ISLAMABAD - To highlight the plight of the Kashmiris in Indian occupied Kashmir, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has nominated some 22 Parliamentarians as special envoys to plead the case of Kashmiris in the key world capitals.
The decision was taken in the wake of stepped up onslaught against the innocent Kashmiris by the Indian occupation forces since the martyrdom of Burhan Muzaffar Wani, who had launched the campaign against the Indian occupation on social media.
“I have decided to send these parliamentarians for fighting the case of Kashmiri nation in different parts of the world. These special envoys have strength of the people of Pakistan, prayers from the Kashmiri people across the Line of Control, mandate of the Parliament and support from the government” the prime minister said.
“I am standing behind these special envoys to ensure their toil for highlighting the Kashmir Cause resonates across the world so that I can shake the collective conscience of the international community during my address at the UN this September” the PM pronounced.
“We will remind the United Nations on its long-held promise of self-determination to the Kashmiri people. We will also make it clear to India that it was India that approached the United Nations several decades back on Kashmir dispute but not fulfilling its promise. Generation after generation of Kashmiris has seen only broken pledges and ruthless oppression,” he said.
Nawaz Sharif emphasised that this anniversary of the UN ought to be a catalyst spurring the body into action. The Kashmir dispute is the most persistent failure of the United Nations; the United Nations must establish its relevance, he added. “We cannot relent from the Kashmir cause by any stretch of imagination, the prime minister reiterated.
Among the parliamentarians who have been nominated as special envoys to highlight Indian brutalities and lobby for the Kashmir cause in various countries include: Ijazul Haq and Malik Uzair for Brussels, Khusro Bakhtiar and Alamdad Laleka for Beijing, Raza Hayat Hiraj, Junaid Anwar Chaudhry and Nawab Ali Wassan for Russia.
Fazlur Rehman, Major (r) Tahir Iqbal and Muhammad Afzal Khokhar have been nominated for Saudi Arabia, Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha and Malik Pervaiz for Turkey, Lt-Gen (r) Abdul Qayyum and Qaiser Sheikh for the United Kingdom. Mushahid Hussain Syed and Shazra Mansab Ali Khan would highlight the Kashmir cause in the United States and the United Nations, Awais Leghari in the United Nations (Geneva) and Abdul Rehman Kanju in South Africa.
The move by the prime minister came against the backdrop of escalating war of words with India in the aftermath of the continuing unrest in the Kashmir valley that broke out on July 8 after Hizbul Mujahideen field commander Burhan Wani was killed by Indian security forces.
