Pakistan can’t remain oblivious to atrocities in Indian-held Kashmir: Rabbani

Senate chairman questions world community’s
double standards over human rights violations

Pakistan is a peaceful country, rich in tradition, home to Sufis and saints but we just cannot remain oblivious to the atrocities being perpetrated on the people of Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian government for something as innocuous as the people of the area asking for their fundamental right to self-determination.

These views were expressed by the chairman of Senate, Raza Rabbani, while addressing members of the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA), the media and the intellectual glitterati at the institute on Saturday evening.

“How can Pakistan remain a silent spectator to Kashmiri young men and women being disabled physically for life?” he queried.

Rabbani said that the Kashmiris had been given the right of self-determination by the United Nations resolution to that effect.

“If action could be taken in Iraq on the basis of a UN resolution, then why this glaring duality of approach?” he asked.

He asked as to why those westerners who were habitual of making so much of political capital of the fundamental rights issues were totally silent in the case of the blatant violations of fundamental rights in Jammu and Kashmir. “Why this silence?” he posed the question.

The Senate chairman said, “We seek a reduction in tensions but when there’s talk of revoking the Indus Water Treaty, we cannot remain silent. This would be tantamount to war. India is just not within its right to revoke the treaty unilaterally.”

The treaty, he said, did not allow India to build dams on rivers allocated to Pakistan, yet India was doing so in flagrant violation of the accord. “Any attempt to cut off water supplies will be considered an act of war and we shan’t permit that.”

On the cancellation of the Saarc Summit in Islamabad, he said that Saarc countries must ponder the issue as to why a country should opt out of the conference on the basis of its bilateral disputes with a member country. The countries, he said, should rather consider excluding the boycotting country.

“There’s urgent need to revisit our foreign policy. Far too long has it been arduously pro-West.. Let it now be pro-Asia. Asia is where the future lies. We are Asians and that’s where our interests should lie,” he said.

Rabbani extolled the service to democracy and rule of law by the late Rana Fatehyab Khan. The meeting was held in memory of the late Rana Fatehyab , and recalled his sacrifices for democracy, social justice and the rule of law.

He said that the story of Fatehyab’s struggle and sacrifices, including jail and internment, would be an icon for the young generation. He regretted that this struggle had never been documented.

He was really bitter about the way history was toyed about with in our set-up and said that he had seen government-printed textbooks wherein things that never happened were mentioned.

History, he said, had been terribly mutilated. He said that 1971 was a watershed year in Pakistan’s history in that it was the year the country was amputated with 57 percent of it being broken away, but in a textbook that he read, only a paragraph had been devoted to the massive tragedy.

Textbooks, he said, just did not say anything about the umpteen people’s struggles that had taken place and glorified events which, perhaps, never occurred.

He said it was sad that today young people were being taught that dictatorship was preferable to democracy. This he said, was on account of the disconnect because we had not acquainted our youth with the story of the sweat and toil of leaders like Fatehyab and their struggle for democracy.

He said that whatever semblance of democracy we had today was on account of the selfless struggle of Fateyab and the likes of him. “Today we find that we are where Fatehyab left us and have not progressed after that. Article 6 of the constitution failed to bring a culprit, a former head of state, to book, and allowed him to leave the country.”

In the case of Akbar Bugti’s murder, the culprit refused to appear before the court in Quetta. In Pakistan, he said there were different sets of laws for various categories of people.

He said that if you are from the ruling elite, there’s one set of laws, and if you are from the civilian ruling elite, there’s another set of laws. He maintained that if you are a collaborator with the civilian ruling elite, there’s another set of laws, and if you are from the rich and the powerful, you can just buy justice.

Rabbani further stated that if you’re from among the common folk, you’ve had it. He emphasised that the people would themselves have to come forward and place the constitution on an even footing.

The talk which seemed to evince lots of interest was followed by a lengthy question-answer session.