While the international community looks the other way when targeted assassinations occur elsewhere around the globe, it is hardly surprising that we should see this going on in a country so highly disputed as Kashmir. Even more so, where there has been continued resistance to occupation and to many years of disappearances, killings, rapes and terrorism, it is almost a cliché to take note of repeat performances of this insidious war upon the people of Jammu & Kashmir. Certainly we could not expect such a low standard that disrespects human rights and national sovereignty to escape notice by actors who have long had a habit of engaging in such terror.

New York, June 13, 2015. Ambassador Yusuf Buch is home now after spending almost a month, first at New York University Hospital, then at New York Rehabilitation Center. A delegation of Kashmiri Americans, including Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai & Sardar Sawar Khan visited him this weekend at his residence in New York City. Buch Sahib was resting comfortably and felt much better today than what we experienced during our visit to him both at the Hospital and the Rehabilitation Center, said Dr. Fai.

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.

It is with sadness to announce that Ambassador Yusuf Buch has been hospitalized in New York City. Please pray for his early recovery. “Oh Allah! The Sustainer of Mankind! Remove the illness, cure the disease. You are the One Who cures. There is no cure except Your cure. Grant us a cure that leaves no illness.” Ameen! Al-Hadith.

Ambassador Yusuf Buch is an observer and a direct participant of Kashmir’s struggle for freedom since its inception in its modern form in 1931.

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….

Springfield, Virginia. May 9 2015. “The United States Administration should persuade both India and Pakistan to settle the Kashmir conflict through tripartite and purposeful dialogue.” This was stated by the former Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader, Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry, while addressing a public gathering in Washington, D.C. He emphasized that  Kashmir  is the flash point between the two nuclear countries of India and Pakistan which deserves the attention of the world powers.

Washington, D.C. April 11, 2015. “Kashmir is the longest running dispute on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council. The cause of the people of Jammu & Kashmir is sacred and the people of Azad Kashmir and Pakistan will never let the people of Kashmir down,” this was stated by Sardar Qayyum Niazi, former minister of Azad Kashmir and the chief guest of the occasion that was attended by friends of Kashmir. Mr. Niazi said that India and Pakistan must accept the solution of the dispute according to the wishes and aspirations of the people of Kashmir. He quoted Daniel S. Markey of Council of Foreign Relatiosn who said “There is little doubt that normalized relations between India and Pakistan, including a regionally acceptable settlement on Kashmir, would offer tremendous benefits to the United States.”

“All of us remain concerned that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir should be solved through peaceful negotiations and should be willing to lend all the strength we have to the resolution of this matter.” President Nelson Mandela at the NAM Summit – September 2, 1998

In matters of international conflict resolution, that can only imply the involvement of a third party mediator or facilitator. If Ashok and Ahmad can’t put Humpty Dumpty back together because they can’t agree on where the pieces go, then Sam, a specialist in eggshell reconstruction, should be called upon in order for differences to be resolved. Most importantly, without a third party’s impartial diligence in pursuing a settlement, breakdowns in lines of communication or other disputes that may arise will inevitably create barriers to resolution, and the process will fail. The side in the dispute which offers initiatives will always be seen as weak when both are out rattling their sabres; hence no progress can be made.

“Let us remember here that the future of Jammu and Kashmir is not something that the governments of India and Pakistan can decide without involving the Kashmiri people. How this diverse people’s representatives should be identified, and then associated with the process toward a possible settlement, are crucial if difficult questions, but every human and democratic principle demands this association.” Professor Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, July 24, 2003.