NEW YORK: United States Ambassador to Pakistan Roben B. Oakley has told the Kashmiri American council that the United States considers Kashmir as a disputed territory and does not accept New Delhi’s contention that it is an integral part of India and that the United Nations resolutions do not apply.
Our policy is that any resolution of the problem must take into consideration the needs of all affected parties including India Pakistan Muslim Kashmiris and non-Muslim Kashmiris the ambassador said in a letter to the council.
Observers note that Oakley has injected new element by naming Muslim Kashmiris and non-Muslim Kashmiris as affected parties in the Kashmir issue.
In his letter addressed to executive director of the council Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai Oakley said the United States had also urged India to make every effort to as leaders to regenerate a democratic process by which Kashmiris express their will in free and fair elections and take into account their views on the future of Kashmir.
We have urged India and Pakistan many times to resolve their differences over Kashmir bilaterally and peacefully in the Spinit of the 1972 Simla agreement which calls for them to discuss Kashmir with a view to resolving the dispute over it he said.
In the letter to the council which demands independence for Kashmir the ambassador also puts Indian security forces and militants in India held Kashmir on par for what he calls human rights violations in the state.
The U.S. continues to be seriously concerned about the excessive use of force and reported human rights violations committed by both the Indian security forces and armed militants the ambassador said.
Stating that the United States rejected use of indiscriminate violence by both militants and security forces he said we deplore the loss of life. We also continue to urge the Indian government to permit international human rights advocacy groups to visit India to examine the human rights violations.
The Pakistan foreign office had also recently accused India of human rights violations. New Delhi dismissed the Pakistani charges as unfortunate.
The ambassador’s letter itself was in reply to a communication from Dr Fai seeking clarification of the views expressed by him in his letter to Sardar Qayyum
Oakley’s letter is dated February 27 but the council sources said it was received by Dr fai only on Monday.
Sources said the council is trying to build a pressure group within the United States Congress to lobby for an independent Kashmir state.
Earlier Dr Fai had also written a letter to the United Nations secretary general Javier Perez De Cuellar to take steps to implement U N resolutions on Kashmir where he said people fighting Indian occupation troops for their right of self-determination.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 29, 1991
