EU body calls for peaceful resolution of Kashmir

BRUSSELS: In a significant development, the Sub-Committee on Human Rights of the European Parliament hosted an official exchange of views on situation of human rights in Indian-held Kashmir at the European Parliament. This was for the first time after 2007 that the Kashmir issue was discussed publicly at an official EU forum.

In his introductory remarks, Chair of the Sub-Committee Antonio Panzeri reiterated EU’s commitment to uphold and protect human rights throughout the world. The EU, he said, has never shied away from discussing human rights, even when it involved complex political issues. He pointed out that the issue of Kashmir was the longest unresolved issue on the agenda of the United Nations. The EU believes that dialogue among nations was necessary to resolve such issues, he added.

The discussion focused on the June 2018 report of the United Nations’ Office of High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) on Kashmir Christine Chung, one of the authors of the report, was especially invited for the occasion by the sub-committee.

In her comments, she highlighted the dire human rights situation in the Indian-held Kashmir and reiterated the OHCHR’s recommendations for establishing a commission of inquiry to conduct a comprehensive and independent international investigation of human rights violations in the occupied valley.

Besides Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Belgium, the European Union and Luxembourg Naghmana Alamgir Hashmi, the debate was attended by large number of members of European Parliament (MEPs), representatives of human rights and civil society organizations, think tanks, diplomats from various countries and members of Kashmiri diaspora across Europe. The members of European Parliament who attended the event included Wajid Khan, Julie Ward, Baroness Nosheena Mubarik, Amjad Bashir, David Martin, Jordi Sole, Sion Simon, Jean Lambert, Richard Corbett, Theresa Griffin and Jo Leinen.

Overwhelming majority of these members rallied behind the recommendations of the OHCHR report and called for their full implementation. They called on India to immediately put a halt to its atrocities in the Indian-held Kashmir and carry out investigations into the incidents of grave human rights violations. The MEPs also highlighted the need for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue through dialogue between Pakistan and India and with full participation of the Kashmiri people.

The event is a huge diplomatic success for Pakistan as it is the first time in more than a decade that the EU has officially organized an event on Kashmir where concerns regarding India’s human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir have been discussed. The public nature of the event also added to its value in generating awareness about the situation in the Indian-occupied Kashmir. The official nature of the event in one the most prestigious bodies of the European Parliament, the sub-committee on human rights, will also provide a solid ground for other EU institutions to raise the issue of Kashmir with the Indian government during their bilateral interactions.