Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has said that on July 19, 1947, the whole Kashmiri State had desired to accede to Pakistan and that spirit still lives strong today
Islamabad (Pakistan Point News - 20th Jul, 2020) Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has said that on July 19, 1947, the whole Kashmiri State had desired to accede to Pakistan and that spirit still lives strong today. Had it not been for the connivance of the Indian Army, Dogra Raj and the British rulers the true aspirations of the Kashmiri people would have been realised and they would have been able to become a part of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, he said.
The President made these remarks while addressing a seminar titled, ”Kashmir Accession Day and our Responsibilities”, organised by BTM Global and National Press Club in collaboration with Jammu and Kashmir Self-Determination Movement (JKSDMI) led by its Chairman Raja Najabat Hussain.
The President while thanking the host of the event, Ms Sumaira Farrukh, for her social activities in AJK said that her organisation provided massive social support to the people of AJK during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown which had greatly impacted the lives of the general public.
The AJK President said that under very difficult circumstances in 1947, the meeting of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference representatives held a conference in Srinagar and passed a resolution vowing to accede to Pakistan. Fulfilling this resolution, he said, became the basis for people of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan to fight a war for their independence from the Maharaja. This liberated region we now know as Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan has become a defensive bastion for the whole of Pakistan, he said.
Masood Khan said that since the illegal occupation of the occupied territory in 1947 by Indian forces, the killings and aggression continue to this day. 237,000 Kashmiri Muslims were killed in 1947 just because they wanted to join Pakistan and now Kashmiris despite the presence of 900,000 troops continue to struggle for their self-determination and peacefully oppose the occupation. “They [Kashmiris] have vowed to continue their struggle. They have been fighting occupation for 200 years and they will not give up”, he said.
The AJK President said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are grateful to Pakistan for being the only sovereign window for them, for highlighting the Kashmir dispute and fighting the case at international forums. Unfortunately, the world order is steered by realpolitik; he said adding that major international capitals still remain silent over India’s aggression and human rights violations in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK).
The President urged his audience to continue to communicate and reach out to the international community. He said that we must not undermine the strength of the civil society as it was the unified civil society of America that led to countrywide rallies over the killings of George Floyd. “We need that level of mobilisation as killings and tortures take place in IOJK every day in IOJK. We cannot forget the horrific images of a 3-year-old grandson wailing atop the bloodied body of his grandfather shot by CRPF personnel. We must not give up. Unite and mobilize support for the defenceless Kashmiris”, he maintained.
President Masood Khan said that India continues to divert global attention from the situation in IOJK by carrying to indiscriminate attacks against innocent civilians living along the Line of Control. He said that despite all these tactics, our first and foremost priority is to stop the killings and human rights violations taking place in IOJK. The world must be made to realise that these innocent Kashmiris are being killed by Indian forces on both sides of the LoC. Secondly, he said, disenfranchisement, dispossession and displacement of Kashmiris is taking place at a rapid pace as settlers from all over India are being brought into IOJK to permanently transform the demography. “We must stop that now as time is of the essence. We must act now”, he said.
The AJK President said that there are no terrorists on IOJK and the Kashmiri people are simply exercising their basic and instinctive right to self-defence. He added that in IOJK the only terrorism is the state-terrorism of the Indian forces who have the backing of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh regime. The world must know that the BJP-RSS regime is are the actual terrorists and that these Hindu-extremist organisations need to be globally banned for their fascist and supremacist ideology.
“Most importantly, initiate a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against India. Pakistan should take the lead”, he said.
Shehryar Afridi, Chairman Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, in his address said that the all over the globe champions of human rights should stand up for the Kashmiri people. He vowed to take the issue of Kashmir to every international forum, reach out to academics and global opinion-makers. He said that the Pakistan government will take all political parties along and maintain a united stand on Kashmir.
He said that it's unfortunate that no one around the world is speaking against the demographic change, human rights violations and statelessness being witnessed in IOJK and all over India. Hindutva policies of the current Indian government have led to the persecution of Muslims in the so-called largest secular democracy of the world.
Former AJK Prime Minister Sardar Atiq Ahmed Khan said that Accession to Pakistan Resolution and this auspicious day is an important event in the history of Kashmir. The Conference on July 19, 1947, was attended by representatives from all over Jammu and Kashmir and in a way is a referendum polled by Kashmiris in favour of Pakistan.
The seminar was also addressed by Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Ms. Sobia Kamal, Member National Assembly Ms. Noreen Farooq, APHC Convener Syed Faiz Naqashbandi, Ghulam Muhammad Safi, leading journalist Irshad Mahmood and others.
