ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani while questioning the double standards of the world community over human rights violations in Indian-held Kashmir has reiterated that Pakistan is a peace loving country but would respond in a befitting manner if war was imposed on it.
These views were expressed while addressing an event at Pakistan Institute of International Affairs. “Pakistan is a peaceful country but we just cannot remain ignorant to the atrocities being perpetrated on the people of Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian government against people for their legitimate struggle for their fundamental right to self-determination”.
Rabbani said that the Kashmiris had been given the right of self-determination by the United Nations resolution to that effect. “If action could be taken in Iraq on the basis of a UN resolution, then why this glaring duality of approach in case of Kashmir is?” he asked.
Raza Rabbani asked as to why those westerners who were habitual of making so much of political capital of the fundamental rights issues were totally silent in the case of the blatant violations of fundamental rights in Jammu and Kashmir. “Why this silence?” he posed the question.
The Senate chairman said, “We seek a reduction in tensions but when there’s talk of revoking the Indus Water Treaty, we cannot remain silent. This would be tantamount to war. India is just not within its right to revoke the treaty unilaterally.”
The treaty, he said, did not allow India to build dams on rivers allocated to Pakistan, yet India was doing so in flagrant violation of the accord. “Any attempt to cut off water supplies will be considered an act of war and we shan’t permit that.”
On the cancellation of the SAARC Summit in Islamabad, he said that SAARC countries must ponder the issue as to why a country should opt out of the conference on the basis of its bilateral disputes with a member country. The countries, he said, should rather consider excluding the boycotting country.
“There’s urgent need to revisit our foreign policy. Far too long has it been arduously pro-West. Let it now be pro-Asia. Asia is where the future lies. We are Asians and that’s where our interests should lie,” he said.
Mian Raza Rabbani said that history had been terribly mutilated. He said that 1971 was a watershed year in Pakistan’s history in that it was the year the country was amputated with 57 percent of it being broken away, but in a textbook that he read, only a paragraph had been devoted to the massive tragedy.
Textbooks, he said, just did not say anything about the umpteen people’s struggles that had taken place and glorified events which, perhaps, never occurred.
He said it was sad that today young people were being taught that dictatorship was preferable to democracy. This he said was on account of disconnect because we had not acquainted our youth with the story of the sweat and toil of our past leaders and their struggle for democracy.
He said that if you are from the ruling elite, there’s one set of laws, and if you are from the civilian ruling elite, there’s another set of laws. He maintained that if you are a collaborator with the civilian ruling elite, there’s another set of laws, and if you are from the rich and the powerful, you can just buy justice.
Rabbani further stated that if you’re from among the common folk, you’ve had it. He emphasised that the people would themselves have to come forward and place the constitution on an even footing.
