Hurriyat Conference (M) Chairman, Mirwaiz Muhammad Umar Farooq, who continues to be under house arrest at his Nigeen residence, Tuesday said since 1931 in general and from 1947 in particular, people of Kashmir including the leadership has been offering all kinds of sacrifices and facing untold hardships for the achievement of their right to self determination . The sufferings and oppression faced by the people in pursuit of their political goal has forced the world community to take note and the world powers are now showing a willingness to help in finding a solution to the dispute.In a statement issued to KNS, Mirwaiz said after Turkey, Iran, other member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Britain had shown interest in playing a role in resolving Kashmir issue, now the statement of Mike Pence Vice President-elect in the U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump’s administration about Donald Trump’s willingness to play the role of a mediator in Kashmir issue was a welcome development.He said to put an end to the suffering of more than 10 million people and for peace and stability in South Asia, resolution of the vexed Kashmir dispute was the political, moral and human responsibility of the international community.
Hurriyat (M) Chairman said the nature of the ongoing peaceful resistance movement in Kashmir which has shown the complete involvement and commitment of the entire people of Kashmir towards their cause has made incumbent upon New Delhi take note and either resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations’ Security Council resolutions or through tripartite dialogue involving Islamabad and people of Kashmir, which would not only benefit Kashmir but India itself.He said laced with nuclear weapons, India and Pakistan cannot afford to be in a confrontation mode for long and a constant state of tension and altercations could any time spike into a full fledged confrontation with devastating consequences for all living in the region to avoid such a situation people of Kashmir have been repeatedly asking the two countries to engage not in confrontation but in communication and find a solution as per the wishes and aspirations of Kashmiris and also addressing the concerns of both New Delhi and Islamabad.
Commenting on the demolition of the historic Babri Masjid this day 24 years ago, the Mirwaiz expressed regret that despite being the biggest minority in India, Muslims till this day had not got justice in this case while the mosque also remained yet to be rebuilt, which has put a question mark on the democratic and secular claims of India.Meanwhile, on the directions of the Hurriyat (M) Chairman, a delegation of APHC led by senior Hurriyat leader, Mukhtar Ahmad Waza visited Mandhall village of Qazigund where an on-duty government employee, Asadullah Kumar was killed on December 2 night and expressed solidarity and sympathy with the bereaved family while the Mirwaiz talked with the bereaved family over phone and expressed his condolences and solidarity with them besides paying tributes to the martyr Asadullah Kumar. (KNS)