Modi’s misadventure to result in solution to Kashmir issue: seminar

LAHORE: Speakers at a national conference on Kashmir issue expressed the views that Modi was following Hindutva philosophy and his misadventure would result in solution to Kashmir dispute. They said that India had committed violations of UN resolutions and China’s support for Pakistan was very vital after the annexation of Laddakh region.

They were addressing one-day national conference titled “Kashmir Dispute: Role of International Community” jointly organised by Punjab University Pakistan Study Centre in collaboration with PU Centre for South Asian Studies here on Wednesday.

Addressing the conference, Prof Dr Saleem Mazhar said that Modi was following Hindutva philosophy and it had also exposed India as biggest democracy and secular state of the world. He said that Pakistan was countering India successfully at international forums which needed to be reinforced with political and economic stability at home. He hoped that present misadventure of Modi would pave way for the ultimate solution to Kashmir dispute.

Senior analyst Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami was of the view that India had failed to achieve its desired goal in annexing Kashmir region. He said Pandit Nehru had anticipated that by lingering on the dispute, India would be able to dilute the tense situation and would succeed in changing the demography of the region. He said that they had opined that with the passage of time, the struggle of Kashmiris would die down and Kashmir would become the integral part of India. He said that but the recent developments in Kashmir had worsened the situation for India. He said that Sheikh Abdullah wanted to remain with India to showcase the world that Muslim majority area of Kashmir was comfortable with India and had nefarious designs to question the two-nation theory. He said that the Indian government had also violated its own constitution while abrogating article 370 and 35(a). He said that at international level, Chinese support for Pakistan was very vital and after the annexation of Laddakh region, the dynamics of Kashmir dispute have fundamentally been altered by involving another stakeholder in Kashmir that was China. He said that Indian government wanted to suppress the Kashmiris to stop other separatist movements going on in India.

Prof Dr Muhammad Iqbal Chawla said that BJP government was implementing philosophy of extremist Hindu organisation RSS. He said that the present crisis in Kashmir had vindicated two-nation theory that the demand for the separate homeland by the Muslims was justified.

He said that Modi's atrocities against the minorities had also disfigured the Indian face of secularism. He said that the UN has failed to perform its functions in resolving the dispute.

In his keynote speech, Prof Dr Adnan Sarwar Khan discussed Shimla Accord, Lahore Declaration and Musharraf formula in detail. He was of the opinion that Kashmiris were the fundamental party of the dispute and the issue could not be resolved without taking them into confidence. He said that Pakistan must be cautious by the mediation offer of President Trump as India would never accept it. He hoped that Indian Supreme Court would declare this action null and void because abrogation of this article of 370 would affect the entire constitutional structure. He said that Modi had plans to use abrogation as bargaining chip for negotiations with Pakistan leaving aside the issue of Kashmir. He said that Chinese role in the dispute was very significant and now the dispute was going to become trilateral.

Speaking on the occasion, National Institute of Historical & Cultural Research Director Dr Sajid Mahmood Awan said that Kashmir was the unfinished agenda of the partition. He said that there were four states whose issues were taken to UN but Pakistan did not follow the other three issues which gave breathing space to India and she successfully digested Hyderabad, Junagarh and Manadar. He said that Pakistan must focus on building public opinion at world level. He said that India was never going to hold plebiscite because she was very aware of the outcome. He said that it was the indigenous struggle by the Kashmiris and diplomatic pressure to abide by the UN resolutions. He said that Pakistan needed to augment its efforts at international level to win the support for the just cause of the Kashmir. University of Sindh’s Pakistan Study Centre Director Prof. Dr. Shuja Ahmed Mahesar wondered at the incapacity of UN regarding solution of Kashmir dispute while East Taimoor was resolved in a very brief span of time. He said that Kashmir was not internal problem of India but it was an international dispute. He criticised the partition plan as unjust and unfair which sowed the seeds for the permanent disturbance in the region.