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Interview 

KI: How w ould you like to

describe the current situation in

occupied Kashmir?

Mirwaiz: The overall situation in

occupied Kashm ir is too miserable

and gloomy. There are more than

seven hun dred thousand Indian

troops stationed in the occupied

territory to crush th e liberation

movement. This situation is

constantly going on for the last 22

years, amid agon y, hue and cry,

pain an d tears. Ind ia has virtually

converted Kashmir into a police

state, where all rights of the people

including social, political and

religious freedoms have been

snatched. Hurriyet leaders are not

allowed to add ress public meetings

and processions. Even w e (Hurriyet

leaders) are not allow ed to offer

Friday prayers. Ind ia wants to

supp ress the Kashmiri people and

their liberation m ovement throu gh

gun.

It goes without saying that any

pu blic up rising cannot be

supp ressed by force in any way.

The world h as witnessed in Libya,

Egypt, Syria and other Arab

countries that th e flood of masses

cannot be stopped by military

might. So, India m ust un derstand

that Kashmir dispute cannot be

resolved by th e use of brute force or

by killing p eople; instead it should

be addressed prudently and

peacefully so that peace and

stability can be restored in th e

region. If Kashmir dispute was not

resolved peacefully I categorically

assert that m ore forceful street

protests w ill be seen in the

occupied territory in the comingyears.

People's revolution in the Middle

East w as inspired by the massive

protests in Kashmir in three

successive su mm ers from 2008 to

2010. Kashmiris hav e spirit an d

capacity to repeat the similar

dem onstrations in 2013, 2014 and

2015.

India has no op tion but to resolve

the Kashmir dispute. The resolution

has to be in accordance with the

aspirations and wishes of the

people of Jamm u an d Kashmir. No

solution w ill be acceptable to

people that comes from India and

Pakistan w ithout the involvement

of Kashmiri people and itsleadership in the dialogue process.

KI: What was the pu rpose of your

visit to Pakistan and how

successful the tou r was?

Mirwaiz: Ou r visit to Pakistan is a

beginning towards th e peaceful

resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

We held d iscussions w ith the

political leadership and other

shad es of opinion in Pak istan. We

hav e asked all the political par ties

of Pakistan to includ e the Kashmir

issue in their election ma nifestos.

KASHMI R INSI GHT JANUARY 2013 06

In Pakistan, there is a positive mindset thatKashmiris are the basic party to the dispute. It is a

fact that despite its domestic problems, Pakistancontinues to offer unconditional support to theKashmiris’ just struggle. We are grateful for itsunflinching political, diplomatic and moralsupport to the Kashmiri people

The All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq talks 

exclusively to Younus Beig of Kashmir Insight.

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They have assured us that they w ill

continue to provide political,

diplomatic and m oral sup port to

the Kashm ir cause. In Pakistan,

there is a positive mindset that

Kashmiris are the basic party to thedisp ute. It is a fact that desp ite its

domestic problems, Pakistan

continues to offer unconditional

support to the Kashmiris' just

strugg le. We are grateful for its

un flinching p olitical, dip lomatic

and moral supp ort to the Kashmiri

people.

KI: You recently stated that th e

international community m ust

shun its double stand ard

regarding the Kashm ir issue. How

would you elaborate thisstatement?

Mirwaiz: Double standard of the

international commu nity is quite

clear from th e fact that th e world

pow ers have different attitude

toward s the problems concerning

the Muslims around the world. As

we hav e seen, the world

commun ity had taken interest to

resolve the issues of East Timor,

South Sudan and Africa, but as far

as issues related to Muslims are

concerned, dou ble standa rd isobvious.

Despite knowing, Kashmir is the

oldest dispu te on the UN agenda,

world powers have zipped up their

lips. They take Ind ia as a big market

for their products, so they are

constantly ignoring hu man

dimension of the Kashmir d ispu te

and giving p riority to their

economic ties with N ew Delhi.

Hu manity, human crisis and

hum an issue like Kashmir are

entirely neglected by the world,wh ich is very path etic and tragic.

Resolution of the lingering dispute

is imperative for maintaining peace

and stability in South Asia,

otherwise the hu man crises will go

from bad to worse in the occupied

territory and political and economic

stability and p eace will continue to

elude the entire region.

KI: The UN has d eclared Palestine

as a non-memb er Observer State.

Do you think that Kashmir will be

given the same status in futu re?

Mirwaiz: It is an encoura ging

dev elopmen t. We feel that it will

yield positive results and at the

same time w e think it will cast very

good imp act on Kashmir. One

important thing w hich I wou ld like

to mention here is that Afghanistan

issue should n ot be seen in

isolation. Afghan issue cann ot be

separated from Kashmir as both

involve Pakistan and India.

Pakistan's role is very crucial for

peace and stability in Afghanistan.

We think India must reciprocate to

Pakistan's efforts for m aintaining

peace in Afghanistan. Kashmir and

Afghanistan are interlinked an d

both Pakistan and India cannot

reach any und erstanding until

Kashmir dispute is resolved.

KI: Barrack O bama d urin g his

election camp aign in 2008 had

stated that he will take steps to

resolve the Kashmir dispute b ut

failed to do so in his first tenure as

President. Do you feel that he will

take interest towards the Kashmir

settlement du ring h is second term?

