Geneva, June 9: British Parliamentarian George Galloway on Thursday impressed upon India to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN resolutions.

“All Kashmiris want is what was promised to them by the UN… a simple plebiscite. By virtue of the promise made by the great Indian Prime Minister Mr. Nehru to abide by this UN resolution, the great India must solve this issue by keeping his (Nehru’s) promise,” Galloway a veteran campaigner on Kashmir said while addressing a seminar  “Defending the Democratic Processes” at the UN headquarters in Geneva.

The seminar was organized by the International Educational Development (IED) and co-sponsored by IIFSO, IHRAAM and WMC.  

Galloway sketched the role of the British Empire in the creation of the Kashmiris suffering and compared it to the situation in Palestine.

“The suffering of the Kashmiris is even greater. Eighty thousand had died in the more than twenty year freedom struggle, uncountable numbers had been wounded and many maimed, mass imprisoned and exiled,” Galloway said.

Galloway hailed booker prize winner Arundhati Roy for her “powerful messages” to India on the issue of Kashmir. “Listen to one of your greatest daughters. She is not a Kashmiri and she is not a Muslim. She is though a jewel in the crown of India. She too is crying out for justice for the people of Kashmir. And she too is saying that Kashmir was never the part of India,” Galloway said.

The Executive Director, Kashmiri American Council Kashmir Center Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, said there are several situations where protest against long-standing oppression remains frustrated in spite of the rights inherent with the right to self-determination and the will of the people. 

“A major case of this is the situation in Kashmir, where the citizenry has protested peacefully against the Indian forces to no avail, in spite of UN Security Council resolutions giving them the right to a plebiscite under UN auspices,” Fai added.

Dr. Karen Parker, IED delegate to the United Nations said the organization determined many years ago that the Kashmiri people have the right to self-determination. “The UN had set up a plan for realizing this right and resolving what was then a political and military crisis between India and Pakistan over the disposition of Kashmir. However, this plan was not implemented and the Kashmiri right to self-determine is as yet unrealized. India and Pakistan have continued to fight over Kashmir a fight that has generated several wars and many military skirmishes between them,  ,” Dr Parker said.

On the occasion, the representative of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference Altaf Wani, said the denial of the right to self-determination has led to a regime of human rights violations, rape, torture, enforced disappearances and arbitary arrests in Kashmir.

Dr Marjan Lucas, Global Affairs expert from Netherlands said everybody feels encouraged by the Arab Spring.  “And so do Kashmiris who struggle for freedom since last six decades already,” he said.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 9 Jun 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 9 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:00:00 IST