ISLAMABAD: Speakers at a seminar urged the world community to come forward and help find a political and diplomatic solution to the Jammu and K
ashmir dispute through the realization of the right to self-determination of the K
ashmiri people, as a lasting peace in the region was not possible without the resolution of the core issue.
The seminar titled ‘K
ashmir issue and its Strategic Implications’ was organized by the Embassy of Pakistan in Jakarta at the University of Indonesia. Over 150 students, academics, researchers, professors and members of local intelligentsia attended the event, according to a press release received here.
Addressing on the occasion, Pakistan’s Ambassador
in Indonesia Abdul Salik Khan informed
the audience about the horrendous human rights situation in the Indian-held K
ashmir characterized by mass killings, torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and use of rape and sexual violence as an instrument of war by Indian security forces. He said India was trampling upon the basic human rights in Held K
ashmir unhindered, and that the international community should take solid and meaningful steps to sort out the K
ashmir conundrum.
The ambassador said Jammu and K
ashmir dispute remains one of the oldest items on the UN Security Council’s agenda, noting that relevant yet unimplemente
d resolutions grant K
ashmiris the right to self-determination. He called on the international community to take concrete and meaningful action to alleviate the sufferings of the K
ashmiri people, while stressing the need for a peaceful settlement of the K
ashmir dispute. “As a party to the K
ashmir dispute, this is the UN’s long-standing obligation,” he said. The ambassador said the South Asian region needs peace to allow economic progress and socio-economic development for improving the quality of life of the citizens. “However, a lasting peace can only be achieved through peaceful resolution of the K
ashmir issue,” he maintained.
K
ashmir Solidarity Forum Indonesia Chairman Dr Zahir Khan said people of K
ashmir were being victimised to quell their struggle for realisation of their legitimate right to self-determination. He underlined that the recent report by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has also pointed out atrocities in the occupied valley.
He said the unresolved K
ashmir dispute remains the root
cause of tension and instability in South Asia, adding that India’s aggressive designs have put the regional peace at stake. He also condemned the use of pellet guns by Indian forces which has blinded thousands and killed hundreds of K
ashmiris since the uprisings in
the aftermath of martyrdom of young K
ashmiri leader Burhan Wani in July 2016. “Indian army is using lethal weapons like pallet guns on peaceful protesters. Even women and children are not safe from Indian atrocities in the valley,” he lamented.
Replying to questions from university students and researchers, the speakers clarified certain doubts about the ground realities in the occupied valley as well as the strategic importance of the K
ashmir dispute.
On the occasion, the University of Indonesia assured to include K
ashmir issue as a research topic in the syllabus of the Strategic Studies Wing.
Published in Daily Times, November 5th 2018.