{"id":7718,"date":"2024-02-06T08:21:52","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T08:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/?p=7718"},"modified":"2024-02-06T08:21:52","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T08:21:52","slug":"kashmir-is-a-powder-keg-in-south-asia-resolve-it-for-enduring-peace-and-stability-masood-khan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/?p=7718","title":{"rendered":"Kashmir is a powder keg in South Asia; Resolve it for enduring peace and stability, Masood Khan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" data-id=\"7719\" src=\"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG-20240206-WA0031-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7719\" srcset=\"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG-20240206-WA0031-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG-20240206-WA0031-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG-20240206-WA0031-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG-20240206-WA0031.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Washington DC.,\u201cWe feel the pain of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters. Their wounds are our wounds,\u201d Ambassador Masood Khan said while addressing a special event to observe the Kashmir Solidarity Day here in Embassy of Pakistan Washington DC.\u201cKashmir is the keystone of foundations of Pakistan. It cannot be separated from us,\u201d he said.Masood Khan said that people of Pakistan have made huge sacrifices while fighting the case of Kashmir since the inception of the country. \u201cWe are not fighting this war for a piece of a land but because it is our  moral and legal responsibility. We are fighting for the inalienable right to self-determination of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters that was promised to them by the UN Security Council resolutions and by the international community,\u201d said the  Ambassador. \u201cThe Kashmiris are the most disenfranchised people on the face of the earth. They are victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing,\u201d he said.\u201cKashmir is a powder keg in South Asia that threatens regional peace and stability,\u201d said the Ambassador.\u201cIt is the responsibility of international community to save them. I appeal to your conscience. We appeal to your convening power to come to the rescue of the people of illegally occupied Jammu and  Kashmir,\u201d he observed. The Chief Guest of the event Mr. Lars Rise, former Member of Norwegian Parliament, speaking on the occasion, said that that we must stand and protest for the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people. He pointed out that the right to self-determination was not only promised to the Kashmiri people by UNSC but the Indian Prime Minister Nehru had also made the pledge to the Kashmiris. \u201cIt is a sad day that even after 77 years we are still talking about lack of this right,\u201d he said. Highlighting the situation in illegally occupied territory especially after 05 August 2019, Mr. Rise said that there was denial of basic human rights and communication blockade in the territory. \u201cSo now we can say that Kashmir is like gun powder. It&#8217;s a very dangerous situation,\u201d he said.Kashmir should never be  a forgotten conflict for the international community, said the ex-Norwegian MP.  \u201cLet us pool our resources and resources in order to make the international community listen to the very important voices from Kashmir,\u201d Mr. Rise said.Dr. Imtiaz Hussain, Professor George Washington University, in his speech highlighted the harrowing  crimes of the Indian forces against innocent women and children of Kashmir. He highlighted that India was making demographic changes in the occupied territory and was trying to reduce Muslim majority into minority. Dr. Imtiaz pointed out that India was also destroying the environment of the region and \u201cthe paradise of Kashmir has been transformed into a living prison for the Kashmiris.\u201d He also pointed out the need for unity in Muslim countries over the issue of Kashmir. He suggested establishment of Kashmir Chairs in renowned universities of the world. Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed in his recorded video message said that the situation in Kashmir coincided with Gaza. He said that India has been exposed as a state sponsoring cross border terrorism. He also noted transformation of India into Hindutva state. Senator Mushahid Syed said that international media and human rights organizations have been highlighting the atrocities being committed by Indian government to suppress the voices of Kashmiris. He lauded the courage and resilience of Kashmir men and women for being steadfast in their indigenous, spontaneous and widespread struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination. Mr. Mowahid Hussain Syed, Attorney at Law, speaking on the occasion underscored the need for \u2018empowered mindset\u2019 at international level that could assess what needs to be done regarding the issue of Kashmir. Quoting example of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter and other similar issues, he observed that raising awareness would help activating civil society to stand up for a just cause. He opined that climate was conducive to present Kashmir case before the international community.Mr. Afzal Khan, Member UK Parliament, in his recorded message observed that international community especially the great powers including UK have a moral responsibility to help addressing the issue of Jammu &amp; Kashmir. Expressing solidarity with the people of Kashmir, he assured his continued support to the just cause of Kashmir and to redouble his efforts for raising awareness about the sufferings of the Kashmiri people. Mr. Ilyas Masih, representing Pak-American Christian Community, in his remarks called upon the participants to raise awareness about the plight of Kashmiris especially in youth. Dr. Asma Shakir Khawaja, Executive Director of Center for International Strategic Studies Azad Jammu &amp; Kashmir, in her message said that Kashmiris are suffering subjugation for past 76 years yet they are determined. \u201cEven after 76 years, India is illegitimate entity in Kashmir\u201d she said. Dr. Asma said that history bears testimony to the fact that illegal occupation has to come to an end and \u201cIndia has to leave the land of Kashmir and Kashmiris would have their right to decide what future they want for themselves.\u201dSecretary-General of Kashmir Civitas Dr. Farhan Mujahid Chak in his message called upon the need to remain committed to raising the awareness about Indian atrocities against Kashmiri people. He said that Kashmir remains on backburner and has been a neglected conflict for too long.  \u201cThis year let us make a special solemn pledge that we will remain adamant to raise awareness of the colonial policies, the draconian communication strategies, the grotesque violations of human rights and the abhorrent practices of fake encounters, murdering and imprisoning journalists and  civil society activists,\u201d he said.Advisor President AJK Sardar Zareef Khan in his remarks said that expressing solidarity with Kashmiris encourages the spirit of Kashmiris to struggle for their legitimate cause. He thanked the Government and the people of Pakistan for keeping the issue of Kashmir alive. He said that India can never suppress the spirit of Kashmiris. Chairman Kashmir Institute of International Relations Mr. Altaf Wani highlighted the need for exposing the Indian government by presenting realities before the international community. Ms. Victoria Schofield, renowned author and historian on Kashmir, in her audio message stated that it pained her to see that the issue of Kashmir remained unresolved.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington DC.,\u201cWe feel the pain of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters. Their wounds are our wounds,\u201d Ambassador Masood Khan said while addressing a special event to observe the Kashmir Solidarity&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7718"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7720,"href":"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7718\/revisions\/7720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voiceofmelange.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}