International Kashmir Alliance - IKA
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United Kingdom
Geneva Declaration
Adopted at the Fourth Meeting On Monday 31 March 2003
As a follow up to the first two meetings exclusively restricted to those who have been associated with the Rights Movement of the People of Jammu and Kashmir since mid sixties, seventies and eighties and of non Kashmiri European sympathizers held in the evening of 18th February and the afternoon of 19th February in Geneva to discuss the post January 1990 and post 11 September 200 impact on the Rights Movement in Kashmir a third and fourth meeting was held in the afternoon on 30 March and 31st March 2003 in Geneva.
The meeting examined the roles of Muslim Conference and National Conference since early thirties and their behaviour in regards to the Rights Movement that formally emerged first time in 1877 when the suppressed people submitted their grievances in a Memorandum addressed to the Viceroy.
The meetings also focussed on other post 1947 political parties including Muslim Conference and National Conference and their respective roles in pursuing a power politics in the garb of a Rights Movement, in one shape or the other on either side of the line of control.
Post 1990 political alliance APHC, others outside the alliance and the militant resistance were also examined to ascertain how far the post 1990 politics and militancy has remained in consonance with the history and the discipline of the Rights Movement.
The roles of India and Pakistan were also examined and more so in the light of instrument of accession with India, Pakistan�s assumption of control of Azad Kashmir under UNCIP Resolutions, aggregate jurisprudence of UN Resolutions and Bilateral agreements between India and Pakistan. The history and behaviour of bilateral agreements was examined to ascertain as to why the two countries in general and Pakistan in particular nudge passed the need to consult and associate the people of Jammu and Kashmir in all the past bilateral agreements. And what was the assurance that the practice of using the people of Kashmir to inflate a crisis in self-interest and then bypassing them is not repeated.
The role and behaviour of Kashmiri leadership on either side of the line of control in relation to the practice of bypassing them in these bilateral agreements was aggressively examined. The role of self interest of the Kashmiri leadership on either side of the line of control was also debated and the change in their fortunes was fully examined and recorded.
The meeting took stock of the present political scenario in aggregate and of the gains and losses incurred during the last 13 years. It examined the ability, independence, and the vision of the leadership and their command-and-control of the movement on political and militant front.
Recognising
a) That Unfortunately the right of self-determination that could have stimulated an energising cohesive and a tolerant civil society in Kashmir, has failed to do so. The civil society in Kashmir is split down in the middle. With the passage of time the UN has shifted its focus from the title of the people to self-determination to an ever-uncompromising claim of India and Pakistan. The induction of nuclear capability in the military hardware of India and Pakistan has disturbed the priorities.
b) That the people of Jammu and Kashmir under the administrative control of three governments at Srinagar, Muzaffarabad and Gilgit, have a much less impressive and qualitative life than the life of the people in Pakistan and India. That they live as a divided people and are denied a right to a family re-union, family visits are subjected to rigorous scrutiny of respective intelligence services and administrations, �free lawful entry and exit� as guaranteed by the UNCIP resolutions is not complied with by the two governments, a dissent and an _expression of a dissent sets in action a process of discrimination and victimisation and the record of human rights under the three controls merits a serious attention.
c) That in this overlap of administrative control on the people of Kashmir � national and international action to promote democracy, development and human rights has its own problems. India and Pakistan remain at variance to each other on the question of Kashmir and each vies the other in advancing their national sovereign interests. In this sovereign chagrin of India and Pakistan � the civil society in Kashmir has lost a generation during the last 13 years.
d) That the question of the violation of human rights by the security forces in the Indian administered Kashmir has been used excessively for exacting a political mileage and as a consequence the victim has been deprived of a �just relief�. There has been a massive violation of human rights and in addition to security forces, the militants too have committed serious violations of human rights. The killing of common man and woman as alleged �informers� is a heinous crime. The culture of shared killings, although with a variance in proportion, between security forces, militants and the unidentified persons, has posed a grave threat to the civil society. This phenomenon practised against the life and limb of the common Kashmiri is used to exact a political mileage by the various actors in Jammu and Kashmir.
e) That on balance we should not nudge pass the human rights movement in the other two parts of Kashmir � Azad Kashmir and Gilgit and Baltistan. The jurisprudence of the violation of human rights in Pakistani administered areas may vary from the violations in the Indian administered part. But a violation and if committed on a systematic basis should attract a similar consideration in all parts. It is unfortunate that the question of the violation of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir is not being raised to ameliorate the suffering of the victims but is used as a sovereign chagrin by one country against the other.
f) That the three governments of Kashmir at Srinagar, Muzaffarabad and Gilgit have failed their common people. In particular the government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on the side of Pakistan in accordance with the Provisional Declaration of 24th October 1947 has failed to �entertain sentiments of the utmost friendliness and goodwill towards the neighbouring Dominions of India and Pakistan�, and remain �emphatically non-communal�. It has failed to position itself in the larger interests of the people and in accordance with the UNCIP resolutions jurisprudence towards India in particular and Pakistan in general.
