page 06,07,08 interview
TRANSCRIPT
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Interview
KI: How w ould you like to
describe the current situation in
occupied Kashmir?
Mirwaiz: The overall situation in
occupied Kashm ir is too miserable
and gloomy. There are more than
seven hun dred thousand Indian
troops stationed in the occupied
territory to crush th e liberation
movement. This situation is
constantly going on for the last 22
years, amid agon y, hue and cry,
pain an d tears. Ind ia has virtually
converted Kashmir into a police
state, where all rights of the people
including social, political and
religious freedoms have been
snatched. Hurriyet leaders are not
allowed to add ress public meetings
and processions. Even w e (Hurriyet
leaders) are not allow ed to offer
Friday prayers. Ind ia wants to
supp ress the Kashmiri people and
their liberation m ovement throu gh
gun.
It goes without saying that any
pu blic up rising cannot be
supp ressed by force in any way.
The world h as witnessed in Libya,
Egypt, Syria and other Arab
countries that th e flood of masses
cannot be stopped by military
might. So, India m ust un derstand
that Kashmir dispute cannot be
resolved by th e use of brute force or
by killing p eople; instead it should
be addressed prudently and
peacefully so that peace and
stability can be restored in th e
region. If Kashmir dispute was not
resolved peacefully I categorically
assert that m ore forceful street
protests w ill be seen in the
occupied territory in the comingyears.
People's revolution in the Middle
East w as inspired by the massive
protests in Kashmir in three
successive su mm ers from 2008 to
2010. Kashmiris hav e spirit an d
capacity to repeat the similar
dem onstrations in 2013, 2014 and
2015.
India has no op tion but to resolve
the Kashmir dispute. The resolution
has to be in accordance with the
aspirations and wishes of the
people of Jamm u an d Kashmir. No
solution w ill be acceptable to
people that comes from India and
Pakistan w ithout the involvement
of Kashmiri people and itsleadership in the dialogue process.
KI: What was the pu rpose of your
visit to Pakistan and how
successful the tou r was?
Mirwaiz: Ou r visit to Pakistan is a
beginning towards th e peaceful
resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
We held d iscussions w ith the
political leadership and other
shad es of opinion in Pak istan. We
hav e asked all the political par ties
of Pakistan to includ e the Kashmir
issue in their election ma nifestos.
KASHMI R INSI GHT JANUARY 2013 06
In Pakistan, there is a positive mindset thatKashmiris are the basic party to the dispute. It is a
fact that despite its domestic problems, Pakistancontinues to offer unconditional support to theKashmiris’ just struggle. We are grateful for itsunflinching political, diplomatic and moralsupport to the Kashmiri people
The All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq talks
exclusively to Younus Beig of Kashmir Insight.
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They have assured us that they w ill
continue to provide political,
diplomatic and m oral sup port to
the Kashm ir cause. In Pakistan,
there is a positive mindset that
Kashmiris are the basic party to thedisp ute. It is a fact that desp ite its
domestic problems, Pakistan
continues to offer unconditional
support to the Kashmiris' just
strugg le. We are grateful for its
un flinching p olitical, dip lomatic
and moral supp ort to the Kashmiri
people.
KI: You recently stated that th e
international community m ust
shun its double stand ard
regarding the Kashm ir issue. How
would you elaborate thisstatement?
Mirwaiz: Double standard of the
international commu nity is quite
clear from th e fact that th e world
pow ers have different attitude
toward s the problems concerning
the Muslims around the world. As
we hav e seen, the world
commun ity had taken interest to
resolve the issues of East Timor,
South Sudan and Africa, but as far
as issues related to Muslims are
concerned, dou ble standa rd isobvious.
Despite knowing, Kashmir is the
oldest dispu te on the UN agenda,
world powers have zipped up their
lips. They take Ind ia as a big market
for their products, so they are
constantly ignoring hu man
dimension of the Kashmir d ispu te
and giving p riority to their
economic ties with N ew Delhi.
Hu manity, human crisis and
hum an issue like Kashmir are
entirely neglected by the world,wh ich is very path etic and tragic.
Resolution of the lingering dispute
is imperative for maintaining peace
and stability in South Asia,
otherwise the hu man crises will go
from bad to worse in the occupied
territory and political and economic
stability and p eace will continue to
elude the entire region.
KI: The UN has d eclared Palestine
as a non-memb er Observer State.
Do you think that Kashmir will be
given the same status in futu re?
Mirwaiz: It is an encoura ging
dev elopmen t. We feel that it will
yield positive results and at the
same time w e think it will cast very
good imp act on Kashmir. One
important thing w hich I wou ld like
to mention here is that Afghanistan
issue should n ot be seen in
isolation. Afghan issue cann ot be
separated from Kashmir as both
involve Pakistan and India.
Pakistan's role is very crucial for
peace and stability in Afghanistan.
We think India must reciprocate to
Pakistan's efforts for m aintaining
peace in Afghanistan. Kashmir and
Afghanistan are interlinked an d
both Pakistan and India cannot
reach any und erstanding until
Kashmir dispute is resolved.
KI: Barrack O bama d urin g his
election camp aign in 2008 had
stated that he will take steps to
resolve the Kashmir dispute b ut
failed to do so in his first tenure as
President. Do you feel that he will
take interest towards the Kashmir
settlement du ring h is second term?
