ISLAMABAD: Chairman of Hurriyat Forum, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has urged the officials of Labour Party of the UK to adopt a pro-Kashmir policy by adhering to the inalienable right to self-determination demand of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, as promised by the United Nations and agreed upon by India.
According to Kashmir media service, the Mirwaiz said this while addressing over telephone from Srinagar a conference on Kashmir held in Liverpool, UK.
The event was co-hosted by the Chairman of South Asia Centre for Peace and Human Rights, Professor Nazir Ahmed Shawl. Professor Shawl learnt of the death of his mother in occupied Kashmir moments before his address to a fringe meeting including Shadow Ministers and Labour Party officials.
Councillor Waseem Zaffar welcomed the panel and audience, expressing his gratitude to Professor Shawl’s resilience in the face of such a personal tragedy.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq hoped that the Labour Party would not be influenced by the Indian hegemony to subvert the inalienable right to self-determination demand of the Kashmiri people and would work under the guidance of indigenous diaspora Kashmiri leadership to raise the issue of Kashmir on the parties agenda.
He said the Labour Party had a crucial role to play as the opposition to impress upon the British government’s responsibility to uphold rule of international law and intervene to end the brutal massive gross human rights violations committed by the Indian forces in occupied Kashmir.
The Mirwaiz deplored that he was unable to be there in person, explaining that the Indian state had impounded passports of all peaceful dissenters and detained them in various jails across India to break their will and sentiment for the right to self-determination.
He highlighted the war crimes India have committed in Kashmir such as murder, rape, enforced disappearances, the use of pellets and explained the impunity Indian armed forces enjoy under draconian laws such as Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
Professor Nazir Ahmed Shawl in his address reminded the audience of the recent report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights which reiterated that the right to self-determination of Kashmir was protected by international law.
MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Vice Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group on Kashmir, MP Shabana Mahmood, MP Khalid Mahmood and Member European Parliament, Alex Mayer, were among the speakers.
Concluding the meeting, Barrister Abdul Majeed Tramboo expressed his deep condolences to Professor Nazir Ahmed Shawl over the demise of his mother.
He thanked the organisers and panel for their contributions but conveyed his reservations of the British political system and lack of any parliamentary work on Kashmir.
Following the panel discussion, numerous members of the Labour party with various ethnicities lent their support for the Kashmir cause and promised to work with the diaspora Kashmiri leadership to end the human rights violations in occupied Kashmir and ensure the people’s right to self-determination.
APP