|

Sardar Qayyum Khan was a Synonym for courage and Prudence: Dr. Fai

Washington, D.C. July 12, 2015. Dr. Fai expressed condolences on the demise of Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan Sahib, former Prime Minister and former President of Azad Kashmir who breathed his last at the age of 91 on Friday July 10, 2015 at his residence in Islamabad. Inna Lillah-e-Wa- Inna Ilahi Rajioon. May Allah (s.w.t.) elevate his status as the guided person, comfort him in his grave, make his grave part of Jannatul Firdous and give Sabr to the family! Ameen.
 
“Sardar Qayyum Khan was a captivating personality, iconic leader with prudence, shrewdness and judiciousness. He was a legendary and eminent politician of Azad Kashmir who rendered his services for upholding the human and political rights of the people of the State. His advocacy of the cause of Kashmir at the corridors of power at international capitols have had a lasting impact on the policy makers, where he used to make a persuasive and convincing case for the resolution of Kashmir dispute,” Fai added.
 
He was a courageous leader who understood the long road ahead of laboring for the minds and hearts of people when he told us in Washington in 1994 that our top priority should be to make sure that the leadership of the State of Jammu & Kashmir is at one page.
 
He was a man with a vision. When asked by Amr Mousaa, then the foreign minister of Egypt during the Islamic Summit in Tehran in 1997, ‘who will represent Kashmiris if they are giving a seat at the negotiating table’? “The answer is simple. All Parties Hurriyet Conference will be our sole representative in any dialogue between India and Kashmir,” Sardar Qayyum Khan replied.
 
Sardar Sahib always emphasized that will of the people of Kashmir must prevail whenever the parties – India and Pakistan – reach a final settlement of the Kashmir dispute.
 
He was a giant among Kashmiri politicians. We will miss him a lot!

Similar Posts

  • |

    How I became Involved in the Cause of Kashmir at the international level

    I want to tell you a little story that touched my life in a very personal way in 1979. It is important to consider, I assure you, because of its historic significance, not only in having an impact in a very real way upon my own survival and the personal vision I came to adopt for the rest of my life, but how it came to shape the very destiny of Kashmir itself. My own life became inextricably linked just as intimately as a man and woman united in marriage. Each detail of this story is integral to understanding who I was then, who I am now, and the process that formed my calling and the rest of my life.
     
    I was in my late 20s then with a driving zeal, as is in every young man’s heart in Kashmir, to make a significant impact somewhere and somehow on life’s stage. At this particular time, I had been placed in charge of the international section of a major conference being held in the Capitol of Kashmir, Srinagar. I was inspired to invite a speaker of an international stature whose presence could be used to energize and internationalize the issue of Kashmir on the right of self-determination.
  • |

    Thank you

    November 29, 2013

     
    Dear all,
     
    I am thankful to Allah (s.w.t.) for an early release from the Federal Prison Camp in Cumberland, Maryland. Upon receiving the order from Judge O’Grady, the prison authorities gave me just 10 minutes to pack my belongings and to leave from the premises of the Federal Prison Camp. I am pleased to be home with my family and friends since Friday, November 22, 2013.
     
    At the beginning, the notion of imprisonment weighed very heavily on my conscience. I was mindful that some of my friends wanted to know the conditions I was living in. The conditions at the Camp in Cumberland were propitious and the avenues available were favorable to all the inmates.
  • |

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ Needs to be Applauded: Dr. Fai

    Washington, D.C. December 10, 2013. 

     

    “We need to applaud the 1948 ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, which stands as a moral reproach to wrongdoing nations that may facilitate reforms, even though its lofty provisions safeguarding fundamental human rights remain dishonored in many parts of the world,” said Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the United Nations Human Rights Day.

  • |

    State of human rights in Kashmir : Testimony

    March 17, 2014

    Sir Nigel Rodley
    Chairperson
    UN Human Rights Committee
    Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
    United Nations Office at Geneva
    CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
    Fax: (41 22) 917 90 11
    E-mail: CP@ohchr.org

    Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

    I am grateful for the opportunity to submit this testimony on the state of human rights in Kashmir to the 110th session of the United Nations Human Rights Committee being held in Geneva, Switzerland, this week until March 28, 2014. Much to my chagrin in light of the warming of diplomacy between India and Pakistan and incipient dialogue between India and Kashmiri leaders, the state of human rights in the disputed territory is chilling. Indeed, it shocks the conscience.

    Indiscriminate killings:

    The best estimate of extrajudicial killings in Kashmir since 1989 approaches a staggering 100,000. That number dwarfs the killings in Northern Ireland, Palestine, Bosnia, Kosovo and Southern Sudan which have brought the world to tears and revulsion. The 100,000 corpses also tops the death toll for United States forces in Vietnam over 10 years.

    Arundhati Roy, an Indian novelist, essayist, the Booker Prize and Sydney Peace Prize winner said that “Caught in the middle are the people of Kashmir. More than 100,000 people, mostly innocent civilians, have died in the 20-year conflict.”

  • |

    Is dislocation of UN Office a path to ‘Insaniat” (Humanity) or a broken promise?

    Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai
    Secretary General
    World Kashmir Awareness

    Washington, D.C.
    July 10, 2014

    On July 8, 2014, the Spokesman of Indian Ministry of External Affairs made a formal statement saying, “As far as we (India) are concerned the UNMOGIP (United Nations Military Observer Group in India & Pakistan) has outlived its relevance. This is a consistent stance that we have articulated on several occasions since the Shimla accord.”

    What is the legal ground of the spokesman’s pronouncement? Christopher Hitchens has made it easy to understand when he said; “”Perhaps you notice how the denial is so often the preface to the justification.” And George R.R. Martin confirms it by saying “Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it.”

    The spokesman has conveniently forgotten that India and Pakistan are signatories to various United Nations Security Council resolutions. These resolutions constitute an agreement because, unlike most resolutions of the Security Council, their provisions were first negotiated with the parties and, it was only after their written consent was obtained that they were adopted by the Security Council.