From Shimla Agreement to this day, top to down every worker of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has always supported the Kashmir cause.Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s mantra ‘We shall fight a thousand years to liberate Kashmir’ still lives in the heart of every worker.
(Islamabad February 5, 2014)
“Kashmir dispute is not only a threat to peace and prosperity of South Asia but also of the entire world. Its settlement as prescribed in the UN resolutions based on the principle of self-determination in accordance with the aspirations of Kashmiri people is imperative—and all roads leading to regional peace and development pass through Kashmir”, said Senator Sehar Kamran, member Senate Standing Committee on Defense and Foreign Affairs and President Centre for Pakistan and Gulf Studies (CPGS). She was talking to journalists during anin-house discussion held on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity day at the Centre for Pakistan and Gulf Studies (CPGS), here in Islamabad.
Today, on Kashmir Day, as ever before, the people of Pakistan stand united behind our brothers and sisters in Kashmir. We realize that the resolution of Kashmir dispute has faced many roadblocks over the years, least of which has been the difference in approaches between Pakistan and India towards the conflict. India has time and again advocated a ‘step by step’ methodology, while Pakistan has regarded Kashmir as a ‘core issue’, without the resolution of which there could be no steps forward. Reality also appears to have supported this stance as despite various efforts to improve relations with India ‘step by step’, over time without the resolution of the Kashmir dispute these endeavors have amounted to naught, and eventually fallen prey to some aspect of this ‘core conflict’. The socio-political realities in the two countries have rendered Kashmir perhaps the single most sensitive issue in the collective psyches of the two nations, and realistically there can be no way forward without resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
Kashmir is no longer merely a disputed territory, but a very significant humanitarian issue. There is a dire need for leadership on both sides to put aside their differences and return to the negotiating table, and do whatever is necessary to bring peace to Kashmir and to improve the living conditions of Kashmiris, who have been under siege for over 60 years.
While concluding the discussion Senator Kamran said that “there is no greater tragedy than the fact that 67 years on, the disputed territory of Kashmir remains as much of a dispute as it was in that fateful fall of 1947, Kashmir is not territorial but a humanitarian issue, it is central to all peace efforts in the region and beyond. It is urgent and cannot be deferred anymore.”