05 February 2005	Saturday	25 Zilhaj 1425

ISLAMABAD, Feb 4: Speakers at a seminar here on Friday asked the world democratic forces to back the freedom struggle of Kashmiris and pressure India to put an end to human rights violation in the Valley and show respect for the UN resolutions.

The seminar was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies in collaboration with the special committee of parliament on Kashmir in connection with Kashmir Solidarity Day.

The institute's director-general, Dr Shireen M Mazari, in her opening remarks said Kashmir was the core issue of conflict between India and Pakistan. About the ongoing dialogue process, she said, in the beginning it was assumed that steps would be taken to resolve Kashmir issue by implementing UN resolutions, which the international community had done in the East Timor.

However, now it seems that India is not in the mood of resolving the issue, she added. The chairman of the parliamentary committee, Hamid Nasir Chattha, emphasized that the sanctity the UN must prevail if a just and durable peace was to be achieved in South Asia.

Peace, he said, could prevail only after the implementation of the UN resolutions. India, Mr Chattha added, was aspiring for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council for which it did not qualify because of its defiance of the resolutions and the impunity with which India had massacred over 80,000 Kashmiris since 1988.

AJK Prime Minister Sikandar Hayat, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said while much was done and said about the issue, Kashmiris had been struggling since 1832 and never surrendered to the Indian occupation.

Kashmiris, he said, would never compromise on their freedom. They had faced a lot of violence and rendered great sacrifices, he added. "The new generation of Kashmiris would continue the struggle for their right to self-determination. Pakistan and Kashmir are essential and unavoidable for each other."

PML Secretary General Senator Mushahid Hussain said the Indian strategy was a version of its old delaying tactics and buying time. Kashmiris freedom struggle, he said, was indigenous resulting from years of suppression and violence.

"Pakistan could not be blamed for the resistance in Kashmir as we did not start it and we cannot stop it." The PML leader also mentioned two recent reports. "One is by the CIA, which linked Kashmir, Palestine and Chechnya to the revival of Muslim identity in response to government oppression."

The second, he said, was a UN report which came out in December last year. This report linked peace and stability in South Asia to the resolution of Kashmir issue. He said reforms could not move forward unless the conflict was resolved and its roots were addressed.

There had to be a voice of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) in the UN reforms as a permanent member of the UNSC, he said. Otherwise, he added, the UN would lose its relevance and more complications would appear in the international system.