Kashmiri Pandits Say, Congressional Hearing On Kashmir Was One Sided

THE Congressional hearing on human rights situation in South Asia with a focus on Kashmir was one-sided, a top organization of Kashmiri Pandits has alleged in a letter to the Congressman who chaired the committee, saying it left out one of the indigenous races of Jammu and Kashmir against whom Human Rights violations have been committed for the last 30 years. The Kashmiri Overseas Association (KOA), in a letter to Brad Sherman who chaired the Congressional hearing on Tuesday, said that the goal of the hearing on October 22 was to bring forth “The Human Rights in South Asia”.

“But the hearing failed in doing so as it left out one of the indigenous races of Jammu and Kashmir against whom Human Rights violations have been committed for the last 30 years. “Without their testimony, the committee hearing promoted anti-Hindusentiment, peddle an anti-Indian propaganda machine to appease the Muslim population in the United States and or the globe,” KO Alleged in the letter to Sharman, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Non-proliferation of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Though you had invited panelists with varying perspectives, the hearing was conducted to favor a one-sided narrative which was clearly illustrated with only three of the six panelists dominating the hearing,” it said. It said senior journalist Aarti Tikoo Singh is a victim of the brutal forced exodus of Kashmiri Hindus of 1990. She was in the Valley of Kashmir a fortnight ago.