Conflict, climate crisis present fundamental threat to people in conflict-hit regions: Speakers
Geneva,: The speakers, while highlighting the nexus between conflict and climate crisis, during an interactive dialogue held on the sidelines of the 55th session of the UNHCR, said that a holistic approach on the part of global community was required to tackle both issues simultaneously.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the interactive dialogue, which was arranged by International Action for Peace and Sustainable Development, in collaboration with Kashmir Institute of International Relations, World Muslim Congress, International Muslim Women Union and YCP, was attended and addressed by international law experts, journalists and rights activists from different parts of the world including, Robert Fantina from Canada, Dr Waqas Ali Kousar, Sheni Hamid from UK, Catherine Constantinides from South Africa, APHC-AJK leaders Sardar Amjad Yousuf, Faiz Naqshbandi, Dr Shugufta and Ahmed Qureshi.
The speakers said the dangerous nexus between conflicts and climate crisis has become an increasingly pressing concern for the world. They pointed out that the effects of climate change were more visible in regions with heavy troops’ concentration.
Referring to the presence of over 900, 000 troops in the Indian occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the speakers said that the huge presence of military and their activities in the region not only exacerbate the environmental degradation but also impede efforts aimed at addressing the pressing environmental issues.
They said that deployment of troops and military activities have not only adversely affected the lives of the Kashmiri people but it has also been the cause and consequence of habitat loss, deforestation, pollution in the restive region.
The expansion of military facilities, they said, has played a significant role in contributing to ecological problems. “Use of heavy weapons, explosive materials and mines in ecologically sensitive areas by the Indian forces has been the main cause of deforestation, soil erosion, and pollution”, they said, adding all these factors together disrupt the balance of ecosystems and affect local weather patterns.
Terming the continued conflict as the biggest threat to the biological diversity in the region, the speakers said that it was high time that the international community should realize the dangers of the conflict and its devastating impacts on the region’s climate as well as on its people and play its much needed role to address these issues simultaneously.
They said that issues such as melting of glaciers, shrinking water bodies and reducing groundwater level, and water scarcity in the region underscore the urgency to tackle these issues on an urgent basis.
The speakers, while calling for an effective mechanism and strategy to address these issues, said that climate crisis and conflict present an existential threat to the people living in conflict hit regions like Kashmir.
Meanwhile, member of Kashmir delegation to United Nations Human Rights Council Pervez Ahmad Shah in his intervention on 55th Session of the Council said Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir is the longest conflict and the most militarized zone in South Asia where people are struggling for right to self-determination.
The Indian forces, under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), have impunity as Section 6 reads that no suit or proceedings could be initiated against the army personnel without the sanction of the central government. The impunity, he said, granted to the Army under AFSPA has deprived the torture survivors from initiating any action against the perpetrators or claiming compensation from the federal government.