Pakistan’s voice should reach Srinagar, say Kashmiri leaders

The world now recognises the Kashmir issue as a flashpoint in South Asia, they claim

KARACHI: The powerful voice of Pakistan, the 'lawyer' of the Kashmiris, should reach Srinagar, stated Kashmiri Hurriyat leader and Jammu and Kashmir Salvation Front president Altaf Ahmad Bhat.

He was speaking at the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi, after a stage show titled 'The Half Widow,' organised by the Human Rights Council of Pakistan.

Lauding the support for the Kashmiri cause in Karachi, he said that Pakistanis had neither forgotten the sacrifices of the valley's people nor left them to stand alone in their struggle for freedom.

"The story presented here [in the show] is the story of every house in Kashmir. There is no house where martyrdom has not been carried out by the Indian forces," asserted the senior Hurriyat leader, adding that over 10,000 women had been tortured and more than 500,000 Kashmiris martyred. "How much more should we sacrifice?"

Meanwhile, Tehreek-e-Kashmir UK leader Raja Fahim Kayani stated that India was worried because the Kashmiri and Pakistani diasporas were working for Kashmir's cause on international fronts.

"The world is now recognising the Kashmir issue as a flashpoint," he added, while discussing the possibility of war between the South Asian rivals. "We have reminded the world that if the Kashmir dispute is not resolved in line with the aspirations of the Kashmiris, war will be inevitable."

Kayani further maintained that it was high time for international organisations to intervene and stop the persecution and genocide of Muslims in India and Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Pointing out that the Kashmir dispute had been tarnished by the perception of it as a bilateral issue, Arts Council director Bashir Sadozai said Kashmiris should be allowed to decide their own fate. "We have fought for the alliance with Pakistan to date. Pakistan should trust us and call for our right to self-determination," he said.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Saleem Butt, meanwhile, said that the matter was close to resolution. "The sacrifices of Kashmiris are not hidden; the world recognises them now," he declared. "India can no longer suppress this movement."

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2020.