Mirwaiz: We are qu ite optimistic to

see a very encouraging change

regarding the resolution of the

Kashmir d ispute in the second

tenu re of Barack Obam a. We

believe that if the US is longing for

sustainable peace and security in

South Asia then it m ust impress

up on India to take tangible and

serious steps to settle the

longstanding dispute by giving the

Kashmiris their right to self-

determination for which they have

been striving for last more than six

decad es. We feel that in h is second

term Barack Obama w ill take

tangible measu res to settle this

hu man crisis. It is quite clear tha t

peace cannot be ensured in the

region without resolution of the

Kashmir p roblem.

I personally feel that the US will try

to play a balanced r ole in SouthAsia and will adopt a p ositive

attitude to resolve the Kashmir

problem, which is pend ing on the

UN agend a for a long time. The US

is changing its attitude and looking

towards Asia, China, India,

Pakistan and Afghanistan. We hope

that th ere will be a new po licy in

America in the coming years

towards the Kashmir issue.

KI: Ind ia talks about negotiations

bu t practically does nothin g for

the Kashmir settlemen t. It is notwilling to pull out its troops and

revoke draconian laws. How do

you see this approach?

Mirwaiz: It is a reality that th e

Kashmir issue is the main

impediment in m aintaining peace

and stability in South Asia. It is du e

to India's intransigent attitude that

the long-stand ing issue is yet to be

resolved. On one han d, New Delhi

always talks about peace, but on the

other, it uses brute force to crush

the Kashmiris' indigenous struggle.

Interview 

KASHMI R I NSI GHT JANUARY 2013 07

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Interview 

India is increasing its troop s in

occupied Kashm ir at a reckless

speed to prolong its illegal

occupation of the territory, harming

the Kashmiris in a very big wa y.

Seven hundred thousand troopshave been dep loyed in every nook 

and corner of the territory.

Ironically, when the ru lers in N ew

Delhi extend talks offer to Pakistan

and the Kashmiri Hurriyet

leadership to find out a resolution

of the dispute, in the same breath

they repeat the man tra of Jamm u

and Kashmir being integral part of 

their country. This duplicity has

been the basic hurdle in the

resolution o f Kashmir conflict

du ring the past over six decades.

The occupation forces have turned

the lives of Kashm iri people into a

hell. Torture, disappearances,

kidnapp ing and arresting people is

the routine m atter in the territory.

New Delhi must leave its military

attitude toward s the Kashmir

prob lem. It needs to realize the fact

that elections, constru ction of roads

and p anchayats cannot change the

disputed character of Kashmir an d

are no solution to th e issue.

KI: Pup pet regime in occup ied

Kashmir says that Hurriyet leaders

should also talk to India, what is

your view on that?

Mirwaiz: We are not averse to

dialogue p rocess. However,

atmosphere has to be mad e

condu cive for talks by releasing all

illegally detained Kashmiris and

revoking draconian laws from the

territory. We will talk to Ind ia

provided Kashmir issue was given

priority over other issues and for

that India mu st take some tangible

steps by w hich it can be felt that it

is serious in th e settlement of the

dispute.

We feel that CBMs like red uction of 

troops in Kashmir, people to people

contact, easing travel betw een both

par ts of Kashmir and the cross LoC

trade are the steps that can make

atmosphere conducive on ground

to move forward in negotiations for

resolving the longstanding dispute.

But, CBMs are no t the u ltimate

solution as India has been trying to

project.

New Delhi must abandon its

military attitude an d adop t political

approach if it really wants peace

and stability in the region. Indian

government m ust revoke black 

laws, release all political prisoners

and pu ll out its troops from

occupied Kashm ir. If Ind ia

continues its policy of tortu re and

massacre in Kashmir and at the

same time talks about negotiationsthen it is unfortunate. It needs to

und erstand that talks and killings

cannot go together.

New Delhi is using different tactics

to m islead the international

commun ity about the Kashmir

dispute an d to prolong its illegal

occup ation on Jamm u and Kashmir.

To achieve these objectives its

leaders keep on issuing different

statements claiming that Kashmir is

India's internal matter, although th e

first Ind ian Prime Minister,

Jawaharlal Nehru , had annou nced

on many occasions that Kashmir

was a d ispu te and the Kashmiris

wou ld be given an opportu nity to

choose their p olitical destiny.

KI: The Kashmir p roblem is

lingering for a long tim e. We see

other intern ational conflicts being

resolved. Why there is such a long

stalemate on Kashmir?

Mirwaiz: India is not serious for

resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

After the acquiring of nuclear

capabilities by Pakistan and India,

the situation dem ands that th e issue

be solved amicably in order to

ensu re peace in South Asia. It will

be in the interest of New Delhi itself 

if the issue is resolved.

Unfortunately, Ind ia has always

tried to suppress the liberation

movement of Kashmiri people by

the dint of gun and never showed

intention to settle the problem

peacefully. But, it is an open secretthat Indian forces miserably failed

to subdue the Kashmiris' liberation

struggle.

KI: In the given situ ation, how a

lasting solution of the Kashmir

dispute is p ossible?

Mirwaiz: We want imp lementation

of the UN r esolutions. We also

supp ort tripartite talks amongst

India, Pakistan and the genuine

Kashmiri leadership.

Representatives from all regions of 

the p rincely state, wh ich existed

before 1947, should be allowed to

discuss in ord er to reach some

am icable solution. I once again say

that there mu st be involvement of 

Kashmiris in the talks p rocess

between Pakistan and India.

Unfortunately, instead of taking

steps to settle the Kashmir

imbroglio, India has unleashed

aggression in Kashm ir on political,

diplomatic, cultural and economic

fronts to prolong its hold on Jamm u

and Kashmir.

KASHMI R INSI GHT JANUARY 2013 08