AJK president seeks world help to resolve Kashmir issue

MUZAFFARABAD: President Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, while stressing the need for early resolution of the Kashmir issue, has said that peace and stability in the region was inescapably linked to the settlement of the lingering dispute.

Addressing a special session of the AJK Legislative Assembly here on Wednesday, the president, while referring to the Kashmiris' matchless sacrifices and struggle to achieve their cherished goal of freedom, said that there was a dire need that the international community should play its role to resolve the dispute in accordance with the UNSC resolutions. Urging the global community to take notice of India's nefarious designs in Occupied Kashmir, he said that after abolishing the special status of Occupied Kashmir, India was now hell bent on changing the region's demography.

"Since 5th August 2019, Indian occupation authorities have issued fake domiciles to more than 42 million non-state Hindus", he said, adding that granting citizenship and other rights to outsiders was a deep-rooted conspiracy to convert the Muslim majority of the state into a minority.

Referring to the changes made to the region's political and electoral landscape, he said that the changes were purposefully made to pave the way for installing a Hindu chief minister in the state. Reiterating Kashmiris' resolve to thwart Modi's nefarious designs in the region, the president said India must bear in mind the fact that they cannot subdue the freedom spirit of the Kashmiri people through their military might.

Paying rich tributes to Kashmiris' sacrifices, the AJK president expressed the hope that the day was not far away when Kashmiris would achieve their cherished goal of freedom from India. Referring to his recent visit to the UK, the US, Europe, and the Middle East, the AJK president said that during his visits he had raised the Kashmir issue effectively at every forum.

Voicing his serious concern over the worsening situation in the Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K), the president said that on the one hand, Indian occupation forces have wreaked havoc in the region, while on the other, people were being displaced and rendered homeless by the occupation authorities under the guise of so-called encroachment drive in the region.

Stressing the need for raising the issue of Kashmir vociferously both at national and international level, the president said that Kashmiris living abroad can play an important role in seeking the attention of the international community towards the plight of Kashmiris.

Expressing solidarity with the people of IIOJ&K, he said that the people of AJK stand shoulder to shoulder with their brethren in their struggle for freedom. Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry said, "Let me make it abundantly clear that Kashmiris living on both sides of the ceasefire line will not accept the partition of Kashmir under any circumstances".