PaK president urges OIC to play its much needed role to settle K-dispute

Nisar Ahmed Thokar

Islamabad, Aprl 23: The president of Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK), Raja Zulqarnain Khan has urged the member countries of the OIC to redouble their efforts to seek peaceful and permanent settlement of Kashmir dispute.

 

“The OIC countries must persuade the United Nations, European Union and other international human rights bodies to help resolve the lingering dispute in line with Kashmiris’ aspirations”, Khan said this while speaking at a dinner hosted in honor of Abdullah Abdurahman Alim, the OIC Secretary General’s special representative on Jammu and Kashmir at Kashmir House on Friday. Besides the foreign office officials Hurriyat leaders including Mehmood Ahmed Saghar and Ghulam Muhammad Safi were amongst the attendees at the dinner.

The PaK president while apprising the visiting delegation of the prevailing political situation in the region said that the human rights situation in Kashmir was a challenge for the humanity at large. “India is hugely involved in human rights violations in the occupied territory”, he said adding that thousands of innocent Kashmiris were killed and tortured by Indian troops in the trouble region.

Khan said that the OIC should also play its much demanded role to thwart India’s bid to get a permanent seat at the UNSC saying that the country that has been violating international covenants and has no right to become member of the highest body.

Speaking on the occasion Abdullah Abdurahman Alim said that instead of granting Kashmiris their internationally recognized right, the right to self-determination, India had deployed over half a million troops in Jammu and Kashmir. Under these circumstances, Alim said that there was no chance of granting observer status to India in the OIC.

Earlier, both the leaders had a one-on-one meeting wherein they discussed in detail the future prospects of Indo-Pak dialogue process vis-à-vis Kashmir. Khan also extended his invitation to the OIC Secretary General’s special representative to participate in the international seminar to be held under the aegis of the University of PaK on 23, 24 May at Muzafarabad.