UN urged to help resolve Kashmir issue

PESHAWAR: Speakers at a seminar here on Monday stressed the need for resolving the core issue of Kashmir as per the wishes of Kashmiri people and urged the United Nations (UN) to ensure implementation of its resolutions to give the right of self-determination to the people of the India-held Kashmir.

The seminar was organised at Peshawar Press Club by Jammu and Kashmir Council Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in connection with the Kashmir Solidarity Day. Senior politician and former federal minister Saleem Saifullah Khan was the chief guest.

The council’s chairman, Mohammad Amir Muazzam Butt, Ghulam Ali and Abdul Jalil Jan of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Syed Ayub Shah, Sabir Hussain Awan and Intikhab Chamkani of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Nasir Khan Musazai from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Ikramullah Shahid of Rah-e-Haq Party and others addressed the event.

Lawyers, social society activists, leader of trade unions, government employees, workers of various political parties and people from different walk of life attended the seminar.

The speakers said that Kashmir had become a global issue. They stressed that the resolution of Kashmir issue in accordance with wishes of Kashmiri people was imperative for regional, global peace and stability.

The participants urged the UN to ensure implementation of its resolutions for amicable resolution of the Kashmir issue. They also called upon the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Muslim world to take concrete steps for giving right of self-determination to people of Kashmir.

They said that Kashmir issue was not just a territorial dispute but a question of people’s inherent right to self-determination. They demanded the government to effectively raise voice of the oppressed Kashmiris and to stand by the Kashmiri brethren through every thick and thin.

Saleem Saifullah called for adopting a new strategy to tackle with authoritarian and growing influence of India in the entire region. He stressed that the approach should be proactive to handle the core issue of Kashmir by lobbying at the global level.

“We need to sort out a peaceful and durable solution of Kashmir issue under a unified and organised strategy,” he emphasised. He said there were utmost requirements to move forward with new approach to resolve the all outstanding issues, particularly the core issue of Kashmir.

A tribal leader said the worst kind of human rights violations were being committed by India in the occupied Kashmir, but the UN didn’t take its notice. He said the Kashmir issue would be resolved with implementation of UN resolutions in letter and spirit. He called upon the Muslim countries to unite to overcome the growing challenges.

Ghulam Ali suggested that the world community should play its proactive role for bringing Pakistan and India to negotiating table and to resolve the core issue of Kashmir amicably. He supported the struggle of the Kashmiri people, saying that the blood of Kashmiris should not go waste.

Intikhab Chamkani said that the Indian troops were committing human right violations in the occupied territory. He called for revisiting the foreign policy and resolution of core issue of Kashmir as per wishes of people of Kashmiri people.