Only Tripartite Negotiations between India, Pakistan and Kashmir Leadership Can Resolve Kashmir Conflict: Dr Zahid Bukhari
Philadelphia: The shadow of Kashmir loomed over the national convention of Muslim Ummah of North America (MUNA) which began in Philadelphia on August 8, 2025. Brother Arman Chowdhury, Convener of the Convention urged the attendees to “be ambassadors of peace, truth and mercy, reflecting the noble teachings of our Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) in our actions.” And Erik Martin Dilan, Member of Assembly, Kings County, New York said, “I am honored to have this opportunity to connect with the 25,000+ attendees from across the United Stats who will gather at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Your collective commitment to service and your efforts to spread faith globally are truly inspiring.” Huzifa Choudhary, a young Muslim scholar from Detroit was the emcee of the Kashmir session.
Speaking on the topic of “Echoes of Struggle: Kashmir’s Parallels in American Justice”, Dr Zahid Bukhari, widely regarded as one of the leading Muslim scholars on US foreign policy made the following points:
1. The US Constitution encourages the citizens to make petition to the elected representatives on issues of concern. Advocacy and lobbying are essential parts of American political system to seek justice.
2. Women voting rights movement and Black community’s civil rights struggle were the two main examples of the domestic issues.
3. Anti-Apartheid campaign against South Africa’s white racist government and the recent movement against Israeli Genocide in Gaza are two prime examples of international issues.
4. The struggle for Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination should also be considered in the same category.
5. The American Muslims have gone through the following five stages of their involvement in the civic engagement area: a) Indifference; b) Hostile; c) Passive; d) Defensive; and e) Offensive.
6. Learning from previous campaigns, it is utmost necessary to create awareness among the Muslim community through mosques, local media and social media platforms. Making partnership with other faith-based groups and civil rights organizations is also inevitable for propagating the cause of Kashmir.
7. The Modi government in India is implementing its Nazi type ideology of Hindutva in Kashmir. It is following Israeli tactics of oppression, killing peoples and changing the demography of Kashmir.
8. We should raise our voice with full force and make every effort to tell the elected representatives at all levels that tripartite negotiations between India, Pakistan and genuine leadership of the people of Kashmir is the only way to settle the Kashmir conflict once for all.
Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman, World Forum for Peace & Justice, said that despite persistent and pernicious tyranny, the people of Kashmir will ever give up their right to be free. It is based on this internationally recognized, and principled stand the Kashmiri diaspora and its allies worldwide stand in solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We stand in support of their unyielding struggle to resist occupation and achieve their right to self-determination. We stand with them in their struggle to stop the Indian government from dehumanizing them and completing their settler-colonial project to remove them culturally, politically, and ethnically from the face of the earth.
Dr Fai outlined that the truth is clear, Kashmir is under occupation. Its people are being dispossessed, its culture is being erased, its political rights are being destroyed. The world must demand the reversal of the domicile laws and an end to demographic engineering. The UN must supervise the promised plebiscite, and human rights observers must be sent to monitor abuses. India must be held accountable under international law. For seventy-eight years, Kashmiris have waited for justice. They cannot be asked to wait seventy-eight more. The time to act is now. Only then will the people of Kashmir live in freedom, dignity, and peace, and only then will the world show that its commitment to self-determination and human rights is more than empty words.
Dr Fai is also the Secretary General of World Kashmir Awareness Forum. - gnfai2003@yahoo.com
