COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: The Kashmir Study Forum in Sri Lanka organized a seminar arranged on “Resolution of Kashmir Dispute under United Nation’s Auspices” in Colombo on October 29, 2018.
The High Commissioner of Pakistan Dr. Shahid Ahmad Hashmat was the keynote speaker at the seminar.
While speaking on the occasion, the High Commissioner briefed the audience about the history of Kashmir issue and said that Kashmir remains the oldest unresolved conflict in the world. He said the persistence of the issue causes grave human rights violations including killings, arbitrary arrests, and other crimes against humanity being committed by the occupation forces.
The High Commissioner highlighted that the UN Security Council resolutions provide for holding of a fair and impartial plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir under UN auspices to enable the Kashmiri people to exercise their right of self-determination and join either Pakistan or India.
Dr. Shahid Ahmad Hashmat said that the UN also deployed the United Nations Military Observer Group (UNMOGIP) to monitor the cease-fire line between the Azad Kashmir area and the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). Though, he added that these resolutions were accepted by both India and Pakistan; however, all these efforts were thwarted by the Indian side to organize a plebiscite in Kashmir, he underscored.
The High Commissioner underlined that the recent report by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has also pointed out atrocities in the IOK, and demanded immediate and effective steps to avoid a repetition of the numerous examples of excessive use of force by security forces in Kashmir. The OHCHR has recommended that a Commission of Inquiry should be established to conduct a comprehensive independent international investigation into allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir, he added.
Shahid Ahmad Hashmat urged that South Asian region needs peace for allowing economic progress and socio-economic development to improve the quality of life of citizens of all countries. He said that peace can only be achieved through peaceful resolution of all disputes.
