Kashmiri American Council Executive Director Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai has voiced his continuing belief that India and Pakistan alone cannot solve the 65-year-old Kashmir conflict, and that genuine leadership of the people of Jammu and Kashmir must be included in all negotiations.
He was speaking at a reception at Royal Banquette Hall, Brooklyn, New York. The event was organised by a community leader Captain Shaheen Butt to express solidarity with Dr Fai.
“More trade between India and Pakistan will do nothing to end the indigenous Kashmiri resistance, which is fuelled by shocking human rights abuses perpetrated by over 700,000 Indian military and paramilitary forces and the denial of self-determination plebiscite for 17 million Kashmiris that the United Nations Security Council has prescribed. And no power or combinations of powers can bargain away the rights of Kashmiris; only they can determine their own political destiny,” Fai explained.
“In Kashmir, during its centuries of virtual independence, communal violence or abrasiveness was unknown between Muslims, Pandits, Buddhists, and Sikhs. Kashmiris shared values and a heritage that far transcended religious divides. But this serenity was destroyed by the onset of India’s illegal military occupation of Kashmir on October 27, 1947,” he added.
With good faith by all parties, Dr Fai maintained, common ground leading to a final settlement of the Kashmir tragedy can be discovered. If it can happen in East Timor, South Africa, Kosovo and Southern Sudan, then it can happen in Kashmir, which is even more urgent because of nuclear and missile proliferation in the region.
India, Pakistan alone cannot solve Kashmir issue: Dr Fai
