Kashmiris Will Have Their Freedom From Indian Occupation: Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu AndKashmir

Kashmiris will have their freedom from Indian occupation: Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu andKashmir

Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu andKashmir, has said that the Kashmiri people will have their freedom fromIndian oppression and we will not be intimidated by torture and repression

Bristol (Pakistan Point News / Online - 19th October, 2019) Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu andKashmir, has said that the Kashmiri people will have their freedom fromIndian oppression and we will not be intimidated by torture and repression.We will fight this war imposed on us, he said.The AJK President made these remarks while addressing a Kashmir Conferenceorganized by the Pakistan Association Bristol and the Bristol KashmirFoundation.

The event was attended by Abdul Rashid Turabi, Member of thePublic Accounts Committee of the AJK Legislative Assembly, Tim Bowles,Mayor of the West of England, Fahim Kiani, President Tehreek-e-Kashmir UK,Councillors, local notables, civil society members and journalists.The President on the occasion also thanked Fahim Kiani for organizing aconference on Kashmir at the House of Commons which was attended bynumerous MPs, MEPs, journalists, student leaders, academics and humanrights activists.

President Masood Khan informed his audience of the recent human rightssituation in IOK. He said that after the 05 August siege imposed in IOK theoccupation forces have unleashed a new wave of tyranny. Indian occupationforces, he said, have illegally detained thousands of Kashmiri youth andare subjecting them to torture, The Kashmiris are being killed inextra-judicial encounters, protestors are blinded with pellet-firingshotguns and the women are molested and these measures are taken by theIndian occupation forces in a systematic and pre-meditated manner, he said.

The President while appreciating the role of the international media,international civil society and the human rights organizations said thatdespite India's imposition of a communication blackout in IOK, reports havebeen coming out of IOK about the human rights abuses taking place at thehands of Indian occupation forces. Indian government's efforts to quell thepeaceful protests of the Kashmiris were not successful and they were unableto hide the humanitarian crisis in the territory.

He also appreciatedparliamentarians and lawmakers of UK, European Parliament, France, Norwayand other leading countries for raising their voice in support of theKashmiris. "This space given to us is a breakthrough", he said.On the other, he said, global capitals have been ambivalent in their stancetowards Kashmir and have instead tried to maintain an artificial balancebetween Pakistan and India. He urged that humanity must prevail instead ofvaluing strategic and economic ties that various countries have with India.

The AJK President said that we the people of IOK and Azad Kashmir willfight tooth and nail to oppose the illegal occupation, colonization andbifurcation of the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir territory.He also highlighted the growing ideology of Hindutva - an extremist HinduIdeology - which is purely based on Hindu religious supremacy. He said thatwe will have to unite and fight of this extremist doctrine rooted inhatred, xenophobia and fascism as this policy of exclusionism is pure evil,satanic and dark and we must take every measure to thwart it from engulfingour region and world.

"In the previous century democratic powers of the world defeated NaziHitler and Fascist Mussolini. This century, we will have to defeatHindutva", he said.The President urged the participants to raise their voices in support ofthe Kashmiris so that it resonates all over the UK including theParliament, across the world and especially in the UN. Grass rootcommunities, he said, are pertinent in opinion formation and we must alsonot ignore the civil society as it is an important voice in shaping thefuture of the world that too based on humanity.

"Forge unity and withsteely determination we must move forward to save the people of Indianoccupied Jammu and Kashmir from genocide and ethnic cleansing. Speak up forthe truth and save the souls of the people being crushed under this newcolonial power", he pleaded.Responding to a comment made by a previous speaker, the President said thatthe Jammu and Kashmir dispute is not a bilateral issue but it is atrilateral issue in which the Kashmiris are the key party to the dispute.

"It is the Kashmiris that will have to decide their political future anddestiny in a free and democratic manner", he argued.He said that there is a humanitarian crisis in IOK and a humanitariancorridor has to be established to help the Kashmiris who are facing severeshortages of food, medicine and other essential supplies. He urged theparticipants to use modern means of communication to help mobilize supportfor the Kashmiri people and also reach out to their Councilors, partyleaders and MPs so as to put pressure on the FCO-UK to take note of theever-deteriorating conditions in IOK.