07 February 2005	Monday	27 Zilhaj 1425

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WASHINGTON, Feb 6: Former AJK President, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, on Saturday urged the nation to do "some soul searching" to determine why it failed to achieve its objectives on Kashmir.

"What went wrong: had we been weaker or was India smarter than us," asked Sardar Qayyum while addressing a Kashmir Day gathering in Washington.

The meeting, organized by the Pakistani American Liaison Committee, was also addressed by two young Kashmiris who had visited the valley this summer.

The American people, Mr Qayyum said, were not caught up in the past or the present of this issue and a sincere effort to convince them could still bring fruit.

Mr Qayyum emphasized the need to mobilize young Pakistani and Kashmir Americans to publicize the Kashmir issue in the United States because he believed that they would have a greater impact on their fellow Americans than the Pakistanis and Kashmiris coming from home.

The Kashmiri leader also emphasized the need to make the international community understand that the struggle for the right of self-determination cannot be confused with terrorism.

"Like others, Kashmiris too are against terrorism but they cannot give up their right to self-determination," he added.

Former chairman of the National Kashmir Committee said that while the current peace process between India and Pakistan was a welcome development, the international community needs to understand that unless the core issue of Kashmir is resolved, "we can never have true peace in the sub-continent."

Mr Qayyum warned that both India and Pakistan were nuclear states and an unresolved dispute between them had the potential of leading the entire region to a disaster. "That's why we need to resolve this core issue on priority," he added.

He said the militancy in occupied Kashmir was indigenous and it was a mistake to portray it as "cross-border terrorism."

Mr Qayyum said that leaders on both sides of the Line of Control should be allowed to meet each so that they could help India and Pakistan resolve this dispute.

The AJK leader, who attended President Bush's prayer breakfast on Thursday, said the Americans need to understand that like all other religions, Islam also advocated peace and peaceful coexistence. "An entire faith cannot be held responsible for the mistakes of a few," he added.

Earlier, two Kashmiri students, Usman Ashai and Hyder Syed, who visited the valley this summer, spoke on the human rights situation in occupied Kashmir.

Syed, who was born in Srinagar and now is a student of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said that an overwhelming majority of Kashmiris strongly opposed the Indian occupation. "But there's also a strong dislike for militants coming from across the border," he said.

"The militants come and knock at people's door, seeking shelter and food and when they leave, the Indian soldiers come and accuse the people of sheltering insurgents," said Syed. "Thus the poor victim suffers twice. Most Kashmiris were fed up with this situation." But he rejected the Indian claim that most militants came from across the LoC. "There is also an indigenous armed movement, which is very strong and people sympathize with it.