Kashmir dispute: Copenhagen conference urges Pakistan-India talks

Participants say international community should take notice of atrocities being committed by Indian military

MUZAFFARABAD: In order for peace to prevail in South Asia, participants of an international conference on Kashmir in Copenhagen have appealed to the leaders of both Pakistan and India to resume dialogue to resolve the decades-old dispute.

The conflict over Kashmir started primarily between Pakistan and India right after the partition of India in 1947. Since then, according to scholars, India has committed many human rights abuses and acts of terror against the Kashmiri people, including extrajudicial killing, rape, torture and enforced disappearances.

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The International Kashmir Conference was organised by Tehreek-e-Kashmir Denmark at the Danish Parliament on Saturday and presided over by Secretary General of Tehreek-e-Kashmir Europe Ansar Manzoor.

Welcoming the participants, Manzoor said, “We want the world to take notice of the highhandedness of the Indian military in braid-chopping in IOK.”

Taking over the podium, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan said, “Horrendous human rights violations are taking place in IOK which need the international community’s immediate attention.”

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Draconian laws introduced in IOK were violating the basic rights of the Kashmiri people as they were being imprisoned in their own homeland, said Khan.

Two Danish members of parliament (MPs) Zenia Stampe and Charloot Bargas also highlighted the human rights violation in IOK.

The Danish MPs described the Kashmir conference in Denmark Parliament as an ample proof of the people of Denmark siding with the indigenous and political movement of the people of IOK. They pledged to continue their support for the right of Kashmiris to self-determination.

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President of Tehreek-e-Kashmir UK Fahim Kiyani appealed to both Pakistan and India to come forward and resume dialogue to settle the longstanding dispute in line with the wishes of the Kashmiris to bring peace and prosperity in South Asia.

“Braid-chopping is a stain on the democracy of India. World community must come forward to take action against the rising human rights violations in IOK, particularly the harassment of women by chopping off their hair,” Kiyani added.

All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader Ghulam Muhammad Safi said that Kashmiris wanted the implementation of UN resolutions to resolve the longstanding dispute between Pakistan and India.

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President AJK diaspora in Europe Muhammad Ghalib appreciated the participation of the two Denmark MPs in the Kashmir conference and hailed their concern over the rising human rights violations in IOK.

Member Legislative Assembly AJK and former Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Abdur Rashid Turabi said the immediate settlement of the Kashmir dispute would be beneficial for Pakistan, India and the whole of South Asia.

“The world has seen that India is not pursuing the path of dialogue with Islamabad and Kashmir. It is the duty of the international community to come forward and pressure New Delhi to settle the Kashmir dispute once and for all to make the region safe and secure for the coming generations of the sub-continent,” Turabi added.

Pakistani Ambassador in Denmark Syed Zulfiqar Gardezi, scholars and human rights activists from across Europe spoke at the conference.