‘Politicians are busy bickering while Kashmiris die’

Lord Nazir slams Pakistani leaders for not doing enough to oppose Indian aggression.

ISLAMABAD: British lawmaker Lord Nazir Ahmed slammed Pakistani politicians, religious leaders and civil society members for doing enough to raise their voices on Indian excesses in Kashmir.

“Politicians are busy playing dirty politics while people of Kashmir are being killed and blinded by pellet guns,” Lord Nazir said at a seminar on the “Current Uprising in Kashmir and the Role of Diaspora” at the National Press Club on Saturday.



“Azad Kashmir leaders are busy in distributing ministries. The leaders and people of Kashmir should think about their behavior,” he remarked.

Expressing concern over the situation in Kashmir, Lord Nazir lamented that a British parliamentarian was killed fighting the case the disputed Himalayan region in Britain but it did not elicit any audible voice from Pakistan.

Other speakers at the seminar urged civil society, universities and representative of political and religious parties to play their role on resolving the Kashmir issue.



A number of British Kashmiri parliamentarians, government representatives and academics spoke at the seminar by the Iqbal International Institute for Research and Dialogue of the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI).

IIUI Rector Masoom Yasinzai said, “We hear more about sit-in at Raiwind but there is a silence on Kashmir issue. People are more aware of Panama papers than Kashmir issue.”

He urged the media, academics, political and religious party leaders to spread awareness about the issue including the human rights violation in Kashmir.



Participants of the event passed a resolution against the human right violations committed by the Indian forces against peaceful protestors.

The speakers said the prolonged curfew has left people with hardly any access to newspapers, telephone and internet. As a result, they world is not aware of the situation in Kashmir.

They maintained that United Nations should appoint special representative and Organisation of Islamic Countries should give briefings on weekly basis. They also urged the Indian government to release political prisoners immediately and stop using force on innocent people.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2016.