By TARIQ NAQASH
Muzaffarabad: A distinguished Kashmiri thinker has dismissed what he said wrong information in a dominant segment of Pakistan that the people of Jammu and Kashmir had gown tired of struggle for freedom.
“Those who think or say that now the people of Kashmir are tired seem to be influenced by wrong information. They should correct themselves,” said Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, executive director of Washington based Kashmiri American Council.
Speaking at “Meet the Press” programme of Central Press Club here, he recalled that one of the India’s largely circulated newspapers had held a survey in Kashmir Valley in August last year wherein 87 percent people affirmed their quest for freedom from Indian subjugation.
Earlier in 2004, he said, another widely respected Indian magazine had also concluded from a survey in Kashmir that the inclination towards freedom was on the rise there.
Dr Fai disagreed with a self perceived message of 9/11 that whatever could be achieved from India vis-à-vis Kashmir should be accepted.
“This is not true. This is not the policy of the United States,” he said.
“Though according to the UN Charter people in the occupied territories can resort to the use of gun but the situation has changed after 9/11. Now if you use peaceful means you can win the support of the entire international community, including the Americans,” he said.
“The loud and clear message of the 9/11 is that the gun cannot be used in Kashmir,” he added.
Dr Fai said no Kashmiri was opposed to talks between Islamabad and New Delhi, provided the parameters for the process were clearly defined beforehand.
Pinpointing duplicities in the stance of Indian government, he said not only the parameters but timeframe should also be determined in advance.
Underscoring the Kashmiris inclusion in the process, he said they had laid down tens of thousands of lives to have a say in any decision about their motherland.
He made it clear that Kashmiri leadership meant the leadership from Jammu and Kashmir, PaK and the Northern Areas and not only the Muslims but also Hindus, Sikhs and other minority communities.
Dr Fai stressed that the leadership of Kashmir’s indigenous militant outfits should also be included in peace process.
The very suggestion, he pointed out, had also been voiced by Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti many a times in the past.
He said the negotiating parties should go to the table without any precondition.
“There should not be any condition from Kashmiris, from Pakistan and from India. But there must be some guarantor to the process, either the UN or the US,” he said.
“Whatever decision comes to fore after this process will be acceptable to the Kashmiris. But if the Kashmiri leadership is kept out and any decision is imposed, it will not be acceptable,” he declared.
In response to a question, Dr Fai said the militancy in Kashmir was reaction to India’s stubbornness and rigidity.
“It could come to end if India makes the confidence building measures and peace process meaningful and resolves and not dissolves the core issue,” he said.
The Kashmiris, he said, were reminding India about the commitments it had made to them before the international community whereas on the other hand India was reminding the world about the issues which did not enjoy any legal sanctity.
He regretted that the commitments made by the Indian government during the peace process still awaited implementation in letter and in spirit.
“There is no let up in human rights violations at the hands of Indian troops and the black laws also continue to haunt the innocent Kashmiris. In fact there is zero percent progress on any of the four promises Manmohan Singh had made some two years ago,” he said.