Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has declared India’s narrative of normalcy and development in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir as a falsehood which has also been rejected by leading parliamentarians around the world, the international media, civil society activists and human rights organisations
London (Pakistan Point News - 6th Feb, 2020) Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has declared India’s narrative of normalcy and development in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir as a falsehood which has also been rejected by leading parliamentarians around the world, the international media, civil society activists and human rights organisations.
The Azad Kashmir President made these remarks at the Pakistan High Commission in London while addressing an event marking Kashmir Solidarity Day. The event hosted by H.E. Nafees Zakaria, High Commissioner of Pakistan to UK, was attended by diplomats, media representatives and members of diaspora community.
Lauding the role of the Pakistani-Kashmiri diaspora community in the UK and all over the world, the President said that they have proactively and dynamically taken up the Kashmir issue and highlighted the egregious human rights violations taking place in IOJK. He added that the diaspora community has positively engaged their local lawmakers, community, media and helped raise the profile of the Kashmir issue.
“The diaspora community has acted much like a catalyst and bridged linkages between Pakistan, Kashmiris and the countries they have settled in”, said the AJK President.
Masood Khan in is address said that the taboo of not taking India to task has been broken effectively by the reports published by human rights organizations, world parliaments and the international media who have highlighted crimes against humanity taking place in IOJK. He said that a factual narrative on Kashmir rejecting India’s falsehoods of normalcy in the occupied territory has been presented and this momentum has to be sustained.
President Khan said that the UN Security Council’s role in resolving the Kashmir dispute remains disappointing. After holding two sessions on Kashmir, the UNSC concluded its proceedings without issuing a statement on behalf of the UNSC president which shows the lax approach of the Council to this pressing issue, he said. He thanked China for taking the lead and convening the UNSC sessions on Kashmir but also urged the other world powers to not sit on the fence and stop being hesitant to take sides because any complacency now could lead to a war between Pakistan and India which could subsequently lead to a nuclear exchange.
The President also pointed to the rising tide of extremist Hindutva mindset advocated by the fascist BJP-RSS regime that sponsors state-terrorism in Kashmir, envisions “purifying” the Indian Subcontinent of all religious minorities and establishing Hindu supremacy. “Last century, Europe appeased Hitler which led to the death of millions. Now, India is taking a page out of the Nazi playbook by committing genocide in IOJK while the world capitals remain tight-lipped”, he said.
The President said that India has openly threatened the use nuclear weapons against Pakistan and has also claimed to “retake” the territory of Azad Kashmir. “You take back what is yours and Azad Kashmir has never been a part of India”, he said, adding that India has illegally occupied a large area of the Jammu and Kashmir State and it has, despite the internationally recognized disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir made it a part of the Union through its steps taken on August 5 and October 31.
Azad Kashmir’s President thanked the British MEPs and Parliamentarians for debating on the Kashmir issue in the EU Parliament and British Parliament. He also urged them to take up the human rights violations taking place in IOJK during the Q&A hour of the British Prime Minister.
