Endorsing “right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people”, radical Sikh outfit Dal Khalsa has urged the U.S. to intervene to resolve the prolonged dispute with the help of the U.N. in the Security Council and tripartite mediation at the political level among India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris.
In an open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, the outfit has expressed concern regarding the political status of Kashmir and the resulting geopolitical situation in South Asia as a result of the Indo-Pak tensions.
“We endorse the Kashmiri’s unequivocal right to self-determination and stand-in solidarity with them..Your [Mr. Trump] offer for mediation twice in the last two weeks attains significance as it is quite evident from the history of the last seven decades that India and Pakistan cannot resolve the issue bilaterally, it is time for the U.S. to lead the campaign for mediation as any delay can be disastrous,” wrote Harpal Singh Cheema, president, Dal Khalsa.
Dal Khalsa along with the Simranjit Singh Mann-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) had criticised the scrapping of Article 370, saying the move would further alienate the people of Kashmir and that peace would be a casualty.
Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh on Saturday said the outfit alongwith the SAD (Amritsar) and the United Akali Dal would stage protest in Punjab on August 15.
“Our members will peacefully march across 15 districts to lodge our protest against injustices and political subjugation. Also, we will protest against the inconclusive probe into Bargari sacrilege cases of 2015 and the closure report filed by the CBI. The Punjab government’s decision of granting pardon to four police personnel, who were convicted of abduction and killing of a Sikh youth in 1993, is another issue that we will highlight,” said Mr. Kanwar Pal.