Standing by Kashmiris is Jihad: PM

ISLAMABAD: Arriving back home to a hero’s welcome after successfully presenting the Kashmir case in the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said supporting Kashmiris was Jihad and Pakistan will stand by them whether the world stood with them or not.

The premier thanked the nation and his spouse for praying for him and his delegation to emphatically present the Kashmir case in the United Nations General Assembly.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leadership led hundreds of charged party workers to the Islamabad International Airport to greet the prime minister, who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

A boisterous crowd welcomed him as he came out to address them. He remarked, “First of all, I thank my nation. The way you prayed for me, for us, to be able to present Kashmir's case before the UN. I especially thank Bushra Bibi because she prayed a lot for us”. He was welcomed by the party workers and his admirers, several of whom carried banners and posters inscribed with slogans in his praise and condemnation of India and highlighting the miseries of Kashmiris.

The prime minister made it clear that Pakistan was standing with Kashmir. He asserted, “Whether the world stands with Kashmiris or not, Pakistan is standing by them. And we are standing by them because we want to please Allah”.

About the almost two-month siege of the IOK by the Indian occupation forces, he said India had trapped eight million people in a curfew. He asked as to why the Indian leadership was scared of allowing the oppressed Kashmiris to speak.

He remarked, “I want to remind you that a struggle goes through highs and lows. There are good times and bad times; don’t worry. Because Kashmiris are looking towards you, and God willing, they will win, they will get independence”.

He continued that all Kashmiris, their women and children, were looking to Pakistan and its people. “We will expose this fascist Modi's government, this Muslim hating government at every platform. I have said this before to you that man makes effort while success is granted by God”.

He reiterated his government’s resolve that Pakistan would continue supporting the just struggle of the people of Kashmir and sooner than later they would achieve their goal of freedom. He called upon the people of Pakistan to remain steadfast in supporting their Kashmiri brethren in their struggle against the Indian aggression.

Among those who welcomed the prime minister were Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Special Assistant to the PM on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Shah Farman and former finance minister Asad Umar.

A smiling prime minister, who appeared composed, shook hands with the cabinet members and waved at his slogan-chanting supporters, who had eagerly waited for him.

Scores of banners and posters were put up at the main thoroughfares in the federal capital. Earlier, convoys of cars and pickup trucks carrying PTI workers from different parts of the country were seen entering the capital ahead of the prime minister's arrival.

Pakistan’s response: Meanwhile, Pakistan Saturday submitted to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) its right to reply in response to Indian remarks on Prime Minister Imran Khan's speech.

Zulqarnain Chheena, a diplomat of the Pakistani mission, while exercising his right to reply said PM Imran had exposed the real cruel face of Indian state terrorism before the world.

Chheena said India had been committing state terrorism in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir for the last thirty years. He said the Indian government was carrying forward the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) agenda.

“The killers of Mahatma Gandhi are now ruining the secular face of India in occupied Kashmir,” he asserted. Chheena further said Pakistan arrested Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav who admitted involvement in various incidents of terrorism inside Pakistan. He added, PM Imran in his speech to UNGA, highlighted Indian atrocities in the occupied Kashmir and on minorities inside India.