Repeal of draconian AFSPA from IHK demanded Our correspondent

According to online newspaper pakistan the women participants of the “Intra-Kashmir Cross LoC Dialogue” from both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) demanded repeal of draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from occupied Kashmir, withdrawal of troops from Siachen, converting it into a “Peace Park” and making LoC travel easy. The women peace activists of both sides of Kashmir also demanded provision of travel facility to the 1990s Kashmiri refugees settled in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

 The participants unanimously asked both the governments of India and Pakistan to remove landmines across LoC and ensure peace on the divided line for the larger interest of the people. Regarding the rising human rights violations in occupied Kashmir, women activists also demanded formation of an independent “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” to probe the human rights violations since 1990.

 The participants vigorously demanded justice to the victims in occupied Kashmir particularly the women who suffered a lot.

Later, the AJK President, Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan hosted a dinner in honour of the participants of the conference in the President’s Secretariat. The participants from Jammu and Kashmir comprised Chairperson HOPE, Nighat Shafi Pandit, former Principals of Government Women’s College M A Road Srinagar, Professor Nusrat Andrabi and Professor T Joldan, Qurrat-ul-Ain, Professor Effat Yasmeen, Professor Ravinderjit Kour, Professor Rekha Chowdhary, Professor Yasmin Ashai, Ellora Puri and Ayesha Saleem.