Azad Jammu andKashmir (AJK) President, Sardar Masood Khan has urged national security expertsand policy makers to come up with a strategy to deal with India for peace andsecurity in the region in the wake of BharatiyaJanata Party's re-election to take up its second stint in the power
ISLAMABAD (Pakistan Point News / Online - 24th May, 2019) Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President, Sardar Masood Khan has urged national security expertsand policy makers to come up with a strategy to deal with India for peace andsecurity in the region in the wake of BharatiyaJanata Party's re-election to take up its second stint in the power."We need to go back to the drawing board to take note of allthe variables and constants that are there and come up with a strategy tosafeguard the interest of our country," the President said while addressing a conferencetitled "Enduring Rivalry-Post Indian Election Scenario in Occupied Kashmir".
Theconference Organized by Center for Global and Strategic Studies (CGSS) was alsoaddressed by Major General (Retd) Syed Khalid Amir Jaffery HI (M), PresidentCGSS, former ambassador Abdul Basit, former Federal Minister of Law, Justice,Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights, Ahmer Bilal Soofi and Prof. Dr.Muhammad Khan."Thereshould be a strategy to respond to all these developments that take place inthe region in addition to inventorying our own problems at home," AJK Presidentsaid.
The strategy, he emphasized should aim to make Pakistan secure and definingits policy viz-a-viz India at the same time.TermingJammu and Kashmir dispute as the root cause of the tensions andconfrontation between India and Pakistan, Khan said our political anddiplomatic strategy on Kashmir should hinge on an economically, strategicallyand politically strong Pakistan."IfPakistan is not strong, we would lose the struggle for Kashmir," he cautioned.
Highlighting the agenda ofthe ruling Bharatiya Janata Partyviz-a-viz Pakistan, people of Kashmir and the Muslims citizens of India, Khansaid Narendra Modi in his recently concludedelections rallies spearheaded a venomous anti-Muslim campaign calling Muslimsin India subversive, Pakistan as an arch enemy and Kashmiris struggling forfreedom as traitors.TheBJP's 2019 manifesto has also declared intent to abrogate Article 370 andArticle 35 A to snatch the symbolic autonomy given to the state, he said.
ThePresident observed that Article 35 A has substance in regard to permanentresidence in the state, employment, acquisition of immovable prosperity,settlement and scholarships. The purpose obviously is to radically alterthe demographic composition of the region of its distinct Muslim and Kashmiricharacter, he pointed out.Thiskind of movement is being choreographed in contemporary India where NathuramGodse, the assassin of the founder of India, Mahatma Gandhi, is being lionizedas a patriot.
Theextremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), to which Godse belonged at onepoint, is the parent organization of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) that rulesIndia today, the president said.A597-foot statue of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, who played a key role inorchestrating occupation of a part Jammu and Kashmir in 1947, has been built inGujarat. So the modern Indian political idiom says Godse is good, Gandhi wasbad; Patel was a patriot, Nehru was not; Hindus are a paragon of purity; andMuslims and other minorities as Malecha outsiders.
Arevisionist history of the 1,000-year Muslim rule India of is being popularizedto denigrate, besmirch and vilify Indian Muslims, Kashmiri Muslims and Pakistan,he stated."Muslims are being asked to expiate for thesins of their past rulers. By doing so, ultra-nationalists want to"cleanse" their society and correct a "historical wrong".Hesaid that extremist Hindu nationalists have not accepted creation of Pakistanand they dream of undoing this political transformation and restoring theirutopian Akhand Bharat or Bharat Bhumi.
Theextremists Hindus believe that the creation of Pakistan was a cardinal sin forwhich Pakistan should be punished and the Hindus should atone for it byrecalibrating history, Masood Khan maintained.Hewent on to say that now cow protection (gau raksha) launched bythe Bajrang Dal, a militant squad of the BJP, forces reconversion ofMuslims to Hinduism (Ghar Wapsi).The ban on praying in public places andplaying cricket on the day of Holi are used to persecute and brutalizeKashmiris.
Anybody on the wrong side of these violent extremists is asked to goto Pakistan, he divulged.Thepresident said that a sharp spike in populous anger and hate crimes againstMuslims in India and IOK demands to make Pakistan strong with economic strengthof the country an absolute priority, underpinned by a strong defence capabilityon land, in the air and on the sea, and national unity."Weall know that India has launched a worldwide campaign to emasculate Pakistaneconomically, deprive it of modern weapon systems, and isolate itdiplomatically," Khan said and asserted that preparedness and response in allthree areas are imperative.
