Meeting with a senior British parliamentarian by the JKLF Diplomatic Bureau in London
(London, 8 May 2018) Members of Jammu Kashmir
Liberation Front's Diplomatic Bureau,
comprising of its head Prof Zafar Khan, Mr
Mahmoud Hussain and Mr Tariq Sharif, met with British
Parliamentarian Mr Stephen Timms, and discussed with him at length
on the need for a just and a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir
issue based on the fundamental rights of the people.
Mr Timms was briefed by
the Diplomatic Bureau members on the current situation, both
inside Indian occupied Jammu Kashmir and across the ceasefire line that
forcibly divides the state between India and Pakistan.
The diplomatic Bureau
functionaries conveyed their serious concerns at the unabated militarised
violence against civilian population by the Indian military forces that results
in many deaths and injuries of innocent people on daily basis. The senior
British parliamentarian who served as a minister in both, Blair and
Brown Labour Administrations, was also apprised of a culture of impunity
that prevails in Indian occupied Jammu Kashmir which is
supported by draconian laws such as the
Armed Forces Special Powers Act -AFSPA - and Public Safety Act -PSA -that
shield the heinous acts of militarised oppression perpetrated by the Indian
forces; and to prevent death and destruction the Indian military
must not come into contact with the civilian population, and must withdraw from
the urban and rural areas, particularly in the Valley of Indian
occupied Jammu Kashmir.
Mr Timms was briefed on
the suppression of peaceful political dissent by Indian authorities through,
the denial of fundamental democratic rights, including those of free speech and
assembly. And despite claiming to be the biggest democracy in the
world, India confines the Kashmiris' Joint Resistance
Leadership comprising of the JKLF Chairman Mr Yasin
Malik, and leaders of the APHC , Syed Ali Shah Gilani and
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, constantly either under house arrest
or in custody.
The JKLF functionaries
informed Mr Timms of the ongoing serious situation across the ceasefire line,
and proposed that to ensure safety of the civilian population from death and
destruction on daily basis, the Indian and Pakistani forces must disengage
along the so called Line of Control-LoC- by withdrawing up to 10 kilometers
from their current positions.
Mr Timms assured the JKLF
leaders that he would engage with the British Foreign Secretary on the Kashmir
issue, and agreed with them that as a world power, and with a permanent seat on
the UN Security Council, the United Kingdom should play an effective, and
proactive role over the Kashmir issue. Mr Timms assured the members of the
Diplomatic Bureau of continuing to work with the JKLF on matters related with
the Kashmir issue.
The Diplomatic Bureau
members passed on to Mr Timms some of the recent
correspondences written by it on the need for a just and peaceful
settlement of the Kashmir issue as well as on the current
situation, to the British Prime minister, the UN
Commissioner on Human Rights, and the Secretary General of the Commonwealth.
Mahmood Hussain
Diplomatic Bureau
London
