Page 7 - Pakistan Link - October 20, 2017

OPINION OCTOBER 20, 2017 – PAKISTAN LINK – P7

n By Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai Human Rights: Are They Universal? and Pakistan, coupled with their respective
Secretary General domestic political instabilities and historical
World Kashmir Awareness Forum animosities. A similar consensus agrees that
Washington, DC the bilateral India-Pakistan formula for re-
solving the 70-year-old Kashmir confl ict has
Only on paper has humanity yet proven empty, achieving no progress during
achieved glory, beauty, truth, knowl- those long years. For the Kashmir confl ict to
“edge, virtue, and abiding love.” - George end, authentic representatives of the Kash-
Bernard Shaw miri people – All Parties Hurriyet Conference
It is tragic that civilized -- must be senior partners at the negotiating
nations have fallen from their table along with India and Pakistan. No solu-
loft y calling: namely, human tion will endure without their consent voiced
rights for all mankind. Th ere in a referendum.
is a sad commentary on the Th e gruesome status quo in Kashmir is
state of human rights all over both legally and morally unacceptable and
the globe. It seems to me that militarily and economically frightening. Th ere
until there evolves a generally is no time for further complacency.
accepted moral duty among peoples and na- In sum, the ingredients of a Kashmir
tions to assist all victims of widespread human solution are there. What remains are healthy
rights violations by force or other stiff retalia- doses of statesmanship and magnanimity of
tion, human rights enforcement mechanisms world powers, including the United States.
will operate haphazardly and whimsically for - gnfai2003@yahoo.com
reasons unrelated to the harm to the victims or
the villainy of the perpetrators. It is the job of Southern Sudan prior to international inter- will be forced to organize their own refer- CODE FROM P4
all human rights defenders to jump-start that vention, yet the United States and the United endum like in Catalonia, Spain with the as- eyes would have been the innocent smiling face
moral evolution. Nations have watched the Kashmiris suff er sistance of eminent persons of international of his son and the anxious worried looks in the
It might be said that never have so many like spectators at the Roman Coliseum. standing and NGOs to decide their future. eyes of his young wife.
human rights been proclaimed yet been so Apart from the magnitude of violence un- If that last alternative is forced upon them, Captain Husnain embraced shahadat at
routinely violated. Th ink of the ongoing hu- leashed by the Indian military forces against Kashmiris hope that India, with the urging 0745 hours on 15 October 2017 in the Kurram
man rights atrocities at present that are go- peaceful protesters in Kashmir, the most poi- and moral suasion of the international com- Agency. Yet another brave soldier had given his
ing unsanctioned. Myanmar, where civilians gnant aspect of the situation is the acute suf- munity, will put no obstacles in the way and life while responding to the call of duty. Alas, he
are routinely driven from homes and cities fering of the whole population caused by the too like many others before him, shall fade away
are consistently destroyed. Tragic genocide in frequent curfews, disregard of normal life, Th e scale of gripping wrongdoing in in the winds of time. No one would even re-
Syria. Kashmiris brutalized by 700,000 Indian arrests, detentions and sometimes disappear- Kashmir dwarfed what was witnessed member Captain Husnain aft er a few days. Th e
military and paramilitary forces. Th e list goes ances of innocent civilians by the authorities. in Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor and few left behind to mourn his shahadat for the
on and on. Th is is a situation without precedent in the rest of their lives will be his bereaved family. Th e
Th e life for Kashmiris has oscillated be- South Asian subcontinent and with few paral- Southern Sudan prior to international infant son will have a few pictures of his brave
tween grisly and gruesome. Human rights lels in the world today. Th at complacency gives intervention, yet the United States and father to adulate. Th e young wife shall have tear-
violations are frightful: extrajudicial killings, at least the impression that Kashmiri lives and the United Nations have watched the ful eyes to cry in silence for the rest of her life.
torture, rape, abductions, arson, and arbitrary hopes are worth less than those of others. If Kashmiris suff er like spectators at the A question that could surface in the minds
detentions. Since 1989, more than 100,000 India believed its rule in Kashmir was by con- Roman Coliseum of many would be: What motivated this young
Kashmiris have been killed. Indian forces rou- sent rather than by coercion, it would hold a captain to forget everything - literally every-
tinely commit war crimes with impunity un- plebiscite with alacrity, just as the Great Brit- thing - and plunge into the proverbial valley of
der emergency laws. Th ey do so because the ain routinely permits Scotland to vote for in- that the world will honor the results of the free death without fear for his own life to rescue his
likelihood of punishment by the Indian gov- dependence and fair vote. men?
ernment is slim to none. Th e scale of gripping If, however, the world powers and the It is universally acknowledged that Kash- I guess it was the honor code of the offi cers
wrongdoing in Kashmir dwarfed what was United Nations are unmoved by international mir is a global danger because of spiraling of the Pak Army that reads:
witnessed in Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor and law and moral justice to act, then Kashmiris nuclear and missile proliferation in both India CODE, P24

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