Kashmir, the most agonizing situation in the world: Yusuf Buch

Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai or “Dr. Fai” as he is known by many people across the world visited Northern California recently and addressed gatherings in the San Francisco Bay Area, Monterey and Sacramento….

Washington, D.C. June 14, 2012. The Government of Brazil in corroboration with the United Nations is organizing “Sustainable Development Dialogue” between June 16^th to 19^th, 2012, prior to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20. The Rio+20 conference will be held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil between June 20th to 22^nd, 2012. Over 17,000 participants, including Heads of the State, Heads of the Government and 799 NGO’s are participating in the conference. According to the organizers, the Conference will focus on two themes: (a) a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication; and (b) the institutional framework for sustainable development.

This flood was the first in history, in the living memory of Kashmir.  More than 450 people are dead, and more than $1bn in destruction has been estimated.  The actual magnitude of the total destruction, the number of dead and the people who are missing may not be known for some time. Kashmir Valley was cut off from the rest of the world for days.  Thousands of villages have been submerged, including the capitol city of Srinagar. Hundreds of thousands of people particularly in the rural areas still remain trapped without any outside help or rescue and relief. There has been a total breakdown in communication with no telephone contact of the people with their loved ones  Boats were not available.  People had to stand on their rooftops waiting for someone to rescue them.

Dr. Muhammad Ayyub Thakur, the first of four children, was born in 1948 in Pudsoo village near Shopian, in the Pulwama district of Kashmir.

It was 1973 when I first heard that Dr. Ayub Thakur was active in raising the awareness about the Kashmir dispute at Kashmir University and was the President of Kashmir University Research Scholar’s Association. One fine morning I went to see him along with a family friend, Jinab Aashiq Kashmiri, then the Editor of Daily Azan. We just knocked on the door at his university apartment and went in. I had never met Dr. Thakur until that time. After greeting us, he went out and in few minutes brought a cook and told him to prepare the lunch for us. We told him that we did not want to eat. It is customary in Kashmir to say that even if you are hungry. He did not listen to us and the cook prepared the lunch and we had a delicious meal.

Washington, D.C. February 15, 2104. “Our efforts should be to persuade the world community including the United States to urge both India and Pakistan to include the leadership of the people of Jammu & Kashmir in the negotiations to peacefully resolve the dispute over Kashmir. When we talk of Kashmir, we talk of the sentiments and enormous sacrifices made by the Kashmiri people during the past 67 years for a cause dear to all inhabitants, be they Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists. It is time that both India and Pakistan realize that until the Kashmiri leadership is included in the peace process, these negotiations between India and Pakistan may not lead them to any logical conclusion,” said Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai at a seminar, held at Holiday Inn Hotel and organized by Kashmir Form, Washington, D.C.