Solidarity Iftar for Kashmir and Palestine / LFK Report Launch

International community urged to support the struggles of Palestinian, Kashmiri people

Speakers partaking in a discussion on Kashmir, held at IPS on April 19, 2023, urged the international community to take notice of the ongoing struggles of the oppressed people in Palestine and Kashmir and support their efforts for justice and self-determination.

The conference-cum-solidarity iftar for Kashmir and Palestine – jointly hosted by Legal Forum for Kashmir (LFK) and IPS – was followed by the launching of a report by LFK titled ‘India’s Impunity in Kashmir: Surveillance, Counter-Insurgency & Politics of Fear’, which throws light on the systematic use of surveillance, counter-insurgency measures, and political repression by India against the people of Kashmir.

The event was addressed by Chairman IPS Khalid Rahman, Prof Dr Amna Mahmood, dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI), Advocate Nasir Qadri, executive director, LFK, Senior Hurriyat leaders Ghulam Muhammad Safi and Mehmood Ahmed Saghar, and Abdur Rasheed Turabi, former ameer, Jamaat-e-Islami, AJK.

Speaking on the occasion, Rahman said that the dynamics of warfare have undergone a significant change, and while physical warfare remains effective, the occupation of territories in modern times has become increasingly difficult, with a few exceptions like that of Palestine and Kashmir. The battle is no longer limited to the battlefield and has evolved into a battle of minds and hearts. To keep a state or house in order, we must focus on our strengths and own our weaknesses.

Pakistan needs to build a narrative that can be heard internationally, and work towards ensuring that the legitimate aspirations of the Kashmiri people are recognized and respected, he stated.

Prof Dr Amna Mahmood said that the political instability in Pakistan and AJK has serious implications for the Kashmir issue. Unless Pakistan is politically stable, it can make no significant contribution to the Kashmir cause. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on long-term planning and strategizing and to explore how the natives of Kashmir (IOJK & AJK), particularly the youth, can play a role in advocating the Kashmir cause.

Qadri pointed out at the importance of addressing the issues of human rights violations, the use of extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, and other forms of state-sponsored violence against the people of Kashmir. India’s replication of Israel’s surveillance and counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir cannot be ignored and must be condemned, he stressed.

Safi highlighted that Israel and India continue to forcefully subjugate unarmed civilians in Palestine and Kashmir respectively. However, despite unabated oppression and state violence, the resilient people of Kashmir and Palestine continue to resist the occupation and disproportionate state violence.

Kashmiris have every right to resist as long as the occupation persists, and the international community should not equate the armed resistance of the occupied with the occupier’s indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force, he added.

Saghar opined that India was not working alone in Kashmir, it was rather being aided and assisted by foreign authorities. The manifestation of India’s settler colonial program in Kashmir is an indication of the conjunction between Indian and Israeli strategies to eliminate the natives and ensure the settlements of non-natives.

Turabi said that the Palestinians continued their struggle and resistance through collective efforts, including the formation of the Al-Quds International Forum, which is a cause-oriented amalgam of organizations. Similarly, the people of Kashmir must come together and form a base camp in AJK with the adoption of a resolution similar to the objective’s resolution in the constitution of Pakistan.

The panelists unanimously raised concerns about the lack of international support in the ongoing just struggles of the Kashmiri and Palestinian people, thereby emphasizing the importance of transnational solidarity and support.