Protest in Senate over unresolved issue of missing persons

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Friday witnessed a strong protest on the unresolved issue of missing persons as Minister for Interior was summoned to give a briefing on the issue. The senators regretted that following Pakistanis, foreigners were being picked now.

Senator Farhatullah Babar of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) raised the issue of the Turkish nationals, who had gone missing mysteriously.

On this matter, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani ruled that the verbatim of the observations of Senator Farhatullah Babar on the forcible repatriation of teachers of Turkish schools in Pakistan and their families be provided to the interior minister to give a policy statement on the issue.

On a point of public importance, he said Senator Babar said that nearly 300 Turkish nationals in Pakistan were facing grave human rights abuses by way of arbitrary arrests and forcible repatriation to Turkey in contravention of international covenants that Pakistan had signed and ratified.

Babar said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkey were great friends of Pakistan but warned against Pakistan becoming a party to domestic political infighting of Turkey. “We must not forget how we burnt our fingers by meddling in the internal affairs of other countries,” he cautioned.

He said that Turkey had obtained forcible repatriation from Myanmar and Saudi Arabia and asked whether Pakistan also had joined the ranks of these countries in forcible repatriation.

Babar noted that last month, the former head of the Pak-Turk schools in Pakistan was first abducted along with his family and then forcibly repatriated through a Turkish police contingent that had flown in by a special Turkish plane.

He said that the foreign minister during the US visit early this month had assured that there would be no repatriations as long as the Turkish teachers had stay orders from the courts and possessed asylum seeker certificate of the UNHCR and asked whether Khawaja Asif was in charge of the policy.

Babar said the situation had become far more disturbing during the past months as some Turkish families had new born babies who were without  passports, the passports of some Turkish nationals had expired and the citizenship of some had been revoked by the Turkish government.

He maintained that Pakistan had signed and ratified several human rights covenants and handing over of Turkish nationals in this manner was a grave violation of the country’s commitments and called for reversal of the decision.

Earlier, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani categorically stated that Pakistan had neither accepted nor would it allow India to become a ‘policeman’ of the region come what may, as the House adopted a resolution to condemn New Delhi for occupation of Kashmir and denying Kashmiris their UN-mandated right to self-determination.

The House unanimously passed the resolution, denouncing illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India in strongest possible terms. The resolution moved by Leader of the House Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq deplored the silence of international community on unabated state terrorism unleashed by Indian forces against innocent people of Kashmir, who are fighting for their right to self-determination.

It said, “India boasts itself off as the largest democracy of the world but denying the most fundamental human rights to the Kashmiri people.”  The resolution said that Pakistan had always made efforts to hold multilateral and bilateral dialogue with India to resolve the dispute but it continuously rejected such proposals.

“The UN, human rights organisations and US administration must understand and fulfill their longstanding commitment to the amicable resolution of Kashmir dispute according to the aspirations of the people of Kashmir,” it added.

The Senate chairman said that the new situation arising out of US-India alliance was a matter of grave concern for stability of the region, which was in no way acceptable to Pakistan. Rabbani lambasted the UN for its inaction in resolving the long-standing disputes of Kashmir and Palestine and asserted, “We should stop relying on the UN as it has failed to take up the issues being faced by the Muslim countries.

“The UN resolutions on Kashmir and Palestine issue are pending before the top world body, but it has failed to do anything. The UN is influenced by the western imperialism, due to which it [UN] has failed to play its due role in resolving the Kashmir issue”, he observed.

Rabbani wondered, “How can the UN protect human rights when it is taking part in human rights violations itself? Innocent children have been made blind and face a horrible future, but the UN is still in the dark. The UN does not give the rights of the Muslim countries the same importance as it does to the rights of western nations.”

PPP Senator Abdul Rehman Malik said that despite the fact Premier Narendra Modi was a declared terrorist and his genocide of innocent Kashmiris was open to all, who were fighting for the right to self-determination, but the world was acting as a silent spectator.

Rabbani said, “The US is trying to make Modi as mighty terrorist by giving him the role of a policeman of the region, and this should be ensured that we will not accept the role which US is keen to give to India.”

Speaking on the occasion, PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the legitimate issue of right to self-determination and violation of human rights in Kashmir had been degraded to cross border terrorism by the Kargil misadventure by General Musharraf.

He said that Musharraf had not only subverted the Constitution but also caused irreparable damage to the Kashmir cause. He demanded that Musharraf must be brought back and tried and punished not only for subverting the Constitution but also for gravely undermining the Kashmir cause.

PML-Q Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said that the 12 points put forth by the Senate of Pakistan on October 3, 2016 must be given due consideration to resolve the long-standing dispute of Kashmir.

Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq said that as many as 23 consensus resolutions had been adopted by the world bodies on the Kashmir issue that the right to self-determination should be given to the people of Kashmir.

He lamented the chain of violence and aggression unleashed by India when its forces invaded Kashmir on October 27, 1947, was continuing even today.

PML-N Senator Abdul Qayyum pointed out while announcing its policy on South Asia, President Donald Trump did not even mention the Kashmir problem in his speech, which remained the most dangerous flashpoint. Moreover, recently, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during his Indian visit also lacked courage to talk to the Indian leadership on this issue.

The veteran senator also accused Europe of also keeping silence on the atrocities and abuses of fundamental rights of Kashmiris by the Indian state oppression. “This double standard by the world community will never help bring peace in this part of the world,” he warned.

“The path of peace passes through Srinagar and this means, giving the UN-mandated right to self-determination to the people of Kashmir,” he maintained.

PPP Senator Taj Haider criticised the policies of double standard by the United States and boosting its economies by selling arms by triggering unrest. “While going home, then US president Dwight D Eisenhower had said that military industrial complex had taken over his country,” he quoted the former American president as saying on his retirement.

Senator Haider noted that the US forces had been committed in as many as 80 countries for establishment of peace, but this objective could never be achieved.

“There is a need to awaken the sleeping conscience of the leading world powers. Their hypocrisy should also be exposed yet again with regard to overlooking the plight of Kashmiris and this negated their so-called respect for humanity and basic human rights,” emphasised MQM Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi.

PML-N Senator Mushahidullah Khan said since 1947, hardly a day had passed without witnessing atrocities being committed on Kashmiri men, women and children and girls being raped by the Indian forces.

The senator charged that by not doing what was their mandate with regard to conflicts and burning political issues, like Kashmir, the United Nations, the world community and all were involved in massacre of Kashmiris.

Other senators, who also spoke included Senator Hafiz Hamdullah of JUI-F, Nuzhat Sadiq, Ghous Bakhsh Niazi, Mian Ateeq of MQM, Sehar Kamran of PPP and Amir Kabir of the National Party and Kenneth Williams of PTI as they dubbed the UN a stooge of the US, which acted only on its dictation on world issues. They said that East Timor and Southern Sudan had been given freedom, but people of Kashmir continued to suffer for over 70 years now.