LAHORE - Imposition of governor’s rule in Indian-Occupied Kashmir is equal to India admitting defeat against Kashmiris struggling for freedom, said speakers at an event here on Thursday.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has imposed governor’s rule to crush the Kashmiris’ spirit of freedom. Efforts should be made to influence the United Nations to set up an inquiry commission on violations of human rights in the Indian-Held Kashmir,” the speakers said at a discussion titled “Governor’s Rule in Occupied Kashmir – Another Retreat of India”.
The discussion was held at Aiwan-e-Karkunan-e-Tehreek-e-Pakistan. Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust (NPT) hosted the discussion where leading intellectuals spoke at length.
In his special message, NPT Chairman and former president of Pakistan Rafique Tarar said India had already decided to impose governor’s rule because it had failed to suppress the freedom struggle despite deploying over 700,000 troops in Kashmir. “The freedom movement, especially after the martyrdom of Burhan Vani, is gaining momentum with every passing day. So much so that independent circles within India have started criticizing Kashmir policy of the Modi government. A report by the Human Rights Commission of UN on Kashmir has further weakened the Indian government policy towards Kashmir,” he said.
Chief Justice (Retd) Mian Mahboob Ahmed said the freedom movement had entered the final phase and soon Indian-Occupied Kashmir would become part of Pakistan. He stressed practical steps instead of raising empty slogans and added that Pakistan should expose ulterior motives of India in the Occupied Kashmir.
Dr Rafique Ahmed said that Kashmiris should be given the right to self-determination in line with UN resolutions.
Mujib-ur-Rehman Shami said that every government in Pakistan had made Kashmir a cornerstone of its policy. He said that no country in the world considers Kashmir integral part of India. Rather, everyone takes it as a disputed territory and this is an achievement of Pakistan, he said. Voices are being raised within India for resolution of the Kashmir issue, he added.
He laid stress on diplomatic efforts to liberate Kashmir from the India occupation. He warned the forces active in Pakistan to get desired results from the upcoming elections, saying that failure to hold free and fair elections will be the failure of the efforts to free Kashmir.
Among those who spoke on the occasion were Saeed Aasi, Salman Ghani, Maj-Gen (Retd) Rahat Latif, Salman Abid, Maulana Shafi Josh, Farooq Khan Azad, Ghulam Abbas Mir, Professor Yusuf Irfan and Hamid Waleed.
NPT Secretary General Shahid Rasheed said the Trust would go to any extent to protect Kashmiris’ right to freedom.