About KCA

Background
Pakistan Association of Australia:
Foundation stone of KCA was laid during formation of Pakistan Association of Australia in 1989. Pakistani community in Australia had no constitutional body to maintain and promote social interaction among thousands of Pakistanis living in Australia.

An unconstitutional body which was formed many years ago, collapsed in 1989 due to lack of democratic procedures, rules and regulations.

A need was felt and an idea for founding a constitutional body was proposed by Mumtaz Mian in a private meeting with Drs Azim Zagham and Bashir Ahmad. The idea was welcome and an agreement was reached to form a constitutional body for the community.

A meeting of the senior members of the Pakistani community was called to discuss the plan. The proposal was accepted by a unanimous vote and an executive committee under the presidentship of Mumtaz Mian was formed to develop a constitution and form an association for the community.

Afghanistan and Eastern Europe:
It is important to understand the events which were taking place on the international horizon while Pakistan Association of Australia was progressing through various stages of formation. The main events included unification of Germany, expulsion of Soviet Union from Afghanistan, restoration of democratic culture in the eastern Europe, collapse of Soviet Union and emergence of several new nations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This was a time of change - world was moving towards democracy and recognition of human rights which gave momentum to the movement of right for self-determination in Kashmir - a commitment made by the United Nations in 1948.

Para-military Troops in Kashmir:
To suppress the struggle for basic human rights, India moved troops into Kashmir and an unprecedented era of atrocities and naked aggression against humanity commenced.

Awareness Program for Kashmir:
Due to lack of Kashmiri representation in Australia, the president of Pakistan Association of Australia (Mumtaz Mian) commenced an awareness program in support of Kashmiri struggle for the right of self-determination. This is the first time in Australian history that Australians were made aware of the Kashmiri problem and atrocities inflicted upon Kashmiri civilians by Indian para-military troops.

In response to a copy of the letters sent to diplomats in Australia, President of Pakistan Ghulam Ishaq Khan praised the efforts in his letter addressed to Mumtaz Mian.

Kashmir Support Committee:
In 1990, formation of Pakistan Association of Australia was completed and the need was felt to set-up a body to continue the work for Kashmiri cause. The new body was named as Kashmir Support Committee. Due to lack of Kashmiri community in Australia other communities joined us in support of the right for self-determination. On one occasion a few non Kashmiris volunteered to go to Kashmir to fight in support of Kashmiris. As military support was beyond the scope of Kashmir Support Committee, we had to apologize to stay out of involvement with militia. This committee worked for a year under presidentship of Mr Ziaul Islam.

Kashmir Council of Australia:
A year later the setup was changed to cater for greater needs to support the Kashmiri against escalated violence and aggression by the Indian para-military troops. The name of the body was changed to Kashmir Council of Australia in 1992 under presidentship of Mumtaz Mian who in fact is the founder of Kashmiri movement in Australia.

Objectives

Kashmir Council of Australia was established to achieve the following objectives:

Support right for self-determination of Kashmiris as per United Nation's resolutions of 1948.

Condemn continued violations of human rights in the Indian occupied Kashmir.

Expose international conspiracies designed to suppress Muslim voice throughout the world.

Expose international community for its double standards.

Present views of various international organizations on human rights in Kashmir.

Present news on activities of the other Kashmiri organizations.

Organisation