London, Nov 24: The Kashmiri diaspora here has expressed serious concern over the massive human rights violations allegedly perpetuated by police and armed forces in the Valley.
 In a statement, they urged the international community to take cognizance of the prevailing situation in Kashmir.
 Addressing a joint press conference, Minister for information PaK, Mahmood Riaz, Executive Director, Kashmir Centre, London, Nazir Ahmad Shawl, and his Brussels-based counterpart Majeed Tramboo urged the United Kingdom and the US leadership to have a balanced approach in their relations with India and Pakistan and called on both the countries to take cognizance of the rights violations in Kashmir.
 “It would be appropriate that President, Barack Obama and Prime Minister, David Cameron visit Pakistan,” they said.
 “One of the matters of concern is the US support to India with regards to permanent membership of UN Security Council,” Mahmood Riaz said adding “India has continuously violated the mandate of United Nation Security Council resolutions on Kashmir where 111 people were killed during the last four months.”
 He asked the international stake holders to recognize Pakistan’s contribution in war against terrorism.
 Prof. Shawl said, “The government of India was denying political space to the Kashmiri leadership by curbing their right to freedom of expression and also denying them their fundamental right to religious freedom.”
 He said pro-freedom leaders including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Shabir Ahmad Shah were not allowed to offer Eid prayers.
 Majeed Tramboo urged the media to create awareness about the deteriorating situation in Kashmir and asked them to fulfill their responsibilities by reaching out to members of parliament and the policy makers. He referred to the efforts being made in the European parliament to highlight plight of J&K people and hoped that urgency resolution on the current situation in Kashmir would come up for discussion in the coming days.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 24 Nov 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:00:00 IST