KASHMIRIS PROTEST AT COMMONWEALTH SUMMIT
EDINBURGH , 25 OCTOBER,1997
Following the refusal of the Commonwealth secretariat in London to include the issue of Kashmiri self-determination and violations of human rights in the country on the agenda of the historic Edinburgh Summit, which was requested by the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, various Kashmiri groups staged protest demonstrations at the summit venue on Friday and Saturday and handed in protest memos to the Commonwealth officials here.
A delegation from the interanational human rights group, IHRAAM, set up an information desk in the official exhibition area where information on Kashmir was supplied to NGOs, Conference Delegates and visiting observers including media men for the duration of the summit.
The UK-Europe president of the JKLF Mohammed Younis and his colleagues distributed the following JKLF appeal to the conference delegates for 3 days. This paper and other JKLF literature was also handed out from the only Kashmir-desk in the exhibition area of the Edinbugh Assembly Halls to the visitors.
On Saturday, 25th October, JKLF literature found its way into the conference center and was also made available from the entrance desk to the conference center, which caused embarrassment to the Indian delegation. It was spotted by an Indian journalist and later removed.
On Sunday morning, the British foreign secretary, Robin Cook, responding to a question on a live TV program, reiterated his government position that Britain was available to help resolve the Kashmir issue if the parties wanted her to do so.
FULL TEXT OF JKLF APPEAL TO COMMONWEALTH .
Fifty years ago, on 27 October 1947, India invaded Jammu-Kashmir and has occupied part of the state ever since. (A smaller part of the state is occupied by another Commonwealth member, Pakistan)
Fifty years on, the international community, the United Nations, the Commonwealth have all failed to help resolve the issue, which has continued to threaten peace and prosperity in the region. Kashmir is still divided and occupied by its powerful neighbours despite nearly a dozen UN resolutions demanding the two member states to withdraw and let the Kashmiri people exercise their right to self-determination - a right pledged to them by founder leaders of India and Pakistan in 1947 and 1948.
The hugely expensive stalemate, characterised by oppression, torture and slaughter of the Kashmiri people is still not being paid the attention it deserves and no real attempt at international mediation is forthcoming in this part of the world which lacks oil and diamond reserves.
During her recent tour of India and Pakistan, the head of the Commonwealth, Her Majesty the Queen met with insults and more insults, as she became a victim of untraditional Indian hospitality because of her suggestions that India and Pakistan should resolve their differences and live in peace. The Indian press, which has always behaved in a paranoid fashion, with its ever abusive and insulting tones when dealing with the issue of Kashmir and suggestions of justice for the Kashmir people who have not seen a day of peace and freedom ever since the British left India, declared war against their former colonial masters.
While the great Mahatma Gandhi will be turning in his grave at seeing how India takes offence at suggestions of justice and peace in the region - with its naive and unjustified approach in rejecting calls for a "just solution" to the longstanding Kashmir issue - one wonders how many nations in the world, even if they are a 'third rate power', will remain silent spectators at the brutal oppression and carnage of our people for such a long time.
While we commend Her Majesty the Queen for making a right point at the right time so eloquently, common sense demands that the rest of the Commonwealth States should take a collective stance in persuading India (and Pakistan) to honour their historic commitment to let the Kashmiris exercise their long awaited right to self-determination and to save us all from the threat of a nuclear clash which is now a distinct possibility as the two arch rivals continue to battle over Kashmir even today. The real victims of this sustained war, on both sides, are the Kashmiris whose only crime is that they love their motherland and refuse to remain docile.
The Edinburgh Summit, where Kashmir's friends and foes are sharing that historic platform which helped turn the South African dream into reality, will remain witness to the International community's unwillingness to seek an end to oppressive rule in Kashmir - where all dreams for a peaceful political settlement have faded with time and their agony prolonged.
The Commonwealth members should back the calls for a "just solution" to Kashmir's half-century predicament and contribute to the 50th year of independence for India and Pakistan by helping to deliver the 13 million Kashmiris from subjugation, oppression and forced marriages at the turn of the new century
. The Kashmiri people want nothing more than a chance to enjoy the same human rights as enjoyed by all Commonwealth nations.End the carnage in Kashmir.