Stateless Kashmiris call to join Olympics community

London: Organisers of 2012 Olympic Games on Sunday were urged to include athletes of Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed state controlled by India and Pakistan.


A group of Kashmiri Diaspora Community members took part in a demonstration near the Olympic Park Village in London to protest over the forcibly division of their homeland, Jammu and Kashmir.


Agitators, who belong to various political parties and groups, issued a memorandum to extend congratulations to all the members of LOCOG for successfully organising 2012 Olympic Games.


They said that they want to join 2012 Olympic Games, however, India and Pakistan do not allow this.


They also alleged that in the Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir playgrounds have been turned into military camps and our fields in rural areas where young people use to play have been turned into mass graves.


“Jammu and Kashmir is the world’s most militarised place and despite our young people desire to become world champions in javelin throw they have been forced to become stone pelters", they further added.


“We want to break the chains of subjugation and control over our freedom of speech and movement so that we can build a peaceful and better world for our future generations to enable them to participate in Rio 2016 Olympic Games".


They also vowed to use sports as a catalyst for bringing change and peace in Jammu Kashmir.


The protestors belong to various groups like Jammu Kashmir National Liberation Conference (JKNLC), Kashmir Freedom Movement (KFM), Jammu Kashmir National Awami Party (JKNAP), Kashmir Liberation Organisation (KLO) and Association of British Kashmiris .


So far the LOCOG has not issued any comment on the demand.


Since 1989 when militancy erupted in Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmiri overseas communities settled in the Western countries have raised human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir but this is the first time that Kashmiris showed their interest to join Olympics community.


(writer is a freelance correspondent who also works with Press For Peace (PFP)- an NGO that promotes peace and development in Jammu and Kashmir. He could be accessed via: www.pressforpeace.org.uk) News Source: Ground Report
http://www.groundreport.com/Business/Stateless-Kashmiris-call-to-join-Olympics-communit/2947419

Photo Credit: Dadyal Online www.dadyal.pk 

Kashmiris protest against Pakistan's authoritarian rule

Exclusive Report by Tariq Naqash
Muzaffarabad, Aug 6: Dozens of civil society activists staged a peaceful demonstration here on Monday, calling for much-needed reforms in Pakistan administered Kashmir's Interim Constitution “to pave way

for worthwhile democracy, good governance and uncompromising accountability.”
The demonstration, held in the wake of a row between the PaK Ehtesab Bureau and the PaK Council, coincided with a controlled visit of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to the site of an under-construction
hydropower project near here. However, local media was not invited to the event for fear of ‘upsetting’ questions on its part.
The prime minister of Pakistan happens to be the chairman of the PaK Council, which is at the centre of allegations of corruption and financial irregularities largely because of non-observance of codal
formalities and pre-audit checks in its expenditures.
“No to corrupt PaK Council,” read one of the several placards carried by the demonstrators, as they lined up along the capital’s bustling thoroughfare and later marched through it and the magnificent district
headquarters complex.
They were also chanting slogans against corruption in AJK Council and non-punishment by the concerned authorities to the culpable officials. The PaK Council, it may be recalled, was established under PaK's
Interim Constitution Act, 1974 apparently “to serve as a bridge between Muzaffarabad and Islamabad.” However, contrarily, it has turned itself into a parallel government, evading accountability of
its expenditures by investigating and accounting bodies of Pakistan or PaK.
It was the former PaK Ehtesab Bureau chairman Justice Hussain Mazhar Kaleem who had dared summon record of some dubious contracts from the Council in the wake of serious complaints. However, his directions were not followed until he was himself removed by the AJK government
on Friday, sparking off anger among the already charged civil society and political circles in PaK.
While calling for abolition of Council and accountability of the Kashmiri taxpayers’ money at its disposal, the demonstrators also criticised what they termed as lily-livered PaK rulers for bowing to
the pressure of corrupt PaK Council officials. The interesting aspect of the demonstration was use of social media to attract participants and organisers said they were heartened to
observe the response of civil society to their posts on Facebook and Twitter in this regard.
Answering questions by reporters on the occasion, Raza Ali Khan, President PaK Supreme Court Bar Association, said the Interim Constitution had undermined the status of the PaK government as it
gave excessive executive and legislative powers to the PaK Council over 52 subjects, including taxation.

He pointed out that as chairman PaK Council the prime minister of Pakistan was exercising full authority in PaK although he was neither answerable to the people nor to the elected representatives of PaK.
“There is a dire need of constitutional reform to remove such anomalies,” he said. Abdul Qaiyum Khan, a student, said if the federal government could devolve powers to provinces, PaK should also be treated in the same manner.
“Why our government is not being empowered and why we are being made to feel as aliens?”
It may be recalled that in the recent session of PaK Legislative Assembly, Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed had announced to take all political parties on board for constitutional reforms. However,
the government is yet to make any progress in this regard.
Courtesy: Daily Greater Kashmir , Srinagar- Jammu & Kashmir