Daily Times

The World Kashmir Awareness Forum (WKAF), a Washington-based advocacy body, rented mobile digital advertising trucks that were displaying around the New York city sharp messages calling on the United Nations to implement its resolutions pledging to the people of Indian Illegally Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) their right to self-determination, as they drove around the historic landmarks of Manhattan.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the digital led trucks plied on January 5, the Kashmiris’ Right to self-determination Day, between 11.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. Their route included: the United Nations headquarters, Times Square; Freedom Tower; Battery Park; Central Park; Indian Mission; Indian Consulate; and 23rd Streets to 59 Streets between 1st Avenue to 9th Avenue. The electronic screens on the trucks carried messages such as: “From Kashmir to Palestine: Occupation is the Crime”, “Supreme Court Decision is a Delusion: Kashmir Needs a Resolution”, “Indian Forces on Killing Spree: Kashmir Needs to be Set Free”, “Kashmiris Reject Indian Occupation: UN Resolution only Solution”, “Indian Brutality in Kashmir Galore: World Community Cannot Ignore”, “Kashmir Facing Existential Threat: United States Needs to Act”, “Settler Colonialism and Demographic Alterations: India Shreds UN Resolutions”, “Indian judiciary a False Glitter: Manipulated by Hindutva Litter”, etc. Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, the WKAF Secretary General, said, “The renting of mobile digital trucks has proven very effective because we were able to reach out to tens of thousands of people within a short span of time.”

He added, “The status of Jammu and Kashmir has been in dispute between India and Pakistan since both became independent in 1947. A UN Commission obtained acceptance on January 5, 1949, by both parties of a peace plan involving a ceasefire, demilitarization of the state and a plebiscite under the supervision of a UN appointed administrator.” The Security Council urged, “The people of Kashmir will have the right of self-determination to decide the future status of their homeland.” The resolution was negotiated with both India and Pakistan and accepted by all five members of the Commission, Argentina, Belgium, Columbia, Czechoslovakia and the United States.

The ceasefire took effect accordingly, but the plan bogged down when India balked at implementing the demilitarization phase, which envisioned a synchronized withdrawal by the forces of both India and Pakistan. The situation lapsed into a stalemate.” Dr Fai emphasized, “In spite of that, the Kashmir dispute has an international dimension because it has the sanctity of the UN Charter and UN Security Council resolutions and has become a big hurdle or obstacle in the growth and stability of both India and Pakistan. The unresolved conflict over Kashmir threatens the peace and security of the world. It is time for the UN to take forceful action in order to restore the faith of common people that it is an agency that can live up to its bold charter and mission of bringing peace and stability to the world.”

Dr Ghulam N. Mir, President of WKAF, said, “The ongoing and unrelenting public resentment in IIOJK may show a deceptive calm on the surface given the inhumane level of atrocities, deaths and imprisonments of political leaders, human rights activists, and journalists by the largest illegitimate Indian military occupation.”

“This dehumanization has gone on for over 76 years. Numerous UN Security Council resolutions starting with Resolution 47 of April 21, 1947, which mandated that the Kashmiris should have the right to exercise their right to self-determination under UN supervision. India arrogantly has disregarded the UN mandates and continued to trample over the rights of millions of Kashmiris,” he deplored. Dr Mir added that India rejected yet another UN resolution, passed a year later on January 5, 1949, stating that “The question of accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite”.

“India and Israel must give up their barbarism and campaign of coordinated carnage in Kashmir and Palestine if they ever want to live in a peaceful world for their own sake and for the sake of their innocent victims in Kashmir and Palestine” he concluded. Dr Imtiaz Khan, Professor at George Washington University Medical Center, said, “On January 5, 1949, the UN Commission for India and Pakistan guaranteed the right to the Kashmiri people to determine their future through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite.’ Thus, January 5, marks a high point in the struggle of the Kashmiri people for their inalienable right to self-determination. However, this resolution was never implemented, and the inhabitants continue to suffer at the hands of tyrannical Indian forces who are facilitated by draconian laws that provides them impunity to kill, harrass and massacre.”

Dr Khan added, “It may not be imprudent to imply that over the years dispensation of the justice and protection of human rights by the UN are linked to economic prowess of the aggression and dependent on the financial interests of world powers. If the aggressor offers ample financial opportunities to major powers, human right violations and throttling of voices of freedom are conveniently ignored. The time is opportune for the UN to get engaged with this issue, prevail upon India to implement the resolutions and provide succor to the people of Kashmir. Doing so will provide a glimmer of hope not only to the Kashmiris but to other oppressed people of the world, especially when the clouds of war are hovering across the continents and rumblings of major conflicts are clearly audible.” Sardar Sawar Khan, former Advisor to the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir, said, “The United Nations resolutions on Kashmir acquire a continuing decisive importance because they constitute the only international agreement freely negotiated between India and Pakistan on the future status of Kashmir. They also embody the only principle on whose basis a just and durable settlement of the problem can be achieved – the principle of freedom of choice by the relevant people.”

Sardar Taj Khan, Senior Vice President of Kashmir Mission, USA, and the main organizer of the event said,”India violates the basic rights of the people of Kashmir, like freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, freedom of travel, and above all freedom to choose their destiny. He asserted that there must be a just and lasting resolution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and in accordance with the aspirations of the people of IIOJK. Raja Mukhtar, senior leader of JKLF, North America, appealed to the UN Secretary General to persuade Government of India to rescind newly enacted Domicile Law which violates the Geneva Convention; and to unconditionally release all Kashmiri political prisoners including Masarrat Aalam, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Aasiya Andrabi, and Khurram Parvez.

Sardar Imtiaz Khan Garalvi, Secretary General of Kashmir Mission, reiterated that the people of Jammu and Kashmir were assured by the United Nations that they would be given the right to self-determination to decide their future by a free and unfettered vote and to this day, this assurance has yet to be honored.

Haji Mohammad Shafi, one of the prominent community leaders, voiced his continuing belief that India and Pakistan alone could not solve the 76-year-old Kashmir conflict – it requires a deeper engagement of the United Nations with both these neighboring countries.