Kashmir has been the source of conflict between India and Pakistan ever since the partition of the subcontinent. The issue at hand has been obscured by wars and sporadic episodes of deadly violence as a result of a mutually acceptable resolution to the parties to the conflict remains elusive. Amidst the violence and rhetoric, the real issue is escaping the attention of all concerned. This seminar is an attempt to sensitize the younger generation about the real issue at hand and what are the positions of Pakistan, India, and the Kashmiris on the subject and how these can be reconciled.
Another related aspect is the water wars that can result from India’s policy to divert waters in occupied Kashmir by building dams. Water shortages are already threatening to strangle the agricultural economy of Pakistan. At the start, though there was intense international diplomacy (the United Nations Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements as a result of wars between India and Pakistan) yet, later on, the shift of focus and evolving regional dynamics succeeded in putting a strong lid over the conflict. Today, the Kashmir conflict has once more become a serious foreign policy and security issue for Pakistan due to the return of deadly violence inside Jammu and Kashmir as well as the Indian attempts to change the facts on the ground. These include: the building of large dams in violation of the Indus Water Treaty and relocating people inside Jammu and Kashmir to change the demographics in its favor.
In this backdrop, these are high times for Pakistan to expose the Indian designs in Kashmir and bring forth the issue as one of the most important unresolved conflicts between the two states. Any show of complacency on the part of the Pakistani state, can potentially, lead towards the major changes in the status as well as the scope of the issue, which in return, will hurt the national security interests of Pakistan in the future. Among these interests, the reduced flow of water in Pakistani rivers and the hurting of chances of success in the case of a plebiscite for the Kashmiri people, are the important ones.
Remarks by Rector NUST, Lt. Gen. Naweed Zaman, HI (M), (Retired)
Kashmir holds a special place in our hearts. This significance springs from a common religion, deep cultural affinities, and natural socioeconomic harmony between the peoples of Pakistan and Kashmir. These commonalities are further fortified by the irrevocable logic of geography, history, and destiny, which bind the two people together as one.
Today, the idea of a Kashmir, free of Indian occupation, resonates ceaselessly in the collective consciousness of Pakistanis. Our deep attachment to this idea has been forged historically by the unshakeable moral commitment of our Founding Fathers toward Kashmir. As Allama Iqbal, recording the loss of freedom of Kashmiris to Dogra rule laments,
Similarly, in his supreme foresight, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah declared Kashmir the “jugular vein of Pakistan” in recognition of its profound emotional and strategic significance to Pakistan. For us, as Pakistanis, this matchless metaphor has continued to provide an anchor for our sentiments, focus on our thoughts, and a guide to our aspirations with respect to Kashmir. As a result, Pakistan’s national narrative on Kashmir is based on solidarity, goodwill, deep pain at the sufferings of Kashmiris in the Indian-Occupied Kashmir, demands for an immediate end to the brutalization of Kashmiris at the hands of Indian forces and an earnest desire for peace in the region.
Remarks by Sardar Masood Khan President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Today, Kashmir is the core dispute between Pakistan and India: And if there is a war between the two nuclear-capable countries, it would have devastating consequences. The international community must realize that they cannot abandon their responsibility for finding an amicable resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
The people of Kashmir and the Government of Pakistan desire to resolve this long-standing issue through peaceful means and as prescribed in the United Nations Security Council Resolutions. The people of Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir believe that the issue must be resolved through amicable means. India falsely claims Kashmir as a border issue between Pakistan and India, which can be resolved through bilateral talks between the two nations.
India should be mindful of the fact that no solution to the Kashmir issue is possible without the Kashmiris as they are key constituents of the dispute. Kashmir is not an integral part of India and the territory has been forcefully occupied, and the people of Kashmir are struggling to exercise their right to self-determination for the past seventy-one years. India is trying to subdue the freedom movement in Kashmir through the use of brute force and military might. These days India in its craze is openly killing, maiming, illegally arresting, and dishonoring the womenfolk in IOK. Despite such maneuvers, economic and political blandishments, the Kashmiris will continue their freedom struggle, he said.
Remarks by the Member HEC, Dr. Ghulam Raza Bhatti
Today’s international environment is replete with different forms of conflict that motivated by varying degrees of politics, economic sensitivity, and socio-cultural sentiments. While the global community grapples with these domestic, regional, and international conflicts, efforts to construct a lasting solution to the conflicts have equally remain wanting. For almost seven decades, the Kashmir conflict through domestic has generated regional and international ramifications and fundamentally takes the centrality of Pakistan-India dispute.
Undisputedly, since the partition of the subcontinent, the Kashmiris have endured incessantly the brunt of the conflict. They have routinely bear the harshness, brutalities, and atrocities, disregard for human sanctity by the Indian government. The notion of human rights and self-rule is remote to the Kashmiri. Extrajudicial killings, involuntary disappearances, arbitrary detentions, rapes, and torture continue to be reported on a large scale. All of which have been well documented by regional and international organizations monitoring the conduct of human rights, the world over. Regrettably, regardless of the fact and daily indiscreet actions of the Indian security forces, the Indian government pretends all is well in Kashmir, though not without the implicit oversight and nod of global powers.
The struggle of Kashmiris for freedom and right of self-determination has entered into the fourth generation. Unlike the past, the current movement is very much conceived, run, and led by the youth; who have not seen anything but subjugation and oppression. That is why; we see that it is persistent and more violent. At this juncture, Pakistan should be more vocal and crafty to make the struggle of Kashmiris more effective and result oriented. While the dialogue is the only way forward, yet it is important to make it realize that stalemate cannot go forever. Raising the cost for India can be the only option for Pakistan at this stage. More political pressure through friends and allies; a more loud voice in global governance institutions and exposure of Indian dirty hand in Kashmir through media and advocacy can push India to change its behavior towards Kashmir.