g) That the issues of �Sovereignty in the name of the People�, �Free Will of the People�, �Democracy�, � Rule of Law� and �Human Rights� stand out to distinguish our civilisation and in this regard each geographical region representing various forms of governments has its finger at different markings on the scale used by the Human Rights Machinery to measure the compliance. The common conscience of the civilised people around the world needs to be sensitised around the holistic regime of Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir.
h) That it is therefore important that we addresses to (a) the history of violations of human rights in all the three parts of Jammu and Kashmir prior to the start of a militant movement in Kashmir and (b) the history of post 1990 violations committed by the Indian security forces and the militants. And if we fail to give a meaning to the sufferings of the common men and women living under the administrative controls of India and Pakistan, we shall be misdirecting our efforts in the cause of human rights in Kashmir.
i) That we need to consider the legitimacy of the will of all peoples on the one hand and on the other the enduring distribution of the people of Kashmir under various controls. A status quo or a rearrangement of the line of control to convenience India and Pakistan, would mean a failure in upholding the principle purpose of the UN, that is, to respect the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples and to promote and encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction. A lynching and destroying the geographical entity of Kashmir would consign the five generations of divided people of Kashmir to a future, for which no human civilization past and future shall have a reasonable explanation. Our civilization would be remembered for trading the Human Rights of a people by a civilization charged with a duty to secure and protect these rights.
j) That India and Pakistan are also locked in an unending game of mistrust � threatening peace and security on the one hand and on the other adding to poverty, hunger, disease, death, impoverishment, underdevelopment, fall in the standards of living and violation of human rights of three peoples.
k) Although India and Pakistan emerged as two sovereign States on the basis of the sovereignty of the will of their respective peoples, yet we find that they have failed to address the issue of the people of Kashmir under the Principles of the UN Charter and under the principles of bilateral agreements in aggregate.
l) Although the government of Kashmir at Srinagar on the Indian side has a duty under its Constitution of 1956 to work for the welfare of the people of the State on either side of the line of control and the government of Kashmir at Muzaffarabad on the Pakistani side too has a duty under its Constitution of 1974 to ensure the welfare of the people of the State on either side of the line of control, yet in practice the two government are used to syphon the chagrin of the two sovereign countries and as such betray the �peoples interests�.
Therefore it has been agreed
1. That since Justice and the Rule of Law is a civilization�s most potent weapon there is a need to reaffirm the spirit and the faith of early sixties, seventies and eighties [of a tolerant and non-communal society] and that all those who have remained associated with the Rights Movement need to be reached out for a broad based input to secure a Peoples Movement back and put it on the tracks of full popular participation, accountability, transparency and justice.
2. That the people of Jammu and Kashmir distributed under three administrations on either side of the line of control and are restrained in the enjoyment of their rights by four governments and four Constitutions. [It excludes the control under an undemocratic and primitive system in Northern Areas.] India administers one part and Pakistan administers two parts namely Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas [Gilgit and Baltistan] need to be educated and informed on all these phases of struggle and disciplines honoured and equally to identify the enemies of the Rights Movement who take upon the garb of leadership and advance their private interests in return of other interests beyond the borders of Kashmir.
3. That taking into consideration the non-compliance by the two governments of Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, of their Constitutional duties and the division of the people of Kashmir there is a compelling need to facilitate an arrangement acceptable to India and Pakistan and the people of Kashmir, so that the people of Jammu and Kashmir distributed under the three controls have an opportunity to meet and short list their grievances, for a negotiated and peaceful settlement of their future.
4. In pursuit of a �People Come First� agenda and to achieve this aim an International Alliance namely International Kashmir Alliance [IKA] has been democratically set up at the fourth meeting on 31st March 2003 at Geneva. At the very outset a Governing Body [GB] comprising of 15 Members has been set up. To accommodate the representation of various geographies the number would increase subject to the approval of GB and fulfilment of the qualifying criterion set out in the preceding paras.
5. Representation from the people living under the three administrations would be a core input and would be sought rigorously on a pro-active basis. However, in view of the restraints of the habitat on the enjoyment of their rights, it has been decided to take their regular contribution in an Advisory Role, without prejudicing their composite interests by inducting them on the Executive Board. The regions shall have their advisory structures to suit their conditions of operation.
6. The First Elected Office Bearers of this alliance elected in Geneva are as follows:
Dr. Syed Nazir Gilani - UK [Chairman]
Mumtaz Khan Esq - Cananda [Vice Chairman]
Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri - Switzerland [Secretary General]
Dr. Shabir Choudhry - UK [Spokesperson]
Abbas Butt Esq -UK [Advisor Finance]
Mohammad Asim � UK [Treasurer]
� Embargoed until 12pm 9/4/2003
There are three kinds of people:
� Those who make things happen.
� Those who watch things happen.
� Those who do not know, what the hell is happening
Therefore fix a goal and each day strive your best to attain it.
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