ISTANBUL
\nThe Chairman of Washington-based World Forum for Peace and Justice (WFPJ), Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, has said that justice is not a vocation for the weak-hearted, whether in Palestine, Myanmar, Kashmir or elsewhere.
\nAccording to Kashmir Media Service, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai addressing an international conference, \u201cHuman Rights Violations Faced by the Muslims,\u201d in Istanbul, Turkey, said it is a historical fact that the Kashmir question is one of the oldest unresolved international problems in the world.
\nThe conference was jointly sponsored by the Government of Turkey in cooperation with Independent Permanent Commission of Human Rights (IPCHR) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and was addressed among others by Mevlut Cavusoglu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Turkey; Professor (Dr) Mustafa Sentop, Speaker, Grand Assembly of Turkey; Yakup Mogul, Deputy Minister of Justice, Turkey; Daniel Holtgen, Spokesperson for the Secretary General of Council of Europe; and many others.
\nThe other panelists of the session in which Dr Fai participated included: Ambassador Shabbir Ahmad Chowdhury, Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh; El Habib Bourane, Director, Muslim Communities and Minorities, OIC; Dr Reza Uddin, Council member, Arakan Rohingya Union; Ambassador Zamir Akram, Former Pakistan\u2019s Representative to the UN in Geneva; Dr Hassan A. Abdein, Associate Editor, Muslim Minorities, Oxford, UK. The theme of this session was, \u201cThe Situation of Muslims in Asia.\u201d
\nDr Fai said it is worth mentioning that when the Kashmir dispute erupted in 1947-1948, the United States championed the stand that the future status of Kashmir must be ascertained in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the people of the territory. The United States was the principal sponsor of the resolution # 47 which was adopted by the Security Council on 21 April 1948, and which was based on that unchallenged principle, he added.
\nDr Fai cited the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Kashmir issued on June 14, 2018 which contains graphic documentation of human rights violations being committed by the Indian military and paramilitary forces in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. This was a significant step towards greater international recognition of the serious abuses committed against the Kashmiris by the Indian army. This report takes the veil of secrecy off of India\u2019s crimes against humanity, he maintained.
\nThe report, Dr Fai said, cites specific incidents where the Indian government violated the very principles of human decency and democratic freedom against the people of Kashmir. It also details many instances where the use of draconian laws has given a sense of total impunity to the Indian Army in Kashmir. The report, he said, underscored that \u201cImpunity for enforced or involuntary disappearances in Kashmir continues as there has been little movement towards credibly investigating complaints including into alleged sites of mass graves in the Kashmir Valley and Jammu region.\u201d
\nThe United Nations report suggested that [As a State party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits torture under any circumstances (Article 7), India is obliged to ensure that no person is \u201csubjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment\u201d. There have long been persistent claims of torture by security forces in Kashmir.] The UN report qoutes \u2018the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences,\u2019 who said, \u201c[W]omen living in militarized regions, such as Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states, live in a constant state of siege and surveillance, whether in their homes or in public.\u201d
\nSince, August 05, 2019, the Indian government, in order to crush any resistance to its illegal occupation, has instituted new draconian measures. In a ruthless campaign they imprisoned politicians, journalists, and civil society members, to intimidate and suppress any form of dissent. The enactment of Domicile Law was designed to change the demography of Kashmir. It is reported that over 4 million Domicile certificates have been issued to grant non-Kashmiris right to buy land and compete for local jobs which is a clear violation of International Law since it unilaterally changes the United Nations-recognized status of Jammu and Kashmir.
\nDr Fai added that the latest actions taken by India\u2019s National Investigation Agency (NIA) are politically motivated and are part of the Indian government\u2019s attempt to censor peaceful Kashmiri voices. The Unlawful Activity (Prevention) Act (UAPA) has been used countless times to harass, assault and imprison activists, political leaders and journalists who aim to expose the human rights violations committed by Indian forces. Latest victim is Khurram Parvez, one of the internationally known human rights activists, who was detained under UAPA. Ms Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders said on November 23, 2021, that \u2018he (Khurram Parvez) is not a terrorist, he is a human rights defender\u2019.
\nDr Fai made the following suggestions to the IPHRC: Given the reports, issued by the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights on June 14, 2018 and July 8, 2019, regarding the \u2018Situation in Kashmir\u2019, we would like to request the OIC members of the Human Rights Council to endorse this report and initiate a joint OIC resolution to set up an enquiry commission on human rights violations in Kashmir during the forthcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to be held between February 28 to April 01, 2022.
\nWidely use and disseminate testimony of Dr Gregory Stanton, Chairman, \u2018Genocide Watch\u2019, which he gave to the United States Congress on January 12, 2022, and repeated in his January 19, 2022, TV interview with Karan Thapar, that \u2018in India, there are the makings of a genocide against Muslims, starting with Kashmir & Assam\u2019. Based on this authoritative evidence, we suggest to OIC \u2018The Gambia Model\u2019, taking Myanmar to the ICJ (international Court of Justice) for crimes against humanity against the Rohingya, to be followed for IIOJK as well.
\nOIC should invoke the \u2018Genocide Convention\u2019 in the UN General Assembly and \/ or Security Council.
\nThe OIC must provide \u2018safe havens\u2019 for the Kashmiri Diaspora, especially those fleeing oppression in occupied Kashmir \u2013 students, scholars, activists, journalists, and business people \u2013 in OIC member states, in an institutional manner, like opening up visas \/ jobs \/ scholarships for meritorious students, relocation facilitation for such skilled and professional Kashmiris, for whom living in Modi\u2019s India has become unbearable.
\nIn the \u2018battle of ideas\u2019 for Azadi (freedom) of Kashmiri people, the OIC must promote the 3 core causes together: PKR (Palestine, Kashmir, Rohingya); establish a special website, combining genocide with resistance. This has to be a sustained and coordinated initiative, where people of conscience, both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars, intellectuals and diplomats can play a role through various channels, including Parliamentary Diplomacy.
\nOIC should set up an \u2018independent\u2019 criminal court to hear cases of specific crimes against civilian population in IIOJK.
\nOIC should organize a \u2018digital referendum\u2019 in occupied Kashmir eliciting wishes of the Kashmiri people (even if only a section of the population participates); and ask the UN General Assembly and \/ or Security Council to allow a representative of the Kashmiri people (selected through \u2018digital referendum\u2019) to present the case of Kashmir to the world community.
\nOIC should commission to study the danger of a nuclear conflict between Pakistan and India due to the unresolved Kashmir dispute.
\nOIC should establish a \u2018Global Kashmir Assembly\u2019 composed of Kashmiri diaspora leaders from across the world. It could operate virtually; lobby with host countries on agreed group positions \/ demands.
\nOIC must persuade the Government of India to release all political prisoners unconditionally, including Khurram Parvez, Yasin Malik, Shabbir Shah, Masarrat Aalam Butt, Aasiya Andrabi, and others.
\nOIC must convince the United Nations to persuade Government of India to rescind the Domicile Law which is designed to change the demography of Kashmir.
\nFinally, it is further our hope that the policy makers of OIC member countries will look to solving the root cause of the problem of Kashmir \u2013 the unfulfilled promise of self-determination as guaranteed by successive United Nations Security Council resolutions. =DNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISTANBUL The Chairman of Washington-based World Forum for Peace and Justice (WFPJ), Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, has said that justice is not a vocation for the weak-hearted, whether in Palestine, Myanmar, Kashmir or elsewhere. According to Kashmir Media Service, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai addressing an international conference, \u201cHuman Rights Violations Faced by the Muslims,\u201d in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-245060","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n