Link: https://www.kmsnews.org/news/british-expert-at-un-asks-for-holding-plebiscite-in-kashmir.html
Geneva, June 12 (KMS): British expert and historian Victoria Schofield has said that the holding of UN-supervised plebiscite under UN Security Council resolutions (UNSC) is a key requirement to resolve the Kashmir dispute.
Speaking at an international event on the sideline of the 35th session of Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, the author of several books and papers on Kashmir conflict, Schofield said, if holding a plebiscite across the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is a problem, the UN could instead go for holding regional plebiscites, which means UN-supervised referendums in each region of the state.
She told diplomats and rights defenders that the solution of Kashmir dispute through UN-supervised referendum was awaited.
Schofield compared life in Kashmir under Indian army curfews to the life in cities in Europe to highlight daily Kashmiri misery.
She was joined by activists from occupied Kashmir, Palestine and Western Sahara, and UN’s independent expert on the promotion of equitable international order, Alfred de Zayas.
Kashmiri leader Altaf Hussain Wani moderated the event, while Sardar Amjad Yousuf was a keynote speaker.
Three international NGOs with special status at the UN organized the event: World Muslim Congress (WMC), the International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations (IIFSO), and International Muslim Women’s Union (IMWU).
UN Independent expert Alfred de Zayas said the World Body is duty bound to implement UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on Kashmir. Referring to states that became independent without shedding blood after the fall of Soviet Union, de Zayas wondered why Kashmir freedom was taking time despite so many sacrifices.
The eight-member Kashmiri delegation comprises Altaf Hussain Wani, Syed Faiz Naqshbandi, Hassan al-Banna, Pervaiz Shah, Sardar Amjad Yousuf, Shamim Shawl, Prof. Shagufta Ashraf and Ahmed Quraishi.
Alfred de Zayas' Human Rights Corner 