Daily Times

Speakers at a webinar in Islamabad on Sunday urged the world community to stop India from implementing its Hindutva agenda in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

The webinar “Violation of international laws by India in IIOJK and Indian Hindutva and hegemonic designs: A threat to peace and security” was organized by a group of displaced Kashmiri journalists.

Speaking on the occasion, former Labour Party Member of European Parliament, Julie Ward said that the Indian government had taken regressive steps even during COVID-19 to suppress voice of Kashmiris. She lamented that rest of the world was busy due to COVID-19 and had no time to listen to miseries of victims in Kashmir as well as other parts of the world. She said that the UN should take steps to help resolve the dispute as India was not only changing laws and Constitution but also taking aggressive actions in the occupied territory. She said that the Indian government even did care for its own people inside India who had been suffering at the hands of Modi government.

Member of National Assembly and Parliamentary Kashmiri Committee, Nouren Ibrahim said that Article 370/ 35A was constitutional guarantee that demography of Kashmir would be preserved. She added that India for decades had been involved in violating international laws and nobody was taking notice, not even the human rights champions.

She questioned why international laws were not being implemented on people of IIOJK and why were they deprived of their basic human rights that are protected in all international laws. She counted range of gross human rights violations committed by India in the territory which are sheer violation of international laws.

Nouren Ibrahim said that India was the top most country where Islamophobia was being practiced. She also highlighted the Indian hegemony, saying that it was madly following the Hindutva expansionist designs which have not only become threat for the region but the whole world.

Speaking on the occasion, former Ambassador of Pakistan to United Kingdom, Nafees Zakaria said that the Indian government was engaged in systematic extermination of Kashmiri Muslims and unfortunately the international community had been keeping its criminal silence. In violation of UNSC resolutions, he said that India took unilateral decision on 5th August 2019 and had been changing demography of the territory at fast pace, adding that the condemnable change in demography had not only picked up pace but was institutionalized.

The Chairman of International Forum for Justice and Human Rights Jammu and Kashmir, Muhammad Ahsan Untoo while speaking on the occasion, said the world powers have failed to stop Indian from committing gross human rights violations and resolve the lingering Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations resolutions. He said, the unilateral decision of repealing Kashmir’s special status by Modi-led Indian regime was watched by world as silent spectators.

Kashmiri Scholar, Dr Asif Dar stressed the need for mobilization on various fronts to highlight the Kashmir dispute and help get it resolved in accordance with the Kashmiris’ aspirations. He also highlighted various aspects of Hindutva ideology, according to which, he said, non-Hindus do not deserve to live in India. He said that Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) both were following Hindutva agenda, the former was following Soft Hindutva while the later was adhered to hard Hindutva. But the work done by both was same and that is to promote Hindu dominance. He added, the difference was only in practice as Congress was doing all this covertly while the BJP has been doing it overtly. He said that the international community was not only silent but had been encouraging India to continue its nefarious hegemonic designs. Speaking on the occasion, scholar Dr Murtaza Rizvi said that Kashmiris needed to carry on their struggle for the freedom of Kashmiris, adding that one day they would succeed in their just struggle for right to self-determination and would get rid of Indian subjugation.

Earlier, in his welcome note, senior journalist, M. Ashraf Wani said, the situation witnessed alarming deterioration since August 5, 2019. He paid tributes to Kashmiri martyrs, particularly, Syed Ali Gilani, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai and Shaikh Tajammul-ul-Islam, who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of Kashmir. Kashmir journalists, Nabi Baig, Raies Ahmed Mir and Zahoor Ahmed Sofi also spoke on the occasion and highlight various aspects of the freedom struggle of Kashmir.