news details |
|
|
| 'Self-determination' expression causes depression | | US Kashmir conference declaration sparks controversy | | B L KAK
NEW DELHI, JULY 24: The 6th international Kashmir conference is over in Washington. But the heat it generated is not over. The reason: a controversy has erupted over the declaration issued by the Kashmir conference, with some participants asserting that the document issued in the conference's name was never approved by it.
According to a report received by the Delhi Bureau of EARLY TIMES from Washington,the controversy began when the eight-member drafting committee appointed by the delegates to draft a declaration returned with a draft that did not contain the words “self-determination”, although it emphasised the centrality of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan.
When the declaration was put to the full house, some members objected that the omission of the term “self-determination” was a serious one and no declaration on Kashmir that did not reiterate that cardinal principle could be taken seriously.
A heated debate ensued and finally the matter was put to vote, which was won by the adherents of self-determination by 17 to 12. A member of the drafting committee, Ved Bhasin of Kashmir Times, Jammu, suggested that if the declaration could not be adopted by consensus, it should not be issued at all. The members of the drafting committee were: Yasin Malik, Ved Bhasin, Prof Kamal Chenoy, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Jetinder Bakshi, Shahid Malik, Nazir Shawl and Dr Parvaiz Iqbal Cheema.
Some of the delegates also objected that the declaration had made no reference to the "disappearance" of 6,000 Kashmiris and the release of political prisoners lodged in Indian prisons. Yasin Malilk, president of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), did not think it was necessary to include the phrase “self-determination” as it might derail the India-Pakistan peace process, a view that triggered some sharp exchanges.
Gautam Navlakha from India and some others were of the opinion that the conference had not been held to decide the future of Kashmir or the future course of the India-Pakistan peace process but to make the international community aware of the "plight of Kashmiris".
The meeting was adjourned for a couple of hours as some of the members of the drafting committee, including Dr Fai, rushed to the State Department for a call on with Richard Boucher, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia. However, to the surprise of the participants, the organisers circulated a “Washington Declaration” to the press after everyone had left.
The expression “self-determination” stood omitted from the text. It is an open question whether there was any design behind this omission or whether it was something done in haste or innocence. One thing, however, was clear. The declaration issued in the name of the conference had not been authorised by the participants.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
