Report – Seminar on “The Kashmir Dispute: An Unfulfilled Promise”

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To mark Kashmir Solidarity Day, the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs & Gilgit-Baltistan organized a Seminar titled, “The Kashmir Dispute: An unfulfilled Promise” on February 4, 2020 at Aiwan-e-Sadr. The President Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi was the Chief Guest at the occasion. Other speakers included: Syed Fakhar Imam, Chairman, Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir;  Mr. Ali Amin Gandapur, Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan; Syed Faiz Naqshbandi, Convener, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC); and Mr. Altaf Hussain Wani, Chairman, Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR).

The Director General ISSI, Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, in his welcoming remarks stated that the Kashmiris are struggling for freedom and for their right to determine their own destiny. The Kashmiris were given a solemn promise seventy years ago by the international community as stipulated in the UNSC resolutions. That promise, regrettably, remains unfulfilled. He stated that on August 5, 2019, the Modi administration unilaterally changed the status of occupied territory in violation of both the UNSC resolutions and Simla agreement, both of which prohibit any material change of status of the disputed territory. Along came a six months long siege of the Kashmiris, with every instrument of torture applied on them to break their will. The saddest part is that many nations claim to be the champions of human rights, but have turned a blind eye to the gross brutalities being inflicted on the Kashmiris by India. The Indian occupied Kashmir is bleeding. He informed the audience that report after report is emerging on the clampdown, the lockdown, the curfew imposed on the hapless Kashmiris.

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