Mirwaiz: We are qu ite optimistic to
see a very encouraging change
regarding the resolution of the
Kashmir d ispute in the second
tenu re of Barack Obam a. We
believe that if the US is longing for
sustainable peace and security in
South Asia then it m ust impress
up on India to take tangible and
serious steps to settle the
longstanding dispute by giving the
Kashmiris their right to self-
determination for which they have
been striving for last more than six
decad es. We feel that in h is second
term Barack Obama w ill take
tangible measu res to settle this
hu man crisis. It is quite clear tha t
peace cannot be ensured in the
region without resolution of the
Kashmir p roblem.
I personally feel that the US will try
to play a balanced r ole in SouthAsia and will adopt a p ositive
attitude to resolve the Kashmir
problem, which is pend ing on the
UN agend a for a long time. The US
is changing its attitude and looking
towards Asia, China, India,
Pakistan and Afghanistan. We hope
that th ere will be a new po licy in
America in the coming years
towards the Kashmir issue.
KI: Ind ia talks about negotiations
bu t practically does nothin g for
the Kashmir settlemen t. It is notwilling to pull out its troops and
revoke draconian laws. How do
you see this approach?
Mirwaiz: It is a reality that th e
Kashmir issue is the main
impediment in m aintaining peace
and stability in South Asia. It is du e
to India's intransigent attitude that
the long-stand ing issue is yet to be
resolved. On one han d, New Delhi
always talks about peace, but on the
other, it uses brute force to crush
the Kashmiris' indigenous struggle.
Interview
KASHMI R I NSI GHT JANUARY 2013 07
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Interview
India is increasing its troop s in
occupied Kashm ir at a reckless
speed to prolong its illegal
occupation of the territory, harming
the Kashmiris in a very big wa y.
Seven hundred thousand troopshave been dep loyed in every nook
and corner of the territory.
Ironically, when the ru lers in N ew
Delhi extend talks offer to Pakistan
and the Kashmiri Hurriyet
leadership to find out a resolution
of the dispute, in the same breath
they repeat the man tra of Jamm u
and Kashmir being integral part of
their country. This duplicity has
been the basic hurdle in the
resolution o f Kashmir conflict
du ring the past over six decades.
The occupation forces have turned
the lives of Kashm iri people into a
hell. Torture, disappearances,
kidnapp ing and arresting people is
the routine m atter in the territory.
New Delhi must leave its military
attitude toward s the Kashmir
prob lem. It needs to realize the fact
that elections, constru ction of roads
and p anchayats cannot change the
disputed character of Kashmir an d
are no solution to th e issue.
KI: Pup pet regime in occup ied
Kashmir says that Hurriyet leaders
should also talk to India, what is
your view on that?
Mirwaiz: We are not averse to
dialogue p rocess. However,
atmosphere has to be mad e
condu cive for talks by releasing all
illegally detained Kashmiris and
revoking draconian laws from the
territory. We will talk to Ind ia
provided Kashmir issue was given
priority over other issues and for
that India mu st take some tangible
steps by w hich it can be felt that it
is serious in th e settlement of the
dispute.
We feel that CBMs like red uction of
troops in Kashmir, people to people
contact, easing travel betw een both
par ts of Kashmir and the cross LoC
trade are the steps that can make
atmosphere conducive on ground
to move forward in negotiations for
resolving the longstanding dispute.
But, CBMs are no t the u ltimate
solution as India has been trying to
project.
New Delhi must abandon its
military attitude an d adop t political
approach if it really wants peace
and stability in the region. Indian
government m ust revoke black
laws, release all political prisoners
and pu ll out its troops from
occupied Kashm ir. If Ind ia
continues its policy of tortu re and
massacre in Kashmir and at the
same time talks about negotiationsthen it is unfortunate. It needs to
und erstand that talks and killings
cannot go together.
New Delhi is using different tactics
to m islead the international
commun ity about the Kashmir
dispute an d to prolong its illegal
occup ation on Jamm u and Kashmir.
To achieve these objectives its
leaders keep on issuing different
statements claiming that Kashmir is
India's internal matter, although th e
first Ind ian Prime Minister,
Jawaharlal Nehru , had annou nced
on many occasions that Kashmir
was a d ispu te and the Kashmiris
wou ld be given an opportu nity to
choose their p olitical destiny.
KI: The Kashmir p roblem is
lingering for a long tim e. We see
other intern ational conflicts being
resolved. Why there is such a long
stalemate on Kashmir?
Mirwaiz: India is not serious for
resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
After the acquiring of nuclear
capabilities by Pakistan and India,
the situation dem ands that th e issue
be solved amicably in order to
ensu re peace in South Asia. It will
be in the interest of New Delhi itself
if the issue is resolved.
Unfortunately, Ind ia has always
tried to suppress the liberation
movement of Kashmiri people by
the dint of gun and never showed
intention to settle the problem
peacefully. But, it is an open secretthat Indian forces miserably failed
to subdue the Kashmiris' liberation
struggle.
KI: In the given situ ation, how a
lasting solution of the Kashmir
dispute is p ossible?
Mirwaiz: We want imp lementation
of the UN r esolutions. We also
supp ort tripartite talks amongst
India, Pakistan and the genuine
Kashmiri leadership.
Representatives from all regions of
the p rincely state, wh ich existed
before 1947, should be allowed to
discuss in ord er to reach some
am icable solution. I once again say
that there mu st be involvement of
Kashmiris in the talks p rocess
between Pakistan and India.
Unfortunately, instead of taking
steps to settle the Kashmir
imbroglio, India has unleashed
aggression in Kashm ir on political,
diplomatic, cultural and economic
fronts to prolong its hold on Jamm u
and Kashmir.
KASHMI R INSI GHT JANUARY 2013 08