July 7, 2003	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 6,1424

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GILGIT, July 6: A British diplomat on Saturday urged Pakistan and India to resolve the Kashmir issue through dialogue by involving the Kashmiris across the Line of Control.

British Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan Mark Sedwill, who is on a three-day visit to the region, was speaking to journalists in Gilgit.

Mr Sedwill admitted that the Kashmir issue was a legacy of the British imperialism, but said the British government encouraged diplomatic and political support to resolve the issue.

In reply to a question, he said the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor were different from those of the Northern Areas to justify an intervention here.

“We have a human rights component regarding police excesses, forced marriages, domestic violence and other injustices, and we can extend our help to that extent only,” Mr Sedwill said.

He said Britain had a different point of view on different issues and were not in favor of employing force to bring the warring parties on negotiating table.

Regarding the local issues, Mr Sedwill said the constitutional issue of the Northern Areas could be resolved through a consensus among the government and people of the Northern Areas. Britain was unable to directly intervene in the matters pertaining to constitutional status of the Northern Areas, he added.

He said that after the 9/11 events, the tourism in the Northern Areas got a setback which had ruined hotels and small scale industries in the region. The tourism was the backbone of the region’s economy and it would result in economic catastrophe if not addressed timely.

The British diplomat said there was no security problem in the region for tourists, but precautions must be taken to check the outer elements.

Mr Sedwill said he held meetings with the high officials of the Northern Areas regarding issues of security, good governance, tourism, terrorism, education, health and electricity.

He said his government was supporting development projects in the Northern Areas through the department for international development (DFID) and their purpose was to address the whole poverty-stricken masses.

rights violations: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has held the establishment responsible for human rights violations in Gilgit and Baltistan over a period of 56 years.

The HRCP has formally set up its core group in Gilgit, the headquarters of the Northern Areas.

HRCP national coordinator Hussain Naqi on Sunday said: “The commission is aware of the region’s history that the local people, who got liberation from the Dogra Raj without any external support on November 1, 1947, are the worst victims of human violations since then.”

He said that the external forces at that time might have a negative role to play and that was why the Pakistan establishment had kept the region in the constitutional limbo for the past 56 years.

Speaking at the meeting a large number of women activists also participated to narrate their own part of story.

Mr Naqi said that the establishment kept Gilgit and Baltistan without any constitutional status on the premise that if a plebiscite was held on the Kashmir issue, they (Pakistan) would use the votes of Gilgit-Baltistan in their favour.

Asadullah Khan Advocate, president of the Young Lawyers Forum, Northern Areas, said that the people of the region were subjected to torture and state oppression whenever they raised voice against the human rights violations.

Mr Khan cited the cases of imprisonment against their lawyers when they attempted to stand up for the defence of independent judiciary in the region. There was no vigilance of human rights violation, Mr Khan added.

Tai Saleem of the Aga Khan Health Service said that the women harassment was all-pervasive in the society which she said was due to lowest literacy rate among women in the region.