Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed has called for linking UN Security Council reforms with the solution of Kashmir issue. "India which is obstructing implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir should not be rewarded by the world body," he observed at a dinner hosted by Information Secretary of Muslim Conference UK, Hussain Sarwarin in the honour of the visiting Senate-Parliamentary delegation at a local hotel here Wednesday.
"Basic purpose of the UNSC was to ensure maintenance of peace and security in the world. If it wants to realise these objectives, the issues of Palestine and Kashmir have to be resolved," said Mushahid who is also chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Mushahid is heading the eight-member delegation comprising four Senators from the Treasury Benches and four from the Opposition.
He said India was neither implementing UN resolutions on Kashmir nor was ready to stop continuous injustices in Indian held Kashmir.
During their high level discussion in Germany, he said, the delegation brought home to its interlocutors that instead of simply adding some more members to the UNSC, it should be made a more representative body. It was also made clear to them that under present set up there was no representation of the Muslim world in the UNSC.
On the issue of occupied Kashmir, he said, status quo was not a solution and neither Pakistan nor Kashmiris would accept the Line of Control as the permanent border. Secondly, Kashmir issue was above party politics because all the political parties of the country had unanimous view on Kashmir that it should be resolved in line with aspirations of the people of Kashmir.
He said there was a clear distinction between freedom fighter and terrorist. He said people of Kashmir were waging an indigenous and widespread Kashmir freedom struggle to get their right to self-determination.
Referring to the election of new pope Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger on Tuesday, Mushahid hoped he would work to avert clash of civilisation and promote dialogue between them.
Speaking on the occasion Senator Nisar Memon said the dream of Allama Mohammad Iqbal and Quaid-I-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah would be fulfilled only when Kashmir would accede to Pakistan.
Kashmir was not an issue for Pakistan alone rather its solution was equally important for India, he said. If India wanted to retain its development then a just solution of the issue was necessary both for peace and for alleviation of poverty in the region.
He said sacrifices rendered by Kashmiris would not go wasted, as they would get freedom one day. He called upon India to pull out its troops from Indian held Kashmir.
Speaking on the occasion PPP Senator Sardar Latif Khosa said the international community should draw a distinction between a freedom fighter and a terrorist.
Kashmiris, he said had sacrificed 80,000 people as they were calling for a plebiscite under the UNSC, which was pledged to them by the international community. He called for inclusion of Kashmiris in the dialogue process between the two countries.
Senator Gulshan Aara said India would not solve the issue of Kashmir unless some major power got involved to pressurise it for its ultimate settlement.
In his brief remarks Senator Maulana Sami-ul-Haq said Islam was the religion of peace and Muslims across the world were faced with a big challenge of saving their Islamic identity.
UK Muslim Conference President, Mehmood Riaz and MLA Mohammad Khan also spoke on the occasion.