World now more sensitive on Kashmir

All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq struck the chord of imagination of every Kashmiri when he warned that any further delay in resolving the Kashmir dispute could trigger a new wave of unrest in the occupied territory. Mirwaiz who recently visited a number of countries like Saudi Arabia and some world capitals including Geneva asserted at a news conference in Srinagar recently that New Delhi should recognise the demand of self-determination of Kashmiri people and take effective measures to resolve the Kashmir conundrum in an effective manner.

Sharing his experience during his foreign trip Mirwaiz stressed that world including India's long-time ally Russia considers Kashmir a disputed territory. “There is lot of urge within global leadership that Kashmir dispute should be resolved to ensure stability in the region.

The APHC chief had detailed discussion with leaders and cross section of the people of the countries he visited, whom he apprised of the latest situation in Kashmir and the human rights situation there. Talking about the inevitability of involving a third party for conflict resolution he said it was no longer a taboo. He said India was shying away from the proposal, which had become unavoidable.

He slammed India for adopting military policy in Kashmir instead of settling the issue politically. Mirwaiz emphasised that he was not averse to any formula but any future negotiations on Kashmir should be focussed on right of self-determination. He expressed gratitude to Kashmiri youth for bringing the Kashmir dispute out of the cold storage through their unique sacrifices.

All major countries like USA, Britain and China have time and again advocated the cause of Kashmiris and called for an early settlement of the lingering problem. US President Obama in his pre-election campaign had stressed the need for resolving the issue in the interest of the world peace. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Minister David Miliband have also spoken in favour of Kashmiris' rights. But above all China gave a practical demonstration of its will for solving the Kashmir imbroglio. China by refusing to recognise Kashmir as an integral part of India has started granting visas to Kashmiris on separate certificate rather than on the Indian passports. It has considerably irked the Indian government but India's continues to remain stuck to its intransigent attitude vis-a vis Kashmir. There has been a sea change in the thinking at the global level for giving the right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir but India is adamantly opposed to any move recognising the birth rights of Kashmiris. Even India's own intelligentsia and human rights activists are favourably disposed to listening to the voice of Kashmir by granting them the right to self-determination promised by the Indian government and its founding leaders like Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. Pandit Nehru's speech at Srinagar's Lal Chowk still reverberates in the Kashmiris' ears wherein he repeated his promise of taking people into confidence. The UN Resolutions of August 13, 1948 and January 5, 1949, un-equivocally declared that Kashmiris will be given the right to self-determination to decide their destiny to which both the main stakeholders, Pakistan and India has consented. But these resolutions are still awaiting implementation only due to Indian stubbornness. It is time the international community and the United Nations should exert their pressure upon India to fulfil its long standing promise made with the people of Kashmir who have been suffering extra judicial killings disappearances, molestation of women and destruction of their properties at the hands of the Indian army for the last six decades.