ISLAMABAD: An unprecedented two-day international parliamentary seminar on Kashmir – announced by the Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF) under the patronage of National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq – will be commenced on Thursday (January 5, 2017).
It is for the first time that the parliament is hosting an international meet to delve upon the imperative issue of right to self-determination of Kashmiri people. The event aimed to analyse the plight of Kashmiri people and issues regarding Indian Army’s brutalities since the rise of the new wave of the independence movement after the martyrdom of Burhan Wani, an architect of the social-media driven psychological warfare in the disputed state, in July 2016.
Various dignitaries comprising as many as 20 lawmakers from different countries and experts from the European Parliament, UK, Canada and North America, in addition to 400 national delegates comprising parliamentarians, academia, social scientists, think tanks, journalists and students, would attend the seminar. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Kashmir Affairs & Gilgit-Baltistan, the Azad Jammu Kashmir government and the Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (PIPS) are supporting the two-day activity.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq envisioned the idea for the seminar and designated MNA Shaza Fatima Khawaja, who is also YPF general secretary, as its convener. YPF Media Coordinator MNA Romina Khurshid Alam would be serving as the chief coordinator for the event. UN recognises Jammu Kashmir as a disputed territory.
In this regard, several resolutions have been passed and various observer groups have been deployed; yet the dispute continues to linger on. Since 1989, there has been blatant state terrorism on part of Indian troops who have killed more than 89,000 innocent people in their just struggle for the right to self-determination.
The seminar will provide a platform to highlight three primary aspects i.e. Kashmir as a humanitarian crisis; its disputed nature as per the UN Security Council resolutions as well as a nuclear flashpoint that remains to threaten peace and security of the South Asian region and indigenous and peaceful struggle of Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination.
Keeping in view the importance, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif would inaugurate the first session for the formal commencement. The seminar and its all session have been spread over a period of two days with debates and talks on various crucial issues. Welcome address of the opening plenary will be delivered by MNA Shaza Fatima, followed by the key note address by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.
Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz will also address the seminar. After the inaugural session, first plenary panel discussion would be held on the role of the United Nations and major powers in Kashmir issue. The session would be chaired by Kashmiri President Masood Khan while the second session would be chaired by State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb.
The third intellectually engaging panel discussion titled Pakistan-India relations: socio-economic and security implications would be chaired by Kashmiri Prime Minister Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider Khan. The concluding session would be addressed by Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani.
