ISLAMABAD: Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Shehryar Khan Afridi on Friday said the terms of reference (ToRs) of the advisory boards of the committee have been finalised and the boards would now be chaired by conveners of subcommittees of the Kashmir Committee.

“These advisory boards would act as the face of narrative building process on Kashmir,” he said while chairing a special meeting of the advisory boards of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir.

“Each advisory board would have 12 members and their nominations would be notified by the parliament. The new website of Kashmir Committee would act as knowledge depository on Kashmir dispute and it would also be translated in seven languages,” he added.

He said each advisory board will meet twice in a month and all agenda items and minutes would be shared with the main committee.

He said the advisory board meetings would be held across the country.

Mr Afridi spoke about a holistic and proactive plan of action of the Kashmir Committee to help raise Kashmir at all global forums.

He said the committee has been working on building subcommittees in the form of advisory boards to cover all possible fronts on Kashmir.

He said the Kashmir Committee had shifted its functioning from traditional path to a holistic narrative building on Kashmir.

The committee has been working with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to ensure provision of level playing field on the digital space.

He said an advisory board has been formed involving Information Technology (IT) experts to ensure maximum space on the digital front.

He said for adding a new vigour and punch to the Kashmir narrative, the committee has formed an advisory board on academia to push for new research and content to the narrative on Kashmir.

Following the western model, Kashmir Committee has formed an advisory board on culture to further storytelling on Kashmir. He said Indian occupational regime had suppressed media in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir and stories and imagery is not coming out despite matchless sacrifices by Kashmir journalists.

He said on Jan 31, Indian colonial regime in Kashmir registered an FIR against Kashmiri media outlet, The Kashmir Walla, to suppress media freedom. He said criminal cases were being registered against journalists to gag media as India wanted to stop imagery and stories coming out of Kashmir.

He said the cultural front is being formed to push the narrative on Kashmir. Top artistes, thinkers and filmmakers are being added to the advisory board on culture to project Kashmiri culture which is being destroyed by the Indian regime.

He said in order to project Kashmiri sports, Kashmir Committee was supporting Kashmir Premier League to put Kashmir on global sports map.

He said youth ambassadors are being projected to become vloggers, bloggers and social media activists to help storytelling on Kashmir.

He said among one of the newest agendas of Kashmir Committee is to work on EU Disinfo Lab report to expose the dubious approaches of India to create bias in global opinion by projecting fake news and baseless propaganda against Pakistan through fake media outlets, websites and NGOs.

He said Kashmir Committee had also formed an advisory board on Lawfare to explore future strategy and options on legal aspects of Kashmir dispute.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2021