London Kashmir Conference in Jeopardy
Kashmir Centre condemned by wide-section of British Kashmiris
Massive Protests, boycotts in offing – APKCC
By Murtaza Shibli
Editor, Kashmir Affairs
(Mr. Murtaza Shibli, 37, was born in Bijbehara and completed his Master’s degree in Media and Journalism from the Kashmir University. He has worked as a journalist, as a security consultant for the International Committee of the Red Cross, and as a communication trainer. Well versed in Farsi and English Literature, he is currently based in U.K. and edits online quarterly http://www.kashmiraffairs.org/)
The proposed ‘International’ Kashmir Conference on 28-29 November in London may be called off due to intense condemnation of the organisers – Kashmir Centre headed by Nazir Ahmad Shawl. The Conference is being widely condemned by the UK-based Kashmiri groups for inviting National Conference leader Omar Abdullah. All Parties Kashmir Coordination Committee (APKCC), an alliance of the British Kashmiri groups and an equivalent to Srinagar based the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), while opposing the participation of pro-Indian Kashmiri leaders has asked Nazir Shawl to withdraw the invitation to Omar Abdullah. A conglomerate of 12 political parties and activist groups, APKCC has threatened boycott and a massive protest against Kashmir Centre if the invitation to Abdullah was not revoked.
Accusing Nazir Shawl of sprinkling salt on the wounds of Kashmiris by inviting Omar Abdullah to the Conference, prominent British Kashmiri leader and president of People’s Muslim Conference Chaudhry Shaban questioned if the conference was really being held for the benefit of the Kashmiri people.
Another Kashmiri activist and the JKLF leader Raja Abdul Rauf Khan condemned the decision of Kashmir Centre to invite Abdullah in the conference. Maulana Bostan Qadri, one of the senior and very well known Kashmiri activists and Chairman of Tehreek-e-Ullma J&K UK, said London Conference would be boycotted if invitation to leaders like Abdullah were not withdrawn. Inferring that Kashmir Centre was involved in conspiracies against Kashmiris, he said that Kashmiri community was fully alive to “conspiracies against the freedom movement and it will not allow anyone to play with the sentiments of Kashmiri community”. One of the Kashmiris, on the condition of anonymity, accused Shawl of making money out of Kashmiri cause and now trying to reach out to India in order to get a safe passage back to Srinagar. Earlier this year, a newspaper report claimed that his wife Shameema Shawl held meetings with a pro-India Kashmiri politician and tourism minister here in London.
Nazir Ahmad Shawl would be hardest hit by the statement of Tehreek-e-Kashmir a pro-Jamat-e-Islami group who used to support Shawl because of his Jamat background. In his remarks, President Tehreek-e-Kashmir UK Mohammad Ghalib said that inviting Omar Abdullah was tantamount to making a joke with the blood of martyrs and their sacred sacrifices. A onetime Jamaat member and head of their ‘diplomatic affairs’ in Azad Kashmir, Shawl developed tense relations with Jama’at-e-Islami after he left Syed Ali Geelani and came to join Kashmir Centre London. His critics accuse that he was ‘bought’ by the Pakistan government to stay away from Syed Ali Geelani, often described as hardline Islamist.
Shawl, the executive director of Kashmir Conference has been under pressure to ‘perform’ for some time, as out of the three Kashmir Centres supported by the Pakistan Government, London Centre has supposedly failed to achieve any desirable results. There have been rumours for quite some time that London Centre might be closed down or its head changed. The current controversy has added weight to the opposition claims that Shawl is inept in handling delicate situations and lacks wisdom to reconcile differences within his own lot in the community.
The status of the London Conference was already a suspect given the fact that there is severe resentment among the Western politicians with regards to the emergency in Pakistan. The British politicians have out rightly condemned Pakistani emergency and demanded the restoration of democratic institutions. Though Shawl has managed to sign a couple of British MPs to attend the conference, he has failed to solicit support from the ethnic Pakistani MPs. According to the informed sources, the British Muslim MPs of Pakistani background who have previously showed their support for Kashmir are not attending the event. Many others have decided to stay away for the fear of being seen close to the General Musharraf’s regime, as Kashmir Centre is closely seen as part or extension of the Pakistani military regime.
The Conference is proving a major problem to the Kashmir Centre due to the current Pakistani crisis. Majority of the Kashmiri participants from either side are pro-Musharraf politicians. This includes Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who openly supported ‘emergency’ imposed by General Musharraf as well as the President and Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir whose government endorsed the emergency calling it a step in the right direction. Calling the organisers approach silly, one London based Kashmiri said that organisers should have postponed the event given the current international sentiment. Now that the Kashmiri leaders are planning to launch a massive protest against Nazir Ahmad Shawl and threatening boycott, there are growing indications that the Conference might be abrogated last minute.