Sept 09 , 2015
News
UK’s MP suggests tripartite talks on Jammu Kashmir
Lord Nazir calls Modi’s reckless defiance on core issue a threat to peace, stabilityCHICAGO – Britain’s House of Lords member Lord Nazir Ahmed has said that tripartite talks between governments of Pakistan and India as well as Kashmiri leadership can be the only way to resolve the issue of Jammu Kashmir.
Addressing the annual convention on Kashmir, arranged by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Lord Nazir said that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reckless defiance to resolve the Kashmir issue was a threat to the regional peace and stability.
He said that the world community should be deeply concerned over Indian Army chief General Dalbir Singh’s threat of ‘a limited war’ with Pakistan. He pointed out continued human rights atrocities and brutalities committed by the occupational army in the Indian-held Jammu Kashmir for the last 25 years.
– Right to self-determination –
He said that the indiscriminate shelling by the Indian Army on the Working Boundary near Pakistani villages and the Line of Control (LoC) in the divided state was a breach of international law. He appealed to the US administration to help end these atrocities in the disputed state; and persuade both Pakistan and India to find out a solution so that the people of Jammu Kashmir can exercise their right to self-determination.
“I want to see free distribution of pens and computers and not guns and grenades,” the British lawmaker said. He also said that Pakistan and India cannot talk about Kashmir without the presence of Kashmiri leadership. He asked India to issue passports to Hurriyat leaders to attend the forthcoming ‘million march’ on October 25, 2015 in New York City.
– Kashmir as a disputed territory –
World Kashmir Awareness Secretary General Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai said that Jammu Kashmir was potentially the most dangerous issue in the world because both Pakistan and India, being nuclear weapon states, directly confronting each other. Therefore, it should be a major interest of the US to prevent this dispute from exploding into a conflict which can be catastrophic for a large proportion of the human race, he said.
Dr Fai dismissed the mantra repeated by India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj that Kashmir was an ‘integral part’ of India. He explained that Kashmir was recognised – under international law and by the US – as a disputed territory. He quoted President Barack Obama who said on November 8, 2010, that Kashmir was the long-standing dispute. He explained that India repeats too often to resolve the Kashmir issue through bilateral talks with Pakistan.
He said that the experience of 69 years testifies that bilateral talks between Pakistan and India have yielded no agreements. He pointed out that the missing element was the inclusion of the Kashmiri leadership in the talks with the support of the US. He said that some discerning observers perceive an awareness in the Indian middle class that the Kashmir issue weakens India by diminishing its stature among the great powers.
– Demilitarisation of Jammu Kashmir –
Kashmiri American Council Vice President Professor Dr Imtiyaz Khan said that the Kashmir question was one of the oldest unresolved international conflicts in the world. He said that Kashmiri people demand releasing of political prisoners and they also demand from the India government to annul various special repressive laws; and restore rights of peaceful association, assembly and demonstrations. He asked world powers to persuade both Pakistan and India to demilitarise Jammu Kashmir from both sides of the ceasefire line (Line of Control).
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk