Pakistan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Wajid Shamsul Hasan has urged the British Kashmiri community to mobilise itself for effective propagation of the Kashmir cause. The High Commissioner was addressing members of All Parties International Kashmir Co-ordinating Committee which met him on Thursday and felicitated him on his re-appointment as Pakistan's top diplomat in Britain.
"We need to reinvigorate our efforts to support the cause of Kashmir," said Hasan as he recalled the adoption of the historic resolution on Kashmir by the Labour Party at its 1995 annual party conference. However, he regretted that due to indifferent attitude by the subsequent Pakistani governments, Kashmir receded from the British politics. There came about more emphasis on rhetoric than substance.
The High Commissioner said Kashmir remained the top agenda during the two tenures of late Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto as the prime minister. He pointed out that Benazir Bhutto viewed Kashmir as a human rights issue, which had no link with terrorism. He said now with a new democratic government in power in Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has attached government's utmost importance to solution of Kashmir dispute.
Hasan emphasised upon the members of the Kashmir community the significance of maintaining unity in their ranks. Noting divisions, he urged them to sink their differences and work collectively for the cause of Kashmir.
"You should maintain constant communication with members of the British Parliament as well as the members of the European Union to drive home message of Kashmir cause," he said. Hasan said it was also incumbent upon the senior leadership to apprise the third generation Kashmiris about the importance of this issue.
The President of Co-ordinating Committee Maulana Fazal Ahmad Qadri, Secretary Maulana Bostan Qadri, Professor Nazir Ahmad Shawl, Muhammad Ghalib and other members spoke on the various aspects of the Kashmir issue and highlighted the need for evolving a new direction to keep the subject in limelight. The Deputy High Commissioner Abdul Basit and other senior chancery officials were also present on the occasion. Fateha for the departed soul of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was also offered.