"Jingle Bell" narrative on Kashmir
Dr. Syed Nazir Gilani
Simon Danczuk, Labour Member of Parliament from Rochdale and member of All Party Parliamentary Group for Kashmir in the House of Commons, Senge Hasnan Sering, President Institute for Gilgit Baltistan Studies USA, Ali Adaalat, Executive Director International Pahari Literary Society UK, and Mumtaz Khan, Executive Director International Center for Peace and Democracy, Canada organised a seminar titled "India Pakistan Peace Process : The Way Forward" on 28 February 2012 in the Grand Committee Room in the House of Commons in London.
As one of the Panellists, a Kashmiri, a British and a common friend to all the three Kashmiri organisers, I had a special reason to attend and participate. Others on the Panel were Lord Qurban Hussain (Liberal Democrats), Andrew Stephenson MP (Conservative) from Nelson and member of All Party Parliamentary Group for Kashmir in the House of Commons and Yasmin Qureshi MP (Labour) from Bolton.
It was exactly after 16 years and 7 months that I found myself sharing a political platform with Lord Qurban Hussain in the House of Commons. Last time when I shared a political platform with him was at Luton Town Hall when Lord Mayor of Luton Councillor Mohammed Ashraf had organised a conference of Kashmiri Intellectuals on 27 August 1995. I had chaired Group D of this conference and was elected a member of eight member 'Kashmir Policy Group'.
Chaudhry Qurban Hussain (a local councillor at that time) was elected as one of the eight members of 'Kashmir Policy Group' and appointed as the Rapporteur of the conference. His last communication with me was when he wrote on 2 July 1997 informing that "the report of the Kashmiri Intellectuals Conference held on 27.8.95 has been published now….I am also being asked to call the meeting of the Kashmir Policy Group on Sunday the 14th of July 1996 at 12.00 at the Luton Town Hall".
Earlier in the morning and a day before I had two phone calls advising me to stay away from the Conference because it was being organised by pro Indian lobby. The two phone calls reminded me of a similar situation when a similar conference titled "Next Step in Jammu and Kashmir : Give Peace A Chance" was organised on 25-26 November, at Bristol Hotel, Gurgaon, Haryana by the Institute of Regional Studies, Pakistan (Director Brig. Bashir Ahmad) and International Centre for Peace Initiatives, India (Director Sundeep Waslekar). The Gurgaon Conference among many other Kashmiri leaders was also attended by Yasin Malik chief of JKLF as a constituent of united Hurriyat and by Mansoor Ijaz the lead character in the Memogate Scandal in Pakistan. He attended the conference as Founder and Chairman of Crescent Investment Management USA.
On my way to the Grand Committee Room in the House of Commons, I continued to wrestle with the merits of the advice that I should not attend a conference which had been organised by pro India lobby. I have known Mumtaz Khan from our student days in Karachi and his contribution to "Maqbool Bhatt Bachao Committee", participation in the first political protest in Sindh (Karachi) held during the Zia's Martial Law and his hunger strike till death in support of the rights of the Kashmiri students studying in various professional and non-professional colleges in Sindh, stand out as a massive contribution to the best interests of Kashmiri people. He has continued to battle for the common cause of the people at the UN Human Rights Commission (UN HRC) in Geneva and at other platforms. It may not be known to many that he is a civil engineer by profession and the son in law of chief justice Supreme Court of AJK Sardar Said Muhammad Khan (late) and continues to endure an exile for his opinions on Kashmir. Senge Hasnan Sering is a credible voice on Gilgit Baltistan and Ali Adaalat has been playing a lead role in the field of Pahari Literature and in campaigning for the inclusion of Kashmiris in British electoral process as a distinct 'Identity'.
The hidden hand of establishment has continued to muddy the clear waters in Britain which has a large Kashmiri, Pakistani, Indian and Bangla Deshi community. Although as a result of assertive role of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in defining the contours of State institutions, emerging role of a vigilant media and the struggle of the civil society has forced the establishment to consider ending its grip on the freedom of choice in Pakistan, it continues to find the British Kashmiri and the British Pakistani community as an enduring alternative for its 'Strategic Depth Policy', which has failed in Afghanistan.
Otherwise there is no reason to oppose a debate on "India Pakistan Peace Process: The Way Forward" in the House of Commons. One would have hoped that Lord Qurban Hussain and Yasmin Qureshi MP with their special Kashmiri links would use the occasion to reinforce the identity of the people of Jammu and Kashmir as an equal people for the right of self-determination, their narrative was in all manner very poor and could not serve the cause of the establishment or the people of Kashmir. The substantive merits of their contribution were unconvincing and unimpressive. It seemed that Lord Qurban Hussain had lost the strengths of his Kashmir narrative somewhere between 27 August 1995 when he was an active participant at the Kashmiri Intellectual Conference in Luton and 28 February 2012 when he was a panellist at the seminar in the House of Commons. A graduation from a local Councillor in the local government to a Lord in the House of Lords did not appear to be on the side of the jurisprudence of Kashmir case.
Labour Member of Parliament Yasmin Qureshi surprised me with her "Jingle Bell" narrative on Kashmir. Her narrative and understanding of the Kashmir case was a wasted opportunity at the House of Commons. It was not an occasion to seek facial, clothing, food and structural similarities between people living in Delhi and Lahore to advance a case for 'peace'. She could have proved herself wrong on many facial likenesses if she were to broaden her knowledge of geography beyond Delhi and Lahore into many other parts of India and Pakistan. Yasmin's understanding of the Kashmir case history was riddled with many imperfections. She was terribly wrong on material facts of the case.
Neither of the two Kashmiris in the British Parliament had any clue that India has rested its case at the UN, stating that "The question of the future status of Kashmir vis a vis her neighbours and the world at large, and a further question, namely, whether she should withdraw from her accession to India, and either accede to Pakistan or remain independent, with a right to claim admission as a Member of the United Nations – all this we have recognised to be a matter for unfettered decision by the people of Kashmir, after normal life is restored to them".
It would have been helpful in arresting the on-going series of mistakes if the two had discharged their duty to fairness and pointed out that Pakistan has messed up Kashmir case in all the three administrations of Jammu and Kashmir, in Pakistan and at the UN. As a start Pakistan made a serious error in equating Kashmir Question with The Hyderabad Question. It accrued a criminal negligence by not raising the Kashmir at the UN SC from 5 November 1965 to 15 September 1996 (30 years and 10 months).
The colossal mistake has been the authorship of militancy, which has resulted in the death of a generation and in consequence the death of self-determination. The question of any use of force in Kashmir should have been left to the United Nations. The caller advising me to stay away from the Kashmir Seminar is not the lone crusader in the cause of establishment. The rot has affected the Kashmiri and Pakistani community at all levels. Author is London based Secretary General of JKCHR – NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations. He can be mailed at dr-nazirgilani@jkchr.com
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Warm Regards
Mir Imran
Co-ordinator
Kashmir Chapter - JKCHR
Peer Bagh, Srinagar
Kashmir - India
Ph. 0091 194 2105927,
0091 194 2433032.
Fax. 0091 194 2431262
Mobile: 0091 9796138002
Email: -
kashmirchapter@jkchr.com
jkchr-sgr@hotmail.com
mir_imran@in.com
www.jkchr.com
Tariq Khattak, Islamabad, Pakistan.
GSM = 0300-9599007 and 0333-9599007
Email: Tariqgulkhattak@gmail.com
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