The speakers at a webinar on Tuesday urged Pakistan to advocate the people’s struggle in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in the wake of India’s unlawful actions post-August 5, 2019. The Islamabad Institute of Conflict Resolution (IICR) in collaboration with the Legal Forum for Kashmir (LFK) held a webinar titled “75 years of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan: Pakistan’s role and responsibilities towards IIOJK”, marking Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan Day.
While addressing the panel, Spokesperson Muslim League Jammu & Kashmir Mukhtar Ahmed Baba said that Kashmir’s Accession resolution of was as important as the Lahore Declaration. He further added that Muslim Conference being genuine representatives of the people of Kashmir made the call for complete accession to Pakistan even before the Islamic republic of Pakistan had yet come into being. He accused India of diluting the UN resolutions despite being the first party to approach United Nations for the resolution 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 were Pakistanis by conviction and by choice. He also proposed that the legal aspects of the accession resolution needed to be explored. President of World Kashmir Freedom Movement (WKFM) Muzammil Ayub Thakur said Pakistan was incomplete without the accession of IIOJK.
He added that despite the passage of 75 years IIOJK still lied in the clutches of the Indian Occupying Forces (IOF). He implored that Pakistan needed to up the ante, and launch proactive diplomacy and lobbying so that Kashmiris attain their legitimate right of 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.
Doctorate Scholar, IIUI Nayeem Ahmad explained the historical context of Kashmir’s accession resolution with Pakistan. He alleged that the grave human rights violations at the hands of IOF in IIOJK were due to the delay in the provision of the right of self-determination to the Kashmiris.
