Executive Director of Kashmiri American Council Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai on Monday said 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.
“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.
