MUZAFFARABAD: President Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, while highlighting the fast deteriorating situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K), has said that there was a dire need that the influential world governments, especially the US should play its role to resolve the lingering dispute peacefully.
He expressed these views while addressing the participants of the training course of the National Defence University at the presidency here on Sunday. Military officers from more than 25 countries, including the United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Germany, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Egypt, Palestine, Nepal, Myanmar, Indonesia, Kenya, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Oman, Malaysia, Jordan and Iran were present on the occasion.
Terming India’s policy of intransigence as the biggest hurdle in the way of peace in South Asia, the AJK president said that an inclusive dialogue involving all the parties including the Kashmiri representatives was imperative to find a lasting solution to the long drawn conflict.
Referring to third party meditation, the AJK president said that countries like America should play the role of mediation to solve this problem once and for all. The international community, he said, has a moral responsibility to get the dispute resolved in line with the UNSC resolutions that, besides guaranteeing the right to self-determination to the people of Kashmir, also provided a comprehensive roadmap for an amicable settlement of the dispute.
“All that Kashmiris want is that the United Nations must fulfil its obligations on Kashmir and make sure that the resolutions are implemented,” Barrister Sultan said, adding that India, which took the Kashmir issue to the United Nations, was now refusing to implement the UNSC resolutions that granted the right to self-determination to the people of Kashmir. He said that Kashmiris have rendered matchless sacrifices to achieve their promised right.
AJK president said that after revoking the special status of Occupied Kashmir on August 5, 2019, India was hell bent on changing the demography of Occupied Kashmir to convert the Muslim majority into a minority.
So far, he said that the occupation authorities have issued more than 42 lakh fake domiciles to outsiders. Barrister Sultan Chaudhry further said that serious violations of human rights in IIOJ&K and mistreatment of minorities have exposed India’s ugly face. Stressing the need for early resolution of the Kashmir dispute, he said that the prolonged military occupation of Kashmir by India was a threat to peace and stability in the region. About growing intolerance and rising tides of xenophobia within Indian society, he said that persecution of minorities at the hands of the RSS-influenced regime, has left India’s so-called democracy exposed at the international level.