Just resolution of Kashmir dispute essential for lasting peace in South Asia: Muzaffarabad seminar
Muzaffarabad: Speakers at a seminar in Muzaffarabad have stressed that a just settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people is essential for lasting peace in South Asia, urging the younger generation to play an active role in highlighting the plight of Kashmiris at the international level.
The seminar, titled “Kashmir Freedom Movement and the Responsibilities, Role and Future of the Younger Generation,” discussed the grave political and human rights situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the prolonged detention of Hurriyat leaders and political activists, the hardships faced by affected families, challenges to Kashmiri identity and the international community’s responsibilities in resolving the Kashmir dispute.
The seminar was chaired by Mushtaq Ahmad Butt, a leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) chapter, while Muhammad Amin Butt, Nazim-e-Aala of Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith Azad Kashmir, attended as the chief guest. Hurriyat leaders, political and religious figures, intellectuals, students and people from various walks of life participated in the event.
The speakers said the Kashmir dispute was not merely a political conflict but an important international issue involving the fundamental rights, political future and right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people. They urged the United Nations and the international community to take serious notice of human rights violations in IIOJK, the continued detention of Hurriyat leaders and the hardships faced by Kashmiris.
They said the families of detained Hurriyat leaders and political activists had endured years of separation, persistent fears for the safety of their loved ones, and severe economic and social difficulties. The speakers added that the suffering of families of disappeared persons, particularly half-widows and those awaiting the return of their loved ones, constituted a grave humanitarian tragedy requiring international attention.
Expressing concern over property confiscations, home demolitions and other measures in IIOJK, the speakers said Jammu and Kashmir was an internationally recognised disputed territory whose final status must be determined in accordance with the wishes of its people. They stressed that unilateral measures undermining the territory’s disputed status and the political rights of Kashmiris were unacceptable.
Emphasising the responsibilities of the younger generation, the speakers described young people as a vital asset of the Kashmir freedom movement. They urged them to study the historical, legal, political and humanitarian dimensions of the dispute, strengthen their arguments through research and knowledge, understand global politics and diplomacy, and effectively present the Kashmiri people’s perspective before the international community.
The speakers also described highlighting the plight of detained Hurriyat leaders’ families and other affected households at the international level as a national, moral and humanitarian responsibility.
Other speakers at the seminar included Hurriyat leaders Abdul Majeed Mir and Mushtaq-ul-Islam, and student leaders Zainab Durrani, Munir Kunshi and Falak Khan.
