Conference on state of media, human rights violation in IoK held in British parliament

Calls upon British government to help protect media persons from abuse at the hands of occupation forces

MUZAFFARABAD: A conference on the state of media and human rights in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK) has called upon the British government to help protect media persons suffering harassment, abuse and detention at the hands of occupation forces.

The conference was held yesterday in the British Parliament building under the aegis of Tehreek-e-Kashmir United Kingdom (TeK UK) in collaboration with the Labour Party MP Afzal Khan, who is also shadow minister for immigration.

Participants of the first ever conference on media, included notable members of the Kashmiri and Pakistani diaspora and deliberated in detail the highly militarised situation in IoK, with journalists from Kashmir giving testimonials.



Through a unanimously approved resolution, participants expressed their solidarity with people suffering from unprecedented abuse of human rights and supported their struggle for a just cause.

"We note that the human rights situation, except the June 2018 Report of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) and October 2018 Report of the All Parties Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Kashmir in the House of Commons, has not found enough space in international media. The deficiency needs immediate attention and redress," read the resolution.

"This conference expresses its gratitude to the local media in IoK that, in spite of difficult circumstances and threats to their lives, they are playing a great role in exposing the continued atrocities, repression and human rights violations with impunity. It calls upon the conscientious members in the international media to connect with the ground situation and local media to create a much-needed impact in all capitals of the world," the resolution added.

"The conference calls upon the UK lawmakers to raise their forceful voice to bring to an end all cycles of violence in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir. A resolution to this effect should be adopted in the House of Parliament so that the people of IoK suffering uncertainty, hazards of the conflict and organised oppression have a UN supervised vote for their right of self-determination."



The resolution pointed out that a roadmap for such a solution had already been set by the UK Parliament when it had allowed the people of Scotland to vote for their political destiny.

The conference also expressed its deep concern on the Cordon and Search Operations (CaSO) in IoK, in which Kashmiri youth were being targeted and killed, and called upon the international community to intervene and help in reversing the situation.

"We demand that all draconian laws such as Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA) that exist to provide impunity to perpetrators and invade privacy of the public are withdrawn and all fundamental freedoms listed in UN Resolution of 21 April 1948 are guaranteed," the conference demanded.

It noted that a constructive dialogue between all parties of the dispute, Kashmiris, Indians and Pakistanis together, could be a "welcome beginning for solving the seven-decade long dispute."

"Being a friend of both countries, UK should take an initiative for a tripartite/multilateral conference of the stake holders in London."

Through the resolution, the participants of the media conference urged the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to take a serious notice of the UNHCHR report as well as of the APPG in UK Parliament.

The conference also endorsed the call of the UNHCHR to send a fact-finding mission to assess the situation in IoK.

Those who spoke at the conference included AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, MP Afzal Khan, Lord Qurban Hussain, President TeK-UK Raja Fahim Kayani, AJK Education Minister Barrister Iftikhar Gilani, Senior Journalists Altaf Ahmad Bhat, Tariq Naqash, Nayeema Ahmad Mehjoor, Muhammad Aslam Mir,  Adil Shahzeb , Nazir Gilani, Chaudhry Muhammad Luqman and Professor Shahid Iqbal.