By Asim Hussain
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Institute of Conflict Resolution (IICR) in collaboration with Legal Forum for Kashmir (LFK) held a webinar titled “75 years of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan: Pakistan’s role and responsibilities towards IOJK” today, on July 19, to mark Kashmir’s Accession to Pakistan Day.
The webinar was organized as part of the discourse to promote the ideology of accession of the entire Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan. The speakers of the webinar included Muzammil Ayub Thakur, President of World Kashmir Freedom Movement (WKFM); Mukhtar Ahmad Baba, APHC leader; Advocate Bilal Shakil, Legal expert and political worker from AJK; Ms Madiha Shakil, Research scholar and human rights activist from AJK; and Nayeem Ahmad, Doctorate Scholar from International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI).
Mukhtar Baba in his address said Kashmir’s Accession resolution is as important as the Lahore Declaration. He maintained that Muslim Conference being genuine representatives of the Kashmiri people made the call for complete accession of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan even before the Islamic republic of Pakistan had yet come into being. He said that India was diluting the United Nations resolutions despite being the first party to approach the UN for the settlement of the Kashmir dispute.
Advocate Bilal Shakil expounded the importance of the accession resolution and the role played by executive members of the Muslim Conference, Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan in particular, for drafting such a comprehensive resolution that paved way for the freedom of AJK from the clutches of Dogra Maharaja. He added that Kashmiris are Pakistanis by conviction and by choice. He also proposed that the legal aspects of the accession resolution need to be explored.
Muzammil Ayub Thakur while making insightful remarks said Pakistan is incomplete without the accession of IOJK. He added that despite the passage of 75 years IOJK still lies in the clutches of the Indian occupying forces.
He implored that Pakistan needs to up the ante, and launch proactive diplomacy and lobbying so that Kashmiris attain their legitimate right to self-determination. He also urged the Kashmiri diaspora to know about the narrative of Kashmiris and to correct the semantics and terminologies in order to better serve the cause of the suffering Kashmiris.
Nayeem Ahmad explained the historical context of Kashmir’s accession resolution with Pakistan. He pointed out that the grave human rights violations at the hands of Indian occupying forces in IOJK are due to the delay in the granting of the right of self-determination to the Kashmiris.
Madiha Shakil demystified the apprehensions pertaining to the validity of the accession resolution. She further added that the governments of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir must ensure all kinds of support to the oppressed people of IOJK, and be the voice of the voiceless people whose voices have been muzzled by 900,000 Indian occupying forces.
