LAHORE, July 27: The Kashmir Action Committee Pakistan has urged the United States Secretary of State Colin Powell to use his good offices to stop the human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.

In a statement here on Saturday the KACP president, Dr Muzaffar Shah said Mr Pawell’s visit to Pakistan and India was a momentous event. He regretted that the situation had not changed since his visit in October 2001. Pakistan, he said, had shown consistent restraint and had gone to the extreme limit to meet the increasing demands of India. Apart from some cosmetic changes, India’s sabre-rattling had neither brought the core issue of Kashmir any nearer to a solution nor removed the danger of war.

He said Indian oppression had driven Kashmiris to the wall. In recent weeks, the death toll had risen, arrests had been made on a large scale and disappearance of activists and destruction of property had become routine. Under these circumstances, he said, with more than half of the top leadership of All Parties Hurriyat Conference in Kashmir under arrest, the state elections were a big joke. It was ironical that foreign powers, including USA, were supporting the so-called elections and pressing APHC leaders in Kashmir to participate in them.

He said that Kashmiris freedom movement was by all accounts an indigenous freedom movement which had cost Kashmiris a heavy loss of human lives, honour, property, peace and prosperity. India had got on to the anti-terrorist band-wagon since Sept 11 last and was misleading the world into believing that what was happening in Kashmir was terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. Since India has pulled a tight curtain over Kashmir and was not allowing even International Committee of Red Cross, human right bodies, and the world media any access to what was happening in Kashmir: the world was in the dark.

He urged Mr Powell to firmly ask India to stop its human rights violations and allow the United Nations monitors to supervise borders and report on violence and permit International Committee of Red Cross and human right borders to visit Kashmir. He said no solution of Kashmir was possible and no peace in the subcontinent could be guaranteed without ascertaining the will of the people. Any solution of Kashmir must involve representatives of the people of the state, India and Pakistan, he added.