Daily Times

The National Assembly on Tuesday passed a unanimous resolution to express solidarity with Kashmiris and called upon the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to immediately convene a special summit to discuss the grave human rights violations by India in the occupied valley of Kashmir.

The 18-point resolution was presented by Kashmir Committee Chairman Syed Fakhar Imam after a two-day debate on the issue of Kashmir in the Lower House.

The House emphasized that February 5 is the International Day of Solidarity being marked all over the world to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir who are living under a state of siege for more than seven decades under a fierce and cruel Indian occupation. The House expressed unflinching, unwavering and unstinting commitment of the people of Pakistan with the people of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) and expressed solidarity with brothers and sisters of Kashmir in their historical struggle for their freedom and rights.

While honouring the courageous and valiant people of Kashmir, the legislators paid tributes to all those men, women and children who laid down their lives fighting for their right of self-determination over the last seven decades. They reaffirmed that Jammu and Kashmir remains the subject of an internationally recognized dispute that has been and continues to be on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) since 1948, and affirmed by the subsequent relevant UNSC resolutions.

They recognized that any political process held under the foreign occupation cannot be a substitute to the exercise of the right to self-determination by the people of Jammu and Kashmir as provided in the relevant UNSC resolutions. They reaffirmed Pakistan’s consistent political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people until the realization of their legitimate right to self-determination as per the relevant UNSC resolutions.

The lawmakers condemned strongly the unilateral illegal action of the Indian government of August 5 and October 31, 2019, and the subsequent illegal detentions, arrest, lockdown, communications blockade, media blackout in the occupied territory which has brought immense sufferings to the people of Kashmir. They expressed grave concern at the continued presence of more than 900,000 Indian military personnel thereby turning the entire Kashmir valley into a virtual open prison and making it one of the most militarized areas of the world.

They condemned the past and present Indian atrocities, including detention of over 13,000 Kashmiri youth at undisclosed locations, the use of pellet guns by the Indian military against innocent civilians, and torture and humiliation of the ordinary civilians.

The members expressed concern at the illegal detention and long incarceration of the political leaders from different political parties, particularly the Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders like Yasin Malik and Shabbir Shah who was first arrested when he was 14 years old and kept behind bars on and off.

The House strongly condemned the horrifying violence against women especially the use of rape as a weapon of war by the Indian occupation forces. They deplored the impunity given to the Indian occupation forces by India’s draconian laws, and the continuing restrictions of freedom of movement, association and expression in the Kashmir constituting gross violation of fundamental rights of the people of trhe region.

They denounced India’s deliberate targeting of civilian population with the intensified ceasefire violations, which had led to the death of Kashmiris across the line of control, further threatening peace and security in the region. They expressed concern also at Indian strong-arm tactics to alter the demography through ethnic cleansing in Kashmir in violation of the international human rights law including the 4th Geneva Convention. They rejected the BJP government’s belligerence and warmongering inspired by the exclusionary Hindutva ideology in utter disregard of human right laws and threatening to destroy peace and stability in the region, and reaffirmed the unshakeable resolve of the Pakistani nation to thwart any Indian aggression.

They welcomed the UNSC consultations of the January 15-16, 2020, which acknowledged the internationally recognized nature of the dispute, and the gravity of the situation post August 5 and its implications for the regional peace and security. They noted the Report of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of June 2018 and July 2019 documenting extensively the grave and systematic violations of human rights in the valley and endorsed the call by the High Commissioner to the Human Rights Council to conduct a comprehensive independent international investigation into the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir.

They appreciated the role played by world leaders, statesmen and stateswomen, parliamentarians, human rights organizations, international media, and many countries, particularly China, Malaysia, Turkey and Iran in raising their voice against Indian atrocities in Kashmir. They called upon the UN Security Council to enforce a peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions. They urged the government of India to implement forthwith numerous pending UNSC resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir that call for a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations to determine the will of the people for the final disposition of the issue.

The house demanded that India immediately reverse and rescind its illegal action of August 5 and October 31, 2019, repeal the draconian laws such as Public Safety Act (PSA) and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), withdraw its occupation troops from Kashmir along the LoC and immediately lift its six-month-long inhuman lockdown, communication blockade and media blackout.

While taking part in the debate on Kashmir, the parliamentarians vociferously criticized India for its unrelenting violations of basic rights of Kashmiris. They were of the view that parliamentary delegations should be sent abroad to convince the world to help resolve the Kashmir issue. Member National Assembly Ali Gohar said the Indian government showed its real face and annexed Kashmir and declared it as its territory. He said the nation is united for the integrity of Pakistan. The opposition including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan People’s Party have set aside their political differences to stand for the cause of Kashmir, he said, adding that Kashmir is the integral part of Pakistan and would continue to remain so.

Dr Shahnaz Baloch said Pakistan needs to resolve its problems first and undertake reforms while extending support to Kashmiris. Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said Pakistan has fought three wars on Kashmir and is ready to respond to the aggression of India, adding that Pakistan wants peace in the region but this desire should not be considered a weakness. India and Pakistan are nuclear powers and any war will destroy both of them, he added. The minister said Pakistan never elected extremist parties like Bharatiya Janata Party which is even suppressing its own people. Dissent has been crushed in India, he said, adding that the violations of rights of people in India is condemnable. He said for the last two hundred days, there is a communication blockade and people are besieged in Kashmir.

Abdul Qadir Patel said Kashmir is the issue which was left unresolved at the time of partition of Indian sub-continent. He said India turned Kashmir into a jail, its planes violated airspace of Pakistan and usurped freedom of Kashmir and put the whole population of Kashmir valley under curfew. He complained of lack of support from Muslim countries on the issue of Kashmir.

Amir Haider Hoti said India has changed the special status of Kashmir and imposed indefinite curfew in the Kashmir valley. It is important that the parliament should have unanimity of views on the Kashmir issue, he said. In the past, the parliament had developed consensus when Pakistan fought its war against terrorism and carried out military operations in Swat and other areas, he added. Kesoo Mal Kheeal Das said minorities in Pakistan stand with the Kashmiris.

Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan said the United Nations General Assembly passed two resolutions granting Kashmiris the right to decide their future through a plebiscite. He said the UN also passed resolutions on East Timor and South Sudan and both became separate states after some years. He condemned the world powers for their double standards and for not implementing the resolutions on Kashmir. Muslims are being exploited all across the world including in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Palestine, he added. Naz Baloch said India has entered hundreds of thousands of troops in Kashmir and took away the rights of Kashmiris and tortured elderly and youth and raped women and girls. Kashmiris should be given their right to self-determination and the world should make efforts for resolving the Kashmir issue, she added. Saifur Rehman said Kashmiris are facing oppression of India. He endorsed the view that delegations of parliamentarians should be sent abroad for cause of Kashmiris.

Leader of Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI) Asad Mehmood said the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir provided the basis to Pakistan to advocate its case on Kashmir. Pakistan had been extending moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris, he added.

Khurram Dastgir said for Pakistan, Kashmir is not just a territorial dispute but it is striving for securing right of self-determination of Kashmiris. He said when India ended the special status of Kashmir and annexed the territory, it was a setback to the foreign policy of Pakistan.

Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul said Kashmiris feel honoured to bury their martyrs in the flag of Pakistan.

Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser read out a statement giving details of the efforts made by the National Assembly to highlight the Kashmir issue at the international forums. He gave details of his interactions and those of parliamentary delegations at international forums and meetings of parliamentarian associations and organizations like Inter-Parliamentary Union and Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

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