Speech of Dr Shabir Choudhry in a seminar
during 28th session of the UN Human Rights Council - March 2015. SEMINAR ARRANGED BY AIPD-GL (ACTION
INTERNATIONALE POUR LA PAIX ET LE DEVELOPPEMENT DANS LA REGION DES GRANDS LACS)
HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN SOUTH ASIA -
THURSDAY 12 MARCH 2015
Mr Chairman, friends and colleagues aslamo
alaikam and very good morning to you all.
In the short
time allocated to me, it won’t be possible to encompass all aspects of human
rights abuses in South Asia; however, I will try to highlight some of the
problems we face in so called Azad Kashmir. Like Gilgit Baltistan, this area is
also legally part of the former State of Jammu and Kashmir; and does not belong
to India or Pakistan.
We people
living in areas of the State occupied by Pakistan are still deprived of
fundamental human rights. How sad that despite being a member of the United
Nations and a signatory to different declarations on human rights, Pakistani
officials openly defy all their obligations on human rights.
I acknowledge
that even people of Pakistan are denied various rights, and some groups in
Pakistan are systematically targeted and killed because of ethnic and religious
reasons. There are some people who try to tacitly justify Pakistani crimes in
Jammu and Kashmir by saying that Pakistan has some serious problems and even
Pakistani people are suffering. These people forget that Pakistan’s problems
are because of their illogical and wrong policies; and we people of Jammu and
Kashmir should not be punished for their follies.
Mr Chairman
Right of
expression is a fundamental human right; and no society can make progress by
suppressing this right. We in Pakistani Occupied Kashmir cannot even complain
that we are occupied or expose Pakistani abuses and exploitation of our
resources.
Two years
ago Mr Arif Shahid was killed in Rawalpindi. We demanded that his killers
should be found and punished. Sadly, our pleas and demands fell on deaf ears.
Last year I wrote a book called:
Why Arif Shahid was killed? This book was banned by puppet government of
Azad Kashmir on instructions from Islamabad. Office of the publisher of the
book, Mr Rafiq Khawaja, who is also President of Kashmir National Party for
Mirpur district, was raided. His staff was harassed and all the books
confiscated. We are taking them to court, but we know the outcome of this
petition.
Abdul
Hakeem, President of Kashmir National Party Muzaffarabad district, wrote a book
on Kashmir last year. This book was also banned on orders of Islamic Republic
of Pakistan which claims to speak for people of Jammu and Kashmir and believes
in democracy – one can say this is a Pakistani democracy, which is designed to
oppress people.
Another
Kashmiri writer and a researcher Mohammed Saeed Asad wrote a book called: ‘Book of knowledge on Kashmir’. This
book was also banned. He published a map of the former State of Jammu and
Kashmir, showing exactly what area is occupied by which country. This map was
also banned last month.
A lady
called Farzana Yaqoob, who is a daughter of President of this Pakistani colony;
and lives in Switzerland, and holds a ministerial post in so called Azad
Kashmir. A few days ago she summoned Saeed Asad in her office and reprimanded
him for publishing the map. This genius lady has reported to have said, since
you live in Azad Kashmir and work in Azad Kashmir, you should only publish maps
about Azad Kashmir and not other parts of Jammu and Kashmir State.
It looks
that Farzana Yaqoob has not learnt anything from a democratic and civilised
society of Switzerland. She has not learnt that you cannot deny people their
fundamental right to hold an opinion and express it. When she comes to the UN
Human Rights session, she is more interested about rights of people of Jammu
and Kashmir on the other side of the divide; and least concerned about the
plight of the people living under Pakistani control.
That shows
she is not a true human rights defender; but a defender of interests of
Islamabad at the cost of Kashmiri interests. All those who serve interests of
Islamabad need to wake up and understand that the country has very bleak
future; and the ruling elite of that country knows it well, and that is why
they have all economic interests outside in other countries.
They know
the country has no respect in comity of nations. They stand alone in the entire
world on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir because of their erroneous policies and
out of date strategies. Other countries know Pakistan is also an occupier. They
know Pakistan is not a well wisher of people of Jammu and Kashmir. Despite that
some people of Jammu and Kashmir either because of economic interests or
misplaced loyalty protect and promote the interest of Islamabad.
These
ministers and so called Azad Kashmir government is controlled by Pakistani
officials known as Lent Officers, namely Chief Secretary, IG Police, Finance
Secretary and Accountant General. Further control is exerted through Ministry
of Kashmir Affairs; and Azad Kashmir government officials find themselves at
their mercy. Apart from that more than 20 secret agencies operate in these
areas to ensure that no one tries to expose Pakistan’s Kashmir policy.
Moreover,
Kashmir Council which is chaired by Prime Minister of Pakistan and Pakistani
Ministers control everything of importance. Azad Kashmiri government cannot
take any decision or challenge decisions of the Kashmir Council on 52 important
policy areas. This in practise means they are in worse position politically and
administratively than Kashmir under the occupation of India.
Despite
these bitter facts, some people of Jammu and Kashmir propagate that areas under
Pakistani control, namely Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir are not under
occupation. Many people think they have either strong economic and political
interests with Pakistan, or they are unable to distinguish between occupation
and independence.
One can say this is a modern form of ghulami or slavery, where an
enslaved person does not feel he is enslaved, if anything he takes pride in his
status in order to be in good books of his political masters. We people of
Jammu and Kashmiri must call spade a spade and struggle against all those who
occupy us and deny us right to independence.
Mr Chairman, I thank you.
Writer is a
political analyst, TV anchor and author of many books and booklets. Also he is
Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs.Email:drshabirchoudhry@gmail.com
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