Presentation of Dr Shabir Choudhry in UN Human Rights Council 42 Session, Room 21, Geneva, 12 September 2019

Presentation of Dr Shabir Choudhry in UN Human Rights Council 42 Session, Room 21, Geneva, 12 September 2019

Mr Chairman, friends and colleagues peace and blessings on all of you.

We people of Jammu and Kashmir are lucky. We have a beautiful land, which is full of resources, with very important strategic location.

But we are unlucky that we are occupied by 3 nuclear states, which have imperialist designs against our motherland.

Our one neighbour, Pakistan, told us you are part of us because we are Muslim brothers. We believe in one Allah and the same last Holy Prophet. Our interests are same. Many of us fell for that.

Majority of our people did not take the bait, they said, our problems are not related  to religion. Our problems are related to political, social and economic rights.

The other neighbour, India, said, that is good. Religion is a personal matter of citizens. We believe in equality and humanity. We have shared values of democratic and secular ideals. Let us work together, and many people believed in that.

Because there was a competition between these two neighbours to control us,  to prove that their contention was the correct one. The Muslim neighbour, in name of Jihad, violated the agreement we had with them and attacked us.

These ‘Jihadi’ Muslim brothers did not hesitate to kill people of Jammu and Kashmir, loot and plunder their houses, shops and other belongings. They also did not shy away to kidnap our women, rape them and sell them in various places in Pakistan.

We asked for help from the other neighbour, India. We were told, we know you are in very serious trouble, and your people are being killed and women are raped. However, we can’t help you unless you agree to become part of us, and once that is done, we will protect you.

Our Ruler, in order to save his State, and to save us, agreed the conditions of the big and powerful neighbour. The fight between two big neighbours not only killed us, but also divided us on political and religious lines.

That fight still continues since 1947, and we remain divided. In this fight we get killed on both sides of the divide. Whether a bullet is fired to uphold democratic ideals or to promote Islamic brotherhood, we people of Jammu and Kashmir get killed. We are in pain and agony. Our suffering and ordeal must come to an end.

As if this was not bad enough, Muslim neighbour said, we two have been unable to agree as to what should be your future, so it is only appropriate that I manipulate the situation to make my big friend, and another neighbour of Jammu and Kashmir a party to the dispute. So Pakistan’s big brother and close friend, China, also jumped in to fray.

When we said to Pakistan that religion is not our problem, and don’t present this as a Muslim problem or a problem of Muslim Umma, we were told you are not a good Muslim. How could you be not part of the Muslim Umma.

The other neighbour, India, has also abandoned its old traditions of democracy and tolerance. It is no longer tolerant and understanding India of Gandhi and Nehru. We live in a new era, where minorities are intimidated, harassed and threatened.

The new government of Prime Minister not only unilaterally abrogated all the agreements we had with India, but has also practically occupied us. Even some Indian politicians and human rights activists say, Jammu and Kashmir has been transformed in to a big prison, where good and bad, old and young, men and women suffer equally.

Both New Delhi and Islamabad claim that they care for people of Jammu and Kashmir. However, their actions and ground reality tell us a different story, which is horrifying.

While our suffering continues unabated, Muslim Umma is still asleep, and Pakistan is told by champions of the Muslim Umma, not to make Jammu and Kashmir a Muslim dispute, something we told Pakistan many times.

At the beginning I said, Jammu and Kashmir is a political dispute. However, due to hard work of Pakistan and some collaborators, religious dimension is also added to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Sadly, apart from religious and political aspects, the Jammu and Kashmir dispute has a big economic characteristic too. Tens of thousands of people are directly or indirectly linked with economic aspect of the dispute. This practically means, the dispute has become more complex and difficult to resolve.

 People of Jammu and Kashmir are the principal party to the dispute, they must have the final say in the future of this former Princely State.

The UN Resolutions only give us two options, either become part of India or become part of Pakistan. Right of self - determination was not promised. What I don’t understand is, why those who want to become part of Pakistan are patriots; and those who want to become part of India are traitors?

Out of two options given by the UN, and agreed by Pakistan and India, why one option is halal, and the other is haram?

As there is no military solution to this dispute, I urge the other two parties to make people of Jammu and Kashmir a party to the dialogue process. If people of Jammu and Kashmir are not involved in the negotiations then there will be no peace in Jammu and Kashmir and in South Asia; and our motherland can be a battleground for another military clash.

Thank you, Mr Chairman