UN resolutions, Kashmiri aspirations must guide settlement of dispute: Speakers

Online Desk: Lahore Speakers at a special seminar organized by Kashmir Centre Lahore stressed the need to raise an effective voice at political, diplomatic, legal, journalistic and public levels to highlight the Kashmir dispute at the national and international forums.

Addressing the seminar titled "Our Voice for Occupied Jammu and Kashmir" at Kashmir Centre Lahore, newly elected members of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly from Lahore, Nasir Hussain Dar and Muhammad Amir Shah, said Kashmiris had been making sacrifices for nearly eight decades with the ultimate objective of determining their political future and becoming Part of Pakistan. They said that the Kashmir Center Lahore was playing an important role in highlighting the Kashmir cause. They said the United Nations resolutions on the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people remained an important international reference concerning the Kashmir dispute. They stressed that relevant international obligations and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people must be taken into account for a peaceful and lasting settlement of the dispute.

They said the political leadership, media, intellectuals and civil society of Azad Jammu and Kashmir should work collectively to effectively highlight the voice of the people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) at the national and international levels.

Former AJK Legislative Assembly member Maulana Shafi Josh, former Parliamentary Secretary of the Punjab Assembly Dr. Farzana Nazir, APHC-AJK leader Engineer Mushtaq Mahmood, In-charge of Kashmir Centre Lahore Inam-ul-Hassan, senior lawyer Manzoor Hussain Gilani, Professor Asma Hassan, President PML-N Lahore Division AJK Raja Shehzad Ahmed, Miraj Din Shaheen, Farooq Jeral, Chaudhry Siddique, Tehreek-e-Rai-e-Shumari leader Aftab Nazki, Maqbool Awan, renowned writer Nazar Bhandar, Amjad Rathore, Allama Mushtaq Qadri, renowned journalist Iqbal Shakir, Sheikh Amjad and others also addressed the seminar.

The participants expressed their resolve to continue highlighting human rights violations and issues concerning the fundamental rights of the people of IIOJK at national and international levels.

The seminar concluded with a special prayer for the elevation of the ranks of the martyrs of Kashmir and the early liberation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir.