Modi inadvertently made world aware of IHK situation: AJK president

MIRPUR: Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan on Tuesday said the Modi-led BJP government had made a grave mistake by unilaterally deciding the revocation of Articles 370 and 35-A.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, had inadvertently made the whole world aware of the situation in Indian-held Kashmir by imposing a severe curfew and communication lockdown in the territory. He made these comments while addressing the oath-taking ceremony of the Kashmir Human Rights Volunteers organised by the Kashmir National Alliance in Lahore, the AJK Presidential Secretariat said in a statement released to the media here.

The ceremony was hosted by Muhammad Ali Durrani, former senator and federal minister. The president praised the host for initiating such a massive movement and thanked him and his organisation on behalf of the people of Azad Kashmir and Held Kashmir. He thanked the people of Lahore for coming out and showing their support for the plight of the Kashmiris. He said people here should be grateful that they were free and living their lives according to their wishes.

He said that in IHK, Kashmiris were living under siege and were being brutalized by the barbaric Indian occupation forces. He said India continued to flaunt the Kashmir dispute as a bilateral issue.

“We must not talk to India on the bilateral plain, as they use this tactic to prolong their hold in Kashmir by scuttling the agenda and timeline of the talks,” he added.

No talks or solution to the Kashmir dispute would be accepted without the consent of the Kashmiri people, he said and lamented the lax attitude of the United Nations Security Council which, after one informal session, was yet to convene subsequent sessions on the deteriorating condition in IHK. Masood said 900,000 active troops were fighting innocent unarmed Kashmiris.

During curfew, 10,000 Kashmiris had been arrested, he said. Houses were raided, women were molested and young Kashmiris were forcibly picked up and tortured in jails.

He said the BJP government and its operatives believed in Hindu supremacy and were jeopardising the peace and security of South Asia by their actions. They were the 21st-century manifestation of Nazi and Fascist regimes that led to death and destruction in the last century, he said.