Bradford, June 20, 2020 (PPI-OT): The speakers in a virtual Kashmir conference in Bradford have raised the Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir. The conference was jointly organized by Jammu and Kashmir Self-determination Movement International (JKSDMI) and Youth Parliament Pakistan.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor, Shah Farman, was the chief guest while members of British Parliament, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Kashmir Chairperson, MP Debbie Abrahams; Labour Friends of Kashmir MP, Andrew Gowan; Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, Chairman of JKSDMI, Raja Najabat Hussain; President of Youth Parliament Pakistan, Obaid-ur-Rehman Qureshi; and former Member of European Parliament, Shafaaq Mohammad; delivered their special addresses.
The conference highlighted and discussed the latest situation in occupied Kashmir, a series of illegal steps taken by the Indian government, targeting Hurriyat leaders, political activists, youth and women during the past month, as well as changing the Muslim majority status into minority in occupied Kashmir.
Addressing the conference, Chairperson of All-Party Parliamentary Group on Kashmir, MP Debbie Abrahams, said that she through a letter had apprised the British government of her and group members’ sentiments and demanded of it to immediately take up the Kashmir dispute at the UN. She called upon the UK government to raise the Kashmir dispute at the United Nations and urge the international community to take immediate steps for its peaceful resolution.
Chief guests of conference, Shah Farman, Andrew Gowan, Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, Raja Najabat Hussain, Obaid-ur-Rehman Qureshi, Shafaaq Muhammad and others said that India was constantly using different tactics to change the demography of Kashmir and turn the territory into a Hindu state.
They deplored that in August last year, the Modi government repealed the Kashmir’s special status by revoking Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and the situation in the territory had not returned to normal since then. In particular, the internal situation in Kashmir and the recent tensions over Ladakh and the LoC could be a precursor to any major threat, they added.
The speakers said that reports released by the UN Human Rights Council in 2018 and 2019 made it clear that India continued to commit serious human rights violations in occupied Kashmir and had explained the plight of the people living in the occupied territory. They deplored that Kashmiri youth were being martyred daily, countless youth had been picked up from their homes and subjected to custodial disappearance. There is a need for a full-fledged international campaign against black laws and India’s measures to change the Muslim majority status into minority in Kashmir, they added.
The speakers said due to the continuous work and efforts of JKSDMI and such other groups the Kashmir dispute has been repeatedly discussed in the British Parliament and political parties. The international community, including the UK, will have to shoulder its responsibility for the ongoing atrocities and human rights violations by India in Kashmir, they said.
The speakers said the Hurriyat leaders are offering their sacrifices for the sacred cause in occupied Kashmir, the women are also playing a key role in the movement and the sacrifices of women are far greater.
Spokesperson of Foreign Ministry, Aisha-Farooqui, also through her detailed letter said that Kashmir was a major humanitarian issue which needed special attention from the international community. The consistent role of British MPs in the last few years is commendable, she added.
She said the United Nations, the British and European parliaments and the UN Human Rights Council highlighted the grave human rights violations by India in occupied Kashmir. “We still want to move towards a peaceful political solution to the Kashmir issue but India’s extremist actions are detrimental to peace and security in the region,” she said.
Raja Najabat Hussain on the occasion told the participants that the people of Kashmir were playing their role on the practical front and ‘at the diplomatic level we are continuing our movement with full vigour and this conference is part of the same diplomatic campaign’.
He said Members of the British Parliament have played an exemplary role in Kashmir on every occasion and are still busy in their efforts. He added that the office bearers, woman and youth of affiliated with the JKSDMI would continue their efforts in June, July, August and September this year through campaigns, conferences and collective meetings in different cities of Europe to highlight the Indian state terrorism in occupied Kashmir.
Raja Najabat Hussain said that India had intensified its atrocities in the occupied territory under the cover of coronavirus while during the global epidemic it had also enacted new domicile laws with the sole objective of changing the population ratio in Kashmir. He stressed the need for an effective and systematic campaign at the diplomatic level against the Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir.
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