Islamabad, September 07, 2020 (PPI-OT): The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, Shehryar Khan Afridi has warned the world against a nuclear conflict on Kashmir. Shehryar Khan Afridi addressing a seminar held to highlight the enforced disappearances and half widows of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), said the United Nations must immediately act to stop genocide of Kashmiris and war crimes in IIOJK) before it is too late.
He said that India was using backdoor channels to talk to Pakistan but Pakistan would not talk to India unless Kashmir was on the table. He said that Kashmir had become a major issue in the global digital space and Pakistan would not allow India mislead the world on the ongoing genocide in IIOJK).
Shehryar Khan Afridi said that unfortunately, the past governments didn’t put the Kashmir as their top priority and that was the reason that despite rendering unmatched sacrifices, Kashmir dispute remained unresolved. He added, “We are reaching out to all the global platforms to raise Kashmir.”
He said that the Kashmir Committee was engaging parliamentarians and Kashmiri activists with our diaspora to send their message on Kashmir. He said that modern tools of art and culture would also be employed to raise global awareness on Kashmir.
He urged youth to play a proactive role in developing global awareness on Kashmir and said that social media tools should be employed to raise Kashmir at global digital space. The Kashmir Committee would engage all Kashmiri activists and groups to help spread the word of Kashmir and we need to stand united to fight the case of Kashmir, he added.
The President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Sardar Masood Khan addressing the seminar said that there were mass graves other than identified 8000 mass graves in IIOJK. He said extrajudicial killings have become a norm and the Indian forces arrest youth and later gun down the youth under arrest in fake police encounters.
He said that the world well knows about the Indian atrocities being committed by the occupational forces in the IIOJK but commercial interests were major hurdle in taking action against India. The AJK President said that India was planning to repeat Muslim genocide in Kashmir on the pattern of Jammu massacre. He added that India was implementing a vicious plan in Kashmir and it wanted to eliminate Kashmir in next two years.
Hurriyat leader, Altaf Hussain Wani said enforced disappearances falls under war crimes but lamented for inaction by the world. Working group on enforced disappearances and Special reporteur of United Nations report issued two days back also called upon India to act, he added.
He said, the UN has also urged India to identify those found in mass graves. He said, India has yet not ratified UN convention on enforced disappearances and hence it is not doing enough. “Indian civil society has also acted to point out human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
Noreen Arif, MNA, said that the Parliamentarians should play a pivotal role in raising awareness about the war crimes being committed in IIOJK by Modi Regime. She said that Kashmir was a nuclear flashpoint and any border skirmish might lead to a nuclear war having an impact beyond region. She urged youth to play active role in raising awareness on mass graves, enforced disappearances and rape being used as weapon of war in IIOJK.
Former AJK minister, Khwaja Farooq urged youth to use social media as a tool to spread awareness on the Kashmir dispute. He called upon the education ministry to add chapters on Kashmir in curriculum so that youngsters may better know facts about the Kashmir dispute. Saira Kazmi, a scholar from a local university, gave an overview of the mass rapes being used by Indian forces to crush freedom movement in IIOJK.
She also highlighted mass graves and enforced disappearances in the Occupied Kashmir and proposed that Jammu and Kashmir should be taught in Pakistani universities as a subject. Muzdalfa Ahmed, a girl student from United Kingdom, said, foreigners don’t understand the Kashmir dispute and stressed the need to provide information about the Kashmir dispute.
Arqam Al-Hadeed, a student from Britain, said, younger generation needs to be involved in diplomacy on Kashmir. She said social media platforms can prove to be a major source of information for youth as British media doesn’t cover Kashmir adequately. She said that overseas youth should be get involved with the campaign on Kashmir. He said youth needs to stand up for Kashmir as youth are leading the freedom movement in IIOJ and K.
Abid Abbasi, a journalist, drew the attention of the audience that 1,244,000 domiciles had been issued to Indian citizens by Indian government in IIOJK as part of the Indian efforts to bring in demographic change in the territory. Hurriyat leader, Abdul Hameed Lone moderated the proceedings of the seminar.
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