Amnesty International expresses concern over rights violation in held Kashmir
By: Mariana Baabar
ISLAMABAD: Amnesty International (AI) while expressing concern over the continuing violation of human rights in Indian-held Kashmir says that improvements in this area might lead to a peaceful settlement.
Dr Michael Gottlob of Amnesty International, while expressing his concerns over the continuing violation of human rights in Indian held Kashmir and New Delhi’s intransigence against revoking Draconian laws in Jammu and Kashmir, including the Armed Forces Special Power Act and Public Safety Act, said that improvement in human rights conditions in Indian held Kashmir may lead to a peaceful settlement of the issue.
He was speaking at a Seminar organized by the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD ) in Berlin to mark the 27 October as the Kashmir Black Day, the first time that Kashmir Black Day was observed at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy.
In Islamabad, there was no statement from the Foreign Office which had its hands full with events across the border in Afghanistan and determined to bask in the Thimpu Spirit.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, on the eve of foreign ministers talks with India had told The News in an interview that issues like Jammu and Kashmir and other contentious ones, unless they move forward would not see an environment for a peaceful region.
But at the same time, she had said, “In my Foreign Office, I have given strict instructions that there should be no negative statements against India by bureaucrats. But Pakistan gets bashed up constantly by India. We all must do our bit to move on.”
In Berlin, Pakistan’s Ambassador, Abdul Basit, told the seminar, “History bears testimony to the fact that legitimate aspirations for freedom may be suppressed for some time but cannot be denied for ever. Kashmiris are destined to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination however, difficult this proposition may seem at present”.
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