Once dead and dormant, the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir has seen a total revamp, becoming a potent force in internationalising Kashmir Cause at all forums.
Since taking over as Chairman of the Parliamentary body, Shehryar Khan Afridi has instilled a new spirit into Kashmir Committee and now the outlook of the body suggests that it is the most effective body of the Parliament which is adding new arsenal to the country’s outdated narrative on Kashmir Dispute.
The present government has come a long way in internationalising the Kashmir issue. With the communication sector experiencing a phenomenal change in the 21st century, the PTI government swiftly brought multiple changes in its policy to sensitize the world about the war crimes and human rights violations committed by the puppet regime of New Delhi in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Not only Prime Minister Imran Khan led the Kashmir offensive from the front, his efforts were well supplemented by his team including Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Dr Moeed Yusuf, Special Assistant to PM on National Security.
However, Chairman Kashmir Committee Shehryar Khan Afridi stands out among the PM’s team due to his extraordinary efforts and innovative initiatives to infuse new force in the country’s narrative on Kashmir Dispute. “The Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir has been completely overhauled to supplement the government’s offensive on Kashmir,” Chairman of Kashmir Committee Shehryar Khan Afridi told APP here on Monday while highlighting the forum’s performance.
Afridi said the committee had recently formed multiple advisory boards to help build a strong narrative on Kashmir issue by evolving an all-encompassing policy on Kashmir. Asked to explain the objective of the advisory boards, Shehryar Afridi said there was a dire need for the state to involve the private sector with the committee to add value and valour to the Kashmir narrative. He said these boards would not only give advice to the Committee but also would work on a voluntary basis to add value to the country’s diplomatic offensive on Kashmir. These boards would be working under the panel’s sub-committees, he added.
Afridi said the boards would advise the committee on the issues of culture, information technology, academia and research, youth affairs, lawfare and human rights. he said the board on information technology would help Kashmir cause get its due space on the digital platforms. He said since India is employing all tools of genocide in IIOJK, the puppet regime of IIOJK is specially targeting Kashmiri culture and heritage to suppress the freedom movement.
“Since Indians want to kill the Kashmiri identity and culture, we are working to protect and promote Kashmiri culture. Hence, we are involving experts to promote the true identity of Kashmiris,” he said. He said the board would consist of top-notch artists, thinkers and filmmakers to help revive and project Kashmiri culture which was being destroyed by the occupational regime in IIOJK.
Afridi said the board on academia and research would push for research to develop new content to revive the narrative on Kashmir.
The advisory board on lawfare would explore future strategy and options on legal aspects of Kashmir dispute while the board on youth would help develop brand ambassadors on Kashmir to project the Kashmir Dispute. He said the youth would be encouraged to develop digital content on Kashmir and top vlogers and bloggers would also be made a part of the board. He said all the TV channels would be encouraged to develop tele-films, dramas and special awareness programmes to promote awareness on Kashmir dispute.
Afridi said under the directions of the Committee the PTA was fixing online meetings with the regional representative of Facebook to ensure that Kashmiri and Pakistani users were provided equal opportunities at social media sites.
He said the Committee was developing its own first ever dedicated website to provide verified data on Azad Jammu and Kashmir as well as IIOJK in six different languages. In order to project Kashmiri sports, the Committee was supporting the Kashmir Premier League to put Kashmir on the global sports map.
He said the Committee was adding civil society as a new agent in Kashmir narrative building on International forums to raise the human rights abuses on these forums.
The Committee has identified 22 global forums to raise the Kashmir dispute, he added. He said for the first time in history, the committee had taken deaf community on board to tell the story of Kashmir to the deaf community around the globe. He said the committee was constantly monitoring human rights violations and atrocities being committed by the Indian Forces in the IIOJK and raising these issues at all necessary forms.