Sardar Masood Khan, President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, endorsed the statement of Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, in regard to the Pulwama incident
Islamabad, (Pakistan Point News - 20th February, 2019) Sardar Masood Khan, President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, endorsed the statement of Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, in regard to the Pulwama incident. He said that India in the interest of peace and stability in the region should act responsibly and eschew from giving provocative statements. "The hype and fanatic frenzy whipped up in India by the ruling party and extremist groups is a systematic incitement to hatred which is a serious violation of international law, national laws and human norms", he said.
Without any shred of evidence, he said, India has accused Pakistan of being behind the Pulwama attack. People of Azad Kashmir and Pakistan, in good faith, are ready for any fair, impartial and independent international investigation into the incident. Through such a process, the truth would come forth and Pakistan and Kashmiris would have an opportunity to establish, beyond a shadow of a doubt, their adherence to the peaceful diplomatic and political means to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
“Trumped up and fabricated accusations of terrorism should not be used to demonize Kashmiris, who are suffering under Indian oppression, slander Pakistan and suppress the Kashmiris’ movement for self-determination”, he said. The international community, he said, is horrified by the repressive operations of the occupation forces in IOK and recently there were voices in the international community to hold India accountable for human rights violations committed by its occupation forces with impunity and to start a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.
India wants to turn the tables on Kashmiris and Pakistan. This would not help resolve the key dispute of Jammu and Kashmir, said Masood Khan. Sardar Masood Khan said Kashmiris firmly believe that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute cannot be resolved through oppression and state terrorism. “It requires diplomatic tools and political mechanisms”, he said. The President said that India has taken up a despotic and tyrannical posture towards the Kashmiris for the past 71 years and now it wants to extend the same despotism and tyranny to Indian Muslims and Pakistan, “This”, he said, “is adding fuel to the fire”.
He appealed to the Indian civil society to not be led by religious zealots, violent extremists who want to plunge the whole region into communal strife. The Indian civil society, he said, should counsel the Indian government to defuse and deescalate the situation, promote dialogue and encourage diplomatic overtures and communication between the two sides so that the truth could be established. India has the right to defend itself; but so have the people of Kashmir and Pakistan, he said.
Respect for the rights of the Kashmiris, he said, including their political aspirations for their liberty and self-determination in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions, is the key to peace, stability, and good neighbourliness in South Asia. India must not, he said, spurn this path of prudence and statesmanship in favour of religious fanaticism. “Kashmiris condemn terrorism in all of its forms and manifestations as they have been worst victims in the past 71 years and before that of the tyranny of the Dogra regime”, said the President. India, the President said, should discard double standards. The citizens of India never rose to call the Sopore massacre, in which 55 Kashmiris were killed, as a national catastrophe, nor harassment, persecution and vandalization of innocent Muslims in Jammu.
