It’s time to resolve Kashmir issue

Pakistan has again drawn the international community’s attention to dire necessity of resolving the Kashmir issue without any further delay in the light of the United Nations resolutions. The valley has been wrecked by street protests against its illegal occupation by India since 1948.

The nature of the widespread protest is indigenous. Before the situation is more alarming than ever before, the world body should persuade India to learn that the regional peace hinges upon end to repression in the disputed territory.

Jammu and Kashmir forms the central part of all the outstanding issues between the two neighbouring countries. Pakistan’s call for solving the Kashmir question cannot be overlooked by any sane person in any peace-loving country in the backdrop of the situation which has deteriorated swiftly following aggressive response to the young and old Kashmiris’ demand for right to self-determination.

A peaceful resolution of the dispute in accordance with the UN resolutions and taking into account the aspirations of the Kashmiri people will surely create an atmosphere conducive to durable peace and stability in South Asia.  

The commitment of Pakistan to the cause of the oppressed people of Kashmir is known to the world, according to which the nation has always extended its unswerving moral, diplomatic and political support to Kashmiris fighting for their fundamental right to self-determination acknowledged by the UNO.

The oppressed people of Jammu and Kashmir are at the heart of the Kashmir issue and it is their fate and future, which are at stake. Even assuming that the Kashmir dispute was settled at Simla, as India claims, it is worth pointing out that nothing in the international law confers on two parties the authority to make decisions or conclude agreements which adversely affect the rights of a third party.

Paragraph 15 of the United Nations Resolution, dated January 5, 1949, states clearly that “the question of the accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite.”

The fact is that India’s state terrorism has not relented in any way until now, members of a migrant family disclosed to this scribe the other day. According to them, “life and honour of a Kashmiri woman is not secure.”

“On balance, Indian foreign policy has been a failure since India failed to achieve the establishment of good relations with Pakistan. The stumbling block to the achievement of good relations between India and Pakistan is Kashmir.

There’s no denying the fact that Pakistan has always done, and is still doing, its utmost to prevent a war whereas in sharp contrast there has been a huge influx of Indian troops into occupied Kashmir.  

zasarwar@hotmail.com