Kashmir Event at George Washington University, Kashmiri American Council

Kashmir Event at George Washington University

Kashmiri American Council

Al-Jazeerah, October 30, 2006

Washington, D.C. October 28, 2006. A wonderful event, “Kashmir: Future Approaches” was organized at George Washington University, Marvin Center by PSA George Washington University, PSA Georgetown University, Rising Leaders, PALC and Kashmiri American Council / Kashmir Center. The speakers included Mr. Tahir Iqbal, Minister of Kashmir Affairs, Prof. William Baker, author of “Kashmir: Happy Valley, Valley of Death”; Prof. Angana Chatterji, Professor of California Institute of Integral Studies, Mr. Mohammad Aslam Khan, DCM, Embassy of Pakistan, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Executive Director, Kashmiri American Council / Kashmir Center, Ms. Hafsa Kanjwal and Sadia Sindhu, Georgetown University and Najm Haq of George Washington University. The auditorium was full to the capacity with dozens listening patiently while standing for two and half hours.

Mr. Zafar Iqbal, Minister of Kashmir Affairs said that the movement in Kashmir is not terrorism but a movement for independence of the people of Kashmir. It is a movement of right of self-determination which was pledged to them by the United Nations. Mr. Iqbal emphasized that the solution of Kashmir has to be reached by all parties, viz, India, Pakistan and more importantly the people of Kashmir. He said that the United States can play a very vital role in resolving the issue of Kashmir. Kashmir being a nuclear flash point deserves the attention of the international community.

Mr. Mohammad Aslam Khan, DCM said that there cannot be peace in occupied Kashmir because of the presence of 700,000 Indian military and paramilitary forces. Demilitarization, he said, will bring relief to the inhabitants of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. He emphasized that Pakistan has not changed its principle stand on Kashmir. However, she is ready to explore various options provided Kashmiris are also the part of the talks.

Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai said that the people of Kashmir endorse the CBM’s initiated by the leadership of both India and Pakistan. Because CBM’s have played an important role in diffusing tension between hostile neighbors. But the CBM’s, Dr. Fai said, hav! e also a problem They can lend an appearance of normalcy to the situation in Kashmir. He agreed with Mr. Kuldip Nayar, former Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, who wrote that trappings of normality should not be mistaken for actual normality. True, the atmosphere is better than before. But this should not make us infer that we have found a solution to the Kashmir problem. If this were so, the alienation in the valley would have largely disappeared. The army would have withdrawn its forces in a larger proportion.

Dr. Fai warned that we do not need to invoke principles because principles will not help us launch a peace process. We have seen all too often how easily principles can be twisted and how the principles lend themselves to different interpretations. But the principles that are involved in the Kashmir dispute cannot be and should not be ignored. There are two: It is the inherent right of the people of Kashmir to decide their future according to their own free will and second principle is that it is impossible to ascertain that will except through a vote under impartial supervision and in conditions which are free from compul! sion, intimidation and external coercion.

Dr. Fai reiterated that Kashmir is not and cannot be regarded as an integral part of India because under all international agreements, which were agreed by both India and Pakistan, negotiated by the United Nations, endorsed by the Security Council and accepted by the international community, Kashmir does not belong to any member state of the United Nations. If that is true, then the claim that Kashmir is an integral part of India does not stand.

Prof. Angana Chatterji said that over 500,000 Indian troops remain deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, including from paramilitary forces, federal armed forces, and Jammu and Kashmir Rifles. The army-civilian ratio in Kashmir is approximated at 5.5 million people, one soldier per 11 persons. There is an absence of transparency connected to decision-making processes utilized by the armed forces. She emphasized that there is growing concern among civil society groups about human rights crises in Indian-occupied Kashmir in the areas of social, political, cultural, religious, and economic rights. The premise and structure of impunity connected to military rule and corresponding human rights abuses bear witness to the absence of accountability inherent to the continued occupation of (certain areas of) Kashmir by the Indian state.

Prof William Baker said that Kashmir today is locked in a death struggle for survival and the right of self-determination. This historic Valley of beauty has become a Valley of death. He said a country of thirteen million inhabitants face on a daily basis, the bullets and brutality of an occupation army of Indian soldiers. One is hard pressed to discover any comparable contemporary conflict capable of possessing an equal amount of naked brutality, inhumanity and intolerance as that experienced by the Kashmiri people over the past fifty nine years under occupation.

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

Apartheid Wall


The Israeli Land-Grab Apartheid Wall built inside the Palestinian territories, here separating Abu Dis from occupied East Jerusalem. (IPC, 7/4/04).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03).

Opinions expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors and they may not represent Al-Jazeerah's.

editor@aljazeerah.info