Speakers say Kashmiris more resolute about just cause

PESHAWAR: Speakers at a function on Friday said the ongoing oppressive measures by India had made the people of occupied Kashmir more resolute about their just cause.

They were speaking at the monthly session of the Shoora-e-Hamdard arranged by the Hamdard Foundation Pakistan.

The topic was, “The Kashmir issue - possibilities and fears”. A known cultural activist and Shoora-e-Hamdard Speaker, Dr Salahuddin, presided over the event.

The keynote speaker was Abdur Rehman Usmani, an eminent social worker and chief executive of the Al-Hijra Trust.

In his main speech, Usmani said being a Kashmiri he knew well the love the people of Pakistan had for the Kashmiris brethren. He said Kashmir was the jugular vein of Pakistan and would remain so forever.

The guest speaker said Kashmir was a disputed territory and the Narendra Modi government in India had made the issue more contentious by making changes to the constitution and altering the status of Occupied Kashmir.

Usmani said that the curfew-like situation and other repressive measures by India in the held valley, especially those in the last almost two months, had made the people of Kashmir more determined about their legitimate cause.

He said the recent acts of the Indian government in Occupied Kashmir had turned Kashmiris living in Azad Jammu and Kashmir more vigorous to extend support to their brethren on the other side of the Line of Control, adding Kashmiris links with Pakistanis were growing with each passing day.

Usmani said the change of the status of the Occupied Kashmir by India was a gross violation of the UN resolutions and accords signed in Tashkent and Shimla.

He said Pakistan rightly believed that Kashmir was the unfinished agenda of the partition. “It will be complete only when Kashmir becomes part of Pakistan,” he stressed.

Usmani deplored that the international powers were looking at India as an economic power and thus not raising an effective voice against the oppression let loose by India in Occupied Kashmir against the hapless Kashmiris.