RIYADH: Conditions in the South Asian region will continue to remain volatile if the Kashmir conflict remains unresolved, and Kashmiris are not included in the Indo-Pak dialogue being held on the issue. This was stressed by the speakers here at the Embassy of Pakistan in a gathering to commemorate the Kashmir Solidarity Day.
They spoke on the history of the partition of the subcontinent, and how the conflict emerged. “In view of the fact that India had initially sought the resolution of Security Council on the crisis, and had pledged to give the right of self-determination to Kashmiris, it morally ought to honor its word now,” said Dr. Maqbool Bhatti, one of the speakers who has also thoroughly conducted studies on Indo-Pak relations.
Another speaker, Dr. Mohammad Asif Qureshi of King Saud University, opined that prior to the advent of Islam, Indus Valley and the regions south of Himalayas had never been ruled by one emperor and that Muslims gave India its singular entity. He emphasized that Islam is a unifying force and that Kashmir can never remain aloof, and cut away from Pakistan.
In his address, Dr. Abdullah Ibrahim Al-Shwaiman, member, Kashmir Committee at the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, who was also the chief guest, disclosed that his organization had been assisting the needy in Kashmir. He stressed that the destitute in the state be helped in every possible way.
Community Welfare Attache at the Embassy, Waqar Ahmad, read out the message of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari. “For more than six decades, the Kashmir issue remains on the agenda of the UN as an unfulfilled obligation,” the message read, asserting that Pakistan would continue to support the Kashmiri people in their quest for realizing their right to self-determination.
It had also reiterated that Kashmiris should be associated with the dialogue process going on between India and Pakistan.
Later, a resolution was unanimously passed, calling upon the United Nations to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir for the resolution of the crisis.
