Pro-Kashmir demo staged in front of UN building

NEW YORK: A large number of American Kashmiris, Pakistanis and Sikhs staged a mammoth anti-India demonstration in front of the United Nations (UN) building in New York on Sunday to protest the ongoing genocide of Kashmiris in the Muslim-majority Indian Held Kashmir (IHK).

They called upon the world body to play its due role in protecting the Kashmiri people suffering under the tight Indian military siege. The protesters while drawing the attention of world body towards the deteriorating human rights situation in the IHK urged it to decisively move towards implementing its resolutions that pledged the right of self-determination to Kashmiris.

Holding banners and placards in their hands inscribed with pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, the participants raised vociferous slogans against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed complete solidarity with the struggling people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing the participants, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan said future negotiations on Kashmirshould focus on conflict resolution, not management, in order to end the Indian occupation once and for all.

He said the Indian authorities had turned the occupied part of the state into a big prison through the worst ever lockdown and complete communication blackout. “The United Nations must play its role in resolving the longstanding dispute in accordance with the aspirations of Kashmiri people and UNSC resolutions,” he urged.

“Eight million people are stranded in their houses in the occupied valley due to prolonged curfew, which has caused shortage of medicines, food and other basic necessities of life. Kashmiris are even deprived of their religious obligations,” he said.

Raja Farooq Haider said through the large scale genocide of Kashmiris, India wanted to change the demographic composition of the disputed region, which would be resisted at all costs.

He said Indian forces were also targeting the civilian population residing along the Line of Control (LoC) through heavy and banned ammunition to shift the focus of international community from its atrocities in the IHK. The premier warned that if India attacked Azad Kashmir, then an unstoppable large scale war would break out between Pakistan and India.

He said the people of liberated area will fight shoulder to shoulder with their valiant armed forces to foil the nefarious designs of the enemy. Farooq Haider expressed profound gratitude to all overseas Kashmiris, American Pakistanis, and Sikh community for exposing the ugly face of India through their active participation and expressing solidarity with the oppressed people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Other speakers at the rally, including Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chaudhry Abid Sher Ali, Sardar Sawar Khan and Senator Capt (R) Shaheen Butt, called on the Indian government to immediately reinstate the protected status of the disputed state, lift the siege and enter into peaceful negotiations to determine the future of IHK in accordance with the UN resolutions.

A prominent Sikh leader, Sardar Amarjit Singh, also voiced support for the cause of Kashmir and reaffirmed his call for the establishment of Khalistan. Meanwhile, addressing a reception given in his honor by the overseas Pakistanis and Kashmiris, the AJK premier said thorough an already evolved strategy after thorough consultation with all political forces in the state, initially protest demonstrations will be staged all over the world following a big protest march towards the LoC.

Lauding the professional capability of Pakistan Army, he expressed full confidence in the command of Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. The prime minister urged overseas Kashmiris and Pakistanis to continue to play their effective role in highlighting Kashmir issue in its true perspective and exposing the ugly face of India.