Int’l community should fulfill its responsibilities regarding the Kashmir issue: Speakers

BRUSSELS, Dec 09 (SABAH): Addressing a seminar at the European headquarters in Brussels, the speakers said that the international community should fulfill its responsibilities regarding the Kashmir issue and put pressure on India for the rights of Kashmiris facing the state terrorism for a long time.

A seminar titled “Rights of the Kashmiris and Obligations of the International Community” was organized at European Press Club by the Kashmir Council Europe (KC-EU) in connection with its ongoing “Annual Kashmir EU-Week” in Brussels. It may be recalled that the annual Kashmir EU Week events in Brussels began this week and a photo exhibition on Kashmir is also part of the program which will continue until December 15 at the European Press Club. During the Kashmir EU week, a seminar and debate on Kashmir has also been held in the European Parliament this week.

The seminar which held at the European Press Club was presided by Chairman Kashmir Council EU Ali Raza Syed. Former Member of Brussels Assembly Dr. Manzoor Zahoor, Human rights activist Arsalan Agha, senior Kashmiri leaders Sardar Siddique, Chaudhry Khalid Joshi and Sardar Mahmood and European intellectuals Andre Barcs and Hafiz Uneeb Rashid and other personalities spoke on the occasion. Human rights activist and Chairman of International Forum for Justice/ Human Rights Jammu and Kashmir Ahsan Untoo also addressed the seminar through a communication link from the Occupied Kashmir.

The speakers asserted that India has been suppressing the rights of Kashmiris for seven and a half decades and especially India is adopting all kinds of cruel tactics to crush their right to self-determination.

They said that Occupied Kashmir, especially the Kashmir valley, is presenting the appearance of a prison and no international human rights organization and foreign journalists are allowed to go there.

They added that now the Indian government has approved the new constituencies of the assembly of occupied Jammu and Kashmir under which the people of Kashmir valley will become a political minority in the assembly and in this case action can be taken against the right of self-determination of the Kashmiris.

The speakers also emphasized that the freedom movement of Kashmiris should be highlighted effectively and more voices should be raised in their favor.

Chairman Kashmir Council EU Ali Raza Syed said that many Kashmiri leaders and human rights activists are currently imprisoned in Indian jails. These personalities include Yasin Malik, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Musrat Alam Butt, Khurram Parvez, Sajjad Gul and Waqar Shah. He demanded that the cases against the Kashmiri prisoners should be dropped and they should be released immediately.

He further said that India is taking illegal actions in Jammu and Kashmir through a long planning so that the world will turn a blind eye to its atrocities and recognize its illegal occupation of Occupied Kashmir but Kashmiri people will never accept it.

Ali Raza Syed said the Indian government is involved in serious crimes against humanity in Occupied Kashmir and it wants to keep the world unaware of its crimes. We will never let this happen; we will continue to expose India’s cruel actions to the world.

Speaking through a communication link from Occupied Kashmir, Chairman of International Forum for Justice and Human Rights Jammu and Kashmir Ahsan Untoo, who has been in Indian jails under baseless charges, described the Indian authorities’ treatment with Kashmiri prisoners in Indian jails as immoral and cruel. He said that there are many Kashmiri prisoners who, even if the court releases them on bail, the Indian police and security agencies use black laws to arrest them under other baseless charges. He also said that Kashmiri prisoners are kept in jails away from their families and relatives so that they do not have easy access to legal aid through the ancestors.

The Kashmir EU Week events are ongoing in Brussels under the auspices of the Kashmir Council EU and meetings with various European personalities and representatives of European institutions and human rights organizations are also a part of the program.