MUZAFFARABAD: AJK President Sardar Masood Khan on Tuesday conveyed his gratitude to the All-Party Parliamentary Kashmir Group (APPKG) in the UK Parliament for consistently raising its voice for protection of human rights of Kashmiri people and their internationally acknowledged right to self-determination.

Talking to a delegation from UK, comprising MP Chris Leslie, head of the APPKG, MPs Imran Hussain, Faisal Rasheed, Lord Qurban Hussain and Member of European Parliament Anthea McIntyre, he said life in India-held Kashmir had been paralysed due to unrelenting atrocities by the Indian army, paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies.

Only last week, he recalled, India used deadly force to kill six young men in one of its notorious cordon and search operations in Kulgam.

“The entrapped people of Kashmir have sought intervention of the international organisations and international community for protection of their lives, honour and dignity and their leadership,” he said.

He welcomed the statement of the newly-appointed Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet which emphasised the need for following up on her predecessor’s report on the human rights situation in Kashmir with meaningful improvements or even open and serious discussions on how the grave issues raised could be addressed by India.

The AJK president rejected Indian allegations of trans-Line of Control (LoC) infiltration, pointing out that India had installed a high-tech surveillance system along the dividing line which included laser-activated fences and technology enabled barriers, thus making any kind of crossings next to impossible.

He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan strongly believed in a diplomatic and political solution to the Kashmir dispute and had been repeatedly urging India to stop using state-terrorism to suppress the Kashmiris’ peaceful movement for the realisation of their right to self-determination.

He said he was indebted to MP Leslie and his team for organising various testimonies under the auspices of the APPKG on the human rights violations being perpetrated by Indian forces in Kashmir.

He particularly appreciated the report’s sharp focus on the draconian laws as well as enforced disappearances in the India-held Kashmir.

These black laws, he noted, equipped India’s occupation machinery to kill, use excessive force and detain persons with impunity and without the fear of prosecution. “These laws must be repealed,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, MP Leslie thanked the AJK president for inviting and briefing him on the recent developments in India-held Kashmir.

The visit, he said, would help APPKG have a better understanding of the issue of Kashmir and gather facts for the report being compiled.

He hoped that India would also reciprocate to their requests for visits to Kashmir.

MEP McIntyre, who is chairperson of the Friends of Kashmir in the European Parliament, said Kashmir was not a matter of concern for Pakistan and India alone but for the whole world which must be involved in its early settlement.

She said European Parliament would be organising an international conference on Kashmir where speakers from all over the world would talk about the situation in the India-held territory.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2018