For the first time in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) 50-year history, the Presidentof Azad Kashmir, Sardar Masood Khan, was specially invited to attend the14th OIC Islamic Summit where he represented the people of Jammu andKashmir as the True Representative
Islamabad (Pakistan Point News / Online - 01st June, 2019) For the first time in theOrganization of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) 50-year history, the Presidentof Azad Kashmir, Sardar Masood Khan, was specially invited to attend the14th OIC Islamic Summit where he represented the people of Jammu andKashmir as the True Representative.Before this, the President of Azad Kashmir regularly attended and addressedthe OIC Annual Coordination Meeting for the Foreign Ministers and ContactGroup Meetings on Jammu and Kashmir, but this is the first time that arepresentative of the people of Jammu and Kashmir has been invited to theOIC Summit.
The President as a True Representative of the Kashmiri peopleattended the OIC Islamic Summit which he said was an acknowledgement ofKashmiris efforts for liberty.This remarkable development displays the OIC's commitment and resolvetowards the Kashmir dispute and the recognition of the rightful struggle ofthe Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination.President Masood Khan was also extended a special invitation by His MajestyKing Salman bin Abdul Aziz, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to a Sahur(Sehri) hosted in the honour of the heads of states attending the IslamicSummit.
At the OIC Summit, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan in his speechemphatically raised the issue of Kashmir twice underlining the need for therealization of the right to self-determination of Kashmiris and said thatthe movements in Indian Occupied Kashmir and Palestine could not be calledIslamic terrorism or Islamic radicalism. He reiterated Pakistan's strongstance to resolve Kashmir dispute, saying it must be resolved as per UNresolutions and aspirations of the KashmirisThe President of AJK conveyed his deepest gratitude to the Kingdom of SaudiArabia and His Majesty Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Custodian of the Two HolyMosques, as the host of the OIC Summit, for opening this space for therepresentation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sardar Masood Khan also thanked the OIC Secretary General Dr. Yusuf A.Al-Othaimeen for defending the right to self-determination of the people ofJammu and Kashmir and calling for an end to the human rights violations inIndian Occupied Kashmir. He particularly welcomed his statement that thestruggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir for self-determination couldnot be equated with terrorism.In early March this year, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Sawarajhad been invited as a �Guest of Honour' to attend the OIC Council ofForeign Ministers Meeting in Abu Dhabi.
As a protest, Pakistan's ForeignMinister had not attended that meeting because India's attendance at theministerial conference was seen as a negative and toxic development as itcontinues to deny the Kashmiris right to self-determination and hadintensified its seven-decade long repression of the Kashmiris after thePulwama attack in February this year.The AJK President's attendance of the Summit balances, to some extent, thediplomatic misrepresentation that had been created by the invitation to theIndian External Affairs Minister.
Sharing his impressions after the OIC summit, the President said that theKashmiri movement for self-determination is gaining recognition in theinternational community as the world is becoming fully aware of thehorrific crimes being committed by India in Occupied Kashmir."The OIC and global community are rooting for dialogue and multilateraldiplomacy for a peaceful solution and rejecting India'smilitaristic, repressive approach", he said."Peace in the region hinges on Kashmir.
A resolution of the dispute is animperative, not an option. Diplomacy must get traction before it's toolate. A war on Kashmir, with all its dangerous consequences, must beaverted by resolving the issue", the President underlined.Earlier, speaking at the Ministerial Meeting of the OIC Contact Group onJammu and Kashmir, on May 29, the President presented to the 14th OICSummit a 9-point formula for a diplomatic solution of the Jammu and Kashmirin accordance with the UN resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people.
His points included asking India to recognize the right toself-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance withinternational law and resolve the issue of Kashmir through theimplementation of the UN resolutions. He also urged the OIC to press onIndia to end its gross human rights violations in IOK and to withdraw bulkof its troops. He also asked Indian to release Hurriyat leaders and otherpolitical prisoners who have been falsely imprisoned.
