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| October 23, 2003 | Thursday | Sha’aban 26, 1424 |
OIC to retry sending team to Valley
ISLAMABAD, Oct 22: The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has decided to make another attempt to send a fact finding mission to occupied Kashmir and establish a fund to set up vocational training institutes and other projects in Azad Kashmir to provide job opportunities to the refugees.
The Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan told a news conference here on Wednesday that he felt the OIC members at present were much more aware than ever before that Kashmir was a central issue to the peaceful environment in the region.
He said the OIC regretted that its fact finding mission had not been able to pay a visit to the held Kashmir and requested the Indian government to allow a visit immediately.
He said the OIC, at its own initiative, decided to establish a fund to be supported by Islamic Solidarity Fund and Islamic Development Bank to begin projects in Azad Jammu and Kashmir to provide job opportunities to the refugees coming from occupied Kashmir.
The fund would also provide scholarships to the students of Jammu and Kashmir to get admission in the universities of the Islamic countries.
He said the AJK government and All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) had jointly been accorded “observer status” in the OIC.
He said during meetings of the contact group on Kashmir and general discussions at the Putrajaya OIC summit, the Kashmiri delegation demanded that a distinction be made between terrorism and legitimate indigenous struggles for self-determination.
He said the OIC members were told that 250,000 Kashmiri Muslims were killed by the Indian authorities during the period when there was no Al Qaeda and 9/11 phenomenons.
He said the Kashmiris’ struggle for self-determination started much before the creation of Pakistan because the Kashmiris had been facing subjugation for more than 300 years.
He said the OIC adopted a unanimous resolution to condemn alarming increase in the indiscriminate use of force and gross violations of human rights against innocent Kashmiris and tensions over the line of control which had become more dangerous following the nuclearization of South Asia.
He said the OIC regretted that its fact finding mission was not allowed to visit the held Kashmir and condemned the restrictions on the freedom of movement of the APHC leaders.
Taking note of the report of the OIC secretary-general on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, the OIC condemned the massive human rights violations and called upon all the member states to take all necessary steps to persuade India to cease forthwith the gross and systematic human rights violations in Kashmir and make it a talking point in their meetings with big powers.
The resolution also appealed to the OIC member states and other Islamic institutions like Islamic Solidarity Fund and philanthropists to mobilize funds and contribute generously towards providing humanitarian assistance to the Kashmiris.
The AJK prime minister said that since the OIC has resolved to take concrete steps like creation of a commission for practical follow up actions, the Indian government would come under moral pressure to begin tripartite talks for a peaceful settlement of Kashmir dispute.
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