. They agreed that all political parties of Pakistan need to be proactive about the Kashmir issue and should highlight human rights abuses in occupied Kashmir at any opportunity and in every forum. The visiting guests said that the Kashmir issue is the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy and there cannot be any compromise on that front.
When asked about the higher voter turnout in occupied Kashmir in the recent election, Dr Fai responded that it was a reflection of the rejection of Modi’s colonial and antidemocratic ways in Kashmir. The election sloganeering was also a distraction from the basic and fundamental right, pledged by both India and Pakistan and upheld by the world community – the right of self-determination given to the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to decide the future status of its territory.
Dr Fai reiterated that the United Nations Security Council has denounced the “subterfuge” of elections in a 1951 resolution # 91 and 1957 resolution # 122. It reminded the concerned governments and authorities “of the principle embodied in its resolution that the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of the people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.” The resolution further elaborated that “the convening of a Constituent Assembly…and any action that Assembly may have taken or might attempt to take to determine the future shape and affiliation [of Kashmir]” would be no surrogate for Kashmiri self-determination.
It was decided that all of us must meet on September 28 at the UN headquarters in New York to express solidarity with the people of Indian-occupied Kashmir.
(Dr Fai is also the Secretary General of the World Kashmir Awareness Forum. - gnfai2003@yahoo.com)
