Symposium held on Kashmir in New Zealand.

A symposium on Kashmir was arranged jointly by Massey University School of Management, Kashmir Association of South Pacific and Dr Mohammad Shuaib (human rights activist). The symposium took place in Wellington .The purpose of the meeting was to have intellectual discussion on Kashmir conflict which has engulfed around 100,000 livesso far and is continuing to do so. The matter was further complicated by recent unilateral decision by the Indian government to remove article 370 from Indian constitution, the very reason Kashmir was ruled by In The symposium was chaired by Mark Sainsbury, a journalist and TV presenter. The audience were mainly academics, diplomats and politicians. Diplomats from the embassies of Switzerland, South Africa, United Kingdom, Turkey, Malaysia, Hungary and Pakistan attended the symposium. Members of New Zealand parliament also attended. Hon Michael Wood, Member of New Zealand Parliament highlighted the issue of Kashmir and how it has a potential to destabilise the region and trigger a nuclear war. A PhD student from Indian Occupied Kashmir gave a historic account of Kashmir conflict. This was followed by a speech by Prof. Mohan Dutta who spoke about the rise of fascism in India perpetrated by BJP government. He warned India is going to be polarised if BJP policies are implemented and suggested that India was notsticking to the founding principle of secularism any more. Ikhlaq Kashkari,a Kashmiri from Indian Occupied Kashmir and president of New Zealand Muslims Association, told the audience how people in Kashmir have been suffering forfartoo long and insisted it istime for humanity to stand with Kashmir and help them get their right to self-determination.

He gave details of how Kashmiris are doing worse in all the indicators of human development. Sadaf Nakash, another Kashmiri...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT