The Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) hosted a Roundtable discussion on July 17, 2019 with reference to the latest report by Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons and Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society on atrocities in Indian Occupied Kashmir IOK) titled, “Torture: Indian State’s Instrument of Control in Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir”. The keynote speaker at occasion was Chairman Kashmir Committee, Syed Fakhar Imam. Other speakers at the occasion included: Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan, Member Kashmir Committee; Ambassador Inam-ul-Haq; Mr. Ahmer Bilal Soofi, President, Research Society of International Law; and Saiyyed Abdullah Gillani, Convener All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC). Prominent participants at the roundtable included: Mr. Altaf Hussain Wani, Chairman, Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR); Mr. Ershad Mahmood, Executive Director, Centre for Peace, Development and Reforms (CPDR); Ghulam Muhammad Safi, APHC Leader; Ambassador Riaz Khokhar; Mr. Khalid Rehman, Executive Director, Institute for Policy Studies (IPS); Ambassador Syed Faiz Naqshbandi; Member Parliament, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif and many others.
Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry, Director General ISSI welcomed the speakers and participants, and raised a number of important points on the issue. He said that India’s heinous crime in IOK documented in this report presents a grim picture. He said that together with the erstwhile UN OHCHR report on Kashmir, its follow-up report and this present document, the speakers and the participants had an important agenda before them for discussion.
