Int'l Community, UN Issuing Mere Statements On Kashmir, Doing Little: Shireen Mazari

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Dec, 2018 ) :Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari Monday said oppression had been continuing in the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) for decades and the world community, the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) were merely issuing statements off and on, and doing little practically on the issue.

Speaking in the National Assembly, she said the issue of Kashmir could be resolved through a plebiscite as stated in the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

She said the Line of Control between the two sides of the Kashmir was a problem and not a solution to the issue as thought by Pervez Musharraf.

The previous governments did not raise voice on cruelty against women and on use of systematic rape as a weapon in the IoK, she said adding after 9/11, the past governments went on the defensive and could not tell the world that self-defence in Kashmir was legitimate and moral.

The minister said India itself went to the UN Security Council under Chapter Six, which was for specific settlement of disputes thereby it agreed that Kashmir was a dispute between India and Pakistan.

She said the issue of Kashmir was similar to East Timor where referendum was held and it got separated from Indonesia, which was a Muslim country.

While speaking about the tragedy of Army Public school Peshawar, Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif said without peace, the country could not be put on path of progress and prosperity, adding the people of Pakistan were proud of the war waged against terrorism.

He said 14 Kashmiri youth were killed by Indian forces in the occupied Kashmir in the acts of oppression and cruelty continuing for the last many months.

Shehbaz said the international community was silent on the matter. He recalled that the issues of Sudan, Ireland and Indonesia were resolved by the United Nations but nothing was done about Kashmir. The oppression had reached its limit in Palestine and Kashmir. The valley of Kashmir had turned red because of the blood being spilled there, he added.

He said Pakistan had been extending its moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmiris and the government needed to come up with a solid policy on the issue and the opposition would lend its support.

He said if it came to the nuclear war, nobody would be left to tell what happened so the Kashmir issue needed to be resolved through talks. India and Pakistan would have to come to the negotiating table and the world should also come forward and use all its resources to resolve the longstanding issue. The West and the Islamic world should not be silent on the matter, he added.

He said Pakistan had to strengthen its economy as only through economic diplomacy it could take along the world to put pressure on India to settle the Kashmir issue in a peaceful and just manner.

Shehbaz Sharif said the production orders of Member of the National Assembly Saad Rafique were still not being issued and the Speaker should proceed on the matter.

Former prime minister Pervaiz Ashraf said innumerable sacrifices were rendered in the war against terrorism. Some 70,000 lives of Pakistani citizens and security forces were lost.

He said the act of terrorism in the Army Public School was tragic, adding the leadership of Peoples Party itself was a victim of terrorism and lost its leadership.

He said the Pakistani nation was resilient and brave and with unity terrorism could be defeated. With one voice, the nation could succeed against the menace of terrorism, he added.

He said Saad Rafique represented hundreds of thousands of citizens in his constituency and the Speaker National Assembly should issue his production orders.

MQM's Syed Aminul Haque said the terror incident of APS Peshawar would not have happened if the National Action Plan was implemented.

He said a discussion should be held on the fall of Dhaka on December 16 to ascertain its causes. He said those Pakistanis, who fought against Mukti Bahini and stood with Pakistan Army, were still stranded in camps in Bangladesh.

He supported demand of the opposition that Speaker should issue production orders of Saad Rafique.

Amir Haider Khan Hoti of Awami National Party said the House was unanimous that the UN resolutions on Kashmir were not being implemented, India was committing atrocities and the two countries should find a solution to the problem. No solution could be found with the use of force and by waging a war.

He said terrorism was condemnable, Benazir Bhutto sacrificed her life while striving for democracy, and ANP leaders and workers also laid their lives.

With mere allegations no one could be termed a criminal, he said adding National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws should be changed as they did not fulfill the demands of justice.

He backed the call for issuance of production orders of Saad Rafique.

Ali Wazir said nothing came out from the commissions formed on the tragic incident of Army Public School.

At the end of the debate on the matter, Shehbaz Sharif again drew attention of the Speaker about production orders of Saad Rafique. As the Speaker was non-committal on the issue, the opposition led by Shehbaz Sharif walked out of the house.

Reacting to the walk out of the opposition, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi remarked that it was responsibility of the treasury and opposition benches to run the House and the opposition members should return. However, the opposition did not attend the remaining part of the session.