‘Kashmir issue not about secession of a province’

• Masood says Kashmiri people yet to exercise their will under UN auspices
• AJK leader suggests active UN role, resumption of Indo-Pakistan contacts

Azad Jammu Kashmir President Masood Khan has said that the security faced by South Asian has many challenges and risks including nuclear and conventional race, terrorism, extremism, poverty, climate change and fair distribution of waters but the most daunting challenge is non-resolution of the Jammu Kashmir issue.

Speaking on security challenges in South Asia at the Elcano Royal Institute, he said that India’s posture of non-engagement of Kashmir and its systemic violations of human rights in the Indian-held Kashmir were fraught with most serious risks for peace and security in the region.

He clarified that the Kashmir issue was not about secession of a province of India like Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Assam or Bengal, but the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people who never became part of India. “All Kashmiri people have yet to exercise their will under the auspices of the United Nations,” he said.

In the meantime, he demanded that the ongoing massive violations of the human rights in the Kashmiri state should come to an end, emphasising that despite severe restrictions, international human rights organisations had gathered damning evidence of killings, rape and disappearances.

He said that these crime were being committed everyday with impunity. Responding to a question, Masood said that Kashmiri Pandits had not been ethnically cleansed from Kashmir by Muslims. In fact, there were historical bonds between Muslims and Hindu communities. He said that the exodus of Pandits was masterminded and executed by India to paint Kashmiris as extremists.

For a way forward, President Masood suggested a proactive role by the UN in resolving the Kashmir issue, resumption of engagement between Pakistan and India, demilitarisation of Kashmir, strengthening of regional cooperation, and a better use of the additional space created by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. He said that India should stop using waters flowing from Jammu Kashmir as a weapon of war.

MASOOD-LOPEZ MEETING: In a meeting with International Relations Secretary Senator Oscar Lopez who is also spokesperson of the Socialist Party of Spain, President Masood urged the Spanish Parliament as well as the European Parliament to take notice of the serious human rights violations by Indian in the disputed state.

“A whole nation, who has yet to decide its future, is being brutalised by India as retaliation for its aspiration for freedom and self-determination,” he said, demanding that India should be held accountable for its crimes against humanity.

Senator Lopez said that the Kashmir situation was worrying and the human rights of the Kashmiri people must be respected and protected. He said that lawmakers in the Spanish Parliament were already seized of the situation and would cooperate in efforts to ameliorate it.

Pablo Yanez, head of the International Cooperation of the Ciudadanos political party, also called on President Masood and expressed concern over the continuing tensions in South Asia and the human rights situation in Jammu Kashmir.

Spanish leaders underlined the need for dialogue between Pakistan and India to address the longstanding issue of Jammu Kashmir and contribute to peace and security.