Indian atrocities in Kashmir: 22 MPs tasked to ‘shake world’s conscience’

Kashmir dispute is most persistent failure of UN: PM

ISLAMABAD: In another diplomatic push to throw global spotlight on India’s unabated human rights abuses in the disputed Kashmir state, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has decided to send 22 parliamentarians as his special emissaries to different world capitals.



“I have decided to send these parliamentarians for fighting the Kashmir cause in different parts of the world. These special envoys have the strength of the people of Pakistan, prayers from the Kashmiri people across the Line of Control, mandate of parliament and support from the government,” the prime minister said in a statement issued on Friday.

“I stand behind these special envoys to ensure their toil for highlighting the Kashmir cause resonates across the world so that I can shake the collective conscience of the international community during my address at the UN this September,” he said.



The premier said Pakistan would remind the UN of its long-held promise of self-determination to the Kashmiri people and would make it clear to India that it had approached the UN several de cades ago over the dispute but was still not fulfilling its promise of holding a plebiscite.



“Generation after generation of Kashmiris have seen only broken pledges and ruthless oppression,” Nawaz said, adding that this anniversary of the UN ought to be a catalyst to spur the world body into action on Kashmir.



“The Kashmir dispute is the most persistent failure of the UN, which must establish its relevance. We cannot relent from the Kashmir cause by any stretch of imagination,” he reiterated.

The parliamentarians nominated as special envoys to highlight Indian brutalities and lobby for the Kashmir cause in capitals across the world include Ijazul Haq and Malik Uzair for Belgium, Khusro Bakhtiar and Alamdad Laleka for China, Raza Hayat Hiraj, Junaid Anwar Chaudhry and Nawab Ali Wassan for the Russian Federation.

The prime minister has also nominated Fazlur Rehman, Maj (retd) Tahir Iqbal and Muhammad Afzal Khokhar for Saudi Arabia, Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha and Malik Pervaiz for Turkey, Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qayyum and Qaiser Sheikh for the United Kingdom.

Mushahid Hussain Syed and Shazra Mansab Ali Khan would highlight the Kashmir cause in the US and the UN; Ayesha Raza Farooq and Rana Muhammad Afzal in France; Awais Leghari in the UN Geneva office and Abdul Rehman Kanju in South Africa.

At least 68 people have fallen victim to the brutalities of Indian security forces in Kashmir, where the murder of a populist Kashmiri youth leader on July 8 has sparked unrest.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2016.