Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain says India should rethink its attitude for resolution of Kashmir issue in order to achieve durable peace in South Asia.
Addressing a seminar on All Parties Kashmir Parliamentary Group Report on Kashmir in Islamabad on Friday, he said the major stumbling block in good relations between Pakistan and India is Kashmir issue. He added that the ongoing human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir serve as an obstacle on the path to normalising relations with India.
Fawad Chaudhry said Pakistan does not see the issue of Kashmir from the point of view of territory; rather its focus is on humanitarian crisis due to rights abuses against the native population by security forces. He said India cannot suppress the indigenous freedom struggle through use of brute force.
“Solution to Kashmir issue in inevitable. India should understand that army cannot conquer Kashmir valley and eliminate en emotional relation,” he asserted.
India should not place burden of its failures on Pakistan, stressed Fawad.
“[Indian Prime Minister] Narendra Modi just announced that [his government] will give a package of billions of rupees to [Indian Occupied] Kashmir,” Chaudhry said. “But independence cannot be bought with money. Independence is a sentiment felt in the heart, a narrative of the heart.”
The information minister said that India’s allegation that Pakistan was instigating unrest in Kashmir had no foundation and the Indian government had only adopted this stance because it was unable to crush the struggle for freedom in the region. He urged Indian authorities to realise that “armies cannot conquer the narrative of the heart”.
Chaudhry said that Pakistan’s stance on Occupied Kashmir was not inspired by the “beauty of Kashmir”.
“We don’t view the Kashmir issue from a territorial point of view. We look at it from a humanitarian angle,” he said, adding that the “pain of Kashmiris is felt by Pakistan”.
The information minister further said that pro-Pakistan sentiment in Kashmir was very high and political parties which contested elections in the territory realised this.
“[Kashmiri leader] Umar Farooq told me that political parties contesting elections in Kashmir knew that if they adopted an anti-Pakistan narrative, their voter base would alienate them,” he said.
Quoting author Arundhati Roy, Chaudhry said, “The time when India controlled Kashmir is long gone; now the narrative of Kashmir dominates India.”
He emphasised the importance of peace in the region, saying that friendly relations between India and Pakistan would lead to trade and an improved economy, which would benefit both countries.
Referring to the Indian government’s refusal to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation conference if it was hosted by Pakistan, the information minister said that “Saarc was suffering” due to Delhi’s position on the matter.
“As soon as Indian authorities and intellectuals realise that they will have to adopt a realistic approach towards the Kashmir issue and that it needs to be solved, we can move forward.”
Addressing the seminar, AJK President Masood Khan said reports of UN Human Rights Commissioner and the all Parties Kashmir Parliamentary Group are a clear manifestation that the international community is also raising voice on human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.
