Human Rights Minister
Shireen Mazari has criticised the Foreign Office for its failure to internationalise the Kashmir issue, saying it has let down 'Kashmiri people and Prime Minister Imran Khan' in this regard.
Addressing an event organised by Kashmir Youth Forum in Islamabad, the minister said in the age of digital and social media, the FO was still following an ‘obsolete and uni-dimensional’ approach towards the Kashmir issue.
She, however, praised Imran Khan, saying his efforts have put the Kashmir cause on the global platform. She also lauded the premier changing the narrative on Kashmir, 'which was appreciated worldwide and (Indian Prime Minister Narendra) Modi’s shameless tactics against human rights were also highlighted'.
According to Mazari, Pakistan needed to go beyond traditional diplomatic tacts and highlight the Kashmir cause globally through culture, music and poetry.
“We need an agenda and policy at multidimensional levels to underscore the misery of the Kashmiris,” she said.
She said her ministry had written letters to 18 special rappoerteurs over the atrocities committed by India in Kashmir, but the FO never bothered for a follow-up.
She said said the PM had 'single-handedly' raised the issue of Kashmir. “Had our FO and those institutions who make policies on Kashmir taken it up further, today situation would have changed. The world has taken notice until now,” she said.