Kashmir conflict must be resolved through dialogue: Speakers at Stockholm event
New York: Speakers at an event organized by the Kashmir Council in Stockholm, Sweden, to mark Kashmir black Day called for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir conflict that ensure the exercise of Kashmiri people’s U.N.-pledged right to self-determination, according to a message received here.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the speakers also called for ending human rights abuses in the disputed region and for providing Kashmiris leaders a platform to air their viewpoints at international forums.
In his opening remarks, Sardar Tamur Aziz, President of the Council and Emcee of the event explained that Kashmir Black day, which is is observed on October 27, marks the day in 1947 when Indian troops entered Jammu and Kashmir. The observance of Black Day is a symbol of protest by Kashmiris and supporters worldwide. It calls attention to what many view as a day of occupation and highlights the region’s struggle for self-determination.
The Council’s objective basically is to push for a peaceful settlement of the decades-old Kashmir dispute, he said.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to Sweden, Bilal Hayee, said that the tragedy of Kashmir began when India occupied the State of Jammu and Kashmir by sending its army without the consent of the people of Kashmir. India’s claim that the Maharaja of Kashmir signed the ‘Instrument of Accession’ (IOA) was “fraudulent” as the original copy has never been found, he said, adding that the United Nations never accepted that claim when the issue was raised at the Security Council.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), he added, made it abundantly clear that the future of Kashmir would be decided by the people of Kashmir through a UN-supervised plebiscite.
“I would like to make it clear that the international agreements, like the UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir can never become obsolete. The resolutions remains active on the agenda of the UNSC until they are not implemented. The passage of time can never invalidate the solemn pledges given by the United Nations to the people of Kashmir,” Ambassador Hayee said.
Speaking via zoom, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman of the Washington-based World Forum for Peace & Justice, said that the United Nations discussed and debated both the issues of Palestine and Kashmir in April 1948 and agreed that there will be a separate homeland for the Palestinian people and that the people of Kashmir will be given the right to self-determination to decide their future.
Unfortunately, he said, until today, no referendum has taken place in Kashmir and no homeland established for the people of Palestine.
Dr. Fai condemned the “reckless and illegal” action taken by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on August 5, 2019, abrogating Article 370 and 35 A of the Indian Constitution, and then enacting the Domicile Law to change the demography of Kashmir. He called for rescinding those measures so that a dialogue could begin aimed at resolving the conflict acceptable to all the parties, including the Kashmiri people.
Kashmiri activists Sardar Ishtiaq Khan, Raja Bilal Mustafa and Choudhary Zafar Iqbal also spoke on the significance of the day.
A well known Swedish politician, Anders Tiger, expressed his solidarity with the people of Kashmir.
At the end of the event, it was unanimously agreed that a campaign must be initiated for the release of all political prisoners in Kashmir, including, Mohammad Yasin Malik, Shabir Ahmed Shah, Masarat Aalm, Mrs. Aaisia Andrabi, Mrs. Sofi Fehmedea, Mrs. Nahida Nasreen and globally recognized human rights activist, Khurram Parvez, the message said.
