Modi stuck in blind alley over Aug 5 Kashmir blunder: Imran

MUZAFFARABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday his Indian counterpart’s miscalculations will culminate in occupied Kashmir’s freedom and branded India as an “oppressor and aggressor” on the anniversary of New Delhi’s imposition of direct rule on the disputed territory.

“They [Narendra Modi government] are up in a blind alley,” Khan said while addressing the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly. He added: “If they backtrack, they lose Kashmir. If they prolong [the siege in Kashmir], the world is watching them… If they go to the extent of crushing the Kashmiri people, it will prompt the world reaction.”

His address came as Pakistan and the AJK observed Youm-e-Istehsal (Day of Exploitation) to mark the first anniversary of India’s illegal actions of August 5, 2019.

The session started with the recitation of the Holy Quran and Na’at following which the national anthems of Pakistan and Kashmir were played. The session was chaired by AJK Legislative Assembly Speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir.

The proceedings were attended by AJK President Sardar Masood Khan and Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, as well as members of the assembly.

Cabinet ministers Shibli Faraz and Ali Amin Gandapur, Kashmir Committee Chairman Shahryar Afridi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Moeed Yousuf and others were present in the galleries.

“It looks as if all of you, from the inside, are a bit feeling like you have lost,” he told the parliamentarians. “I on the other hand believe that Kashmiris are going through an era [of suffering] which God-willing will end in victory for them,” he added.

The Prime Minister said the main reason behind India’s August 5 move was “pride”. He said Modi thought the world would back India and stay silent as he assumed that the West wanted to use India as a counterforce to China. “Let me tell you: nations have made huge blunders in the past based on proud decisions,” Khan added.

The Prime Minister said many world leaders and countries around the world did not even know what was going on in occupied Kashmir. He said the Western media had criticised India on such a large scale for the first time in the past year ever since it undertook the August 5 move.

Khan also announced that Pakistan will honour Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani with the Nishan-e-Pakistan award. The Premier described him as a “big leader” of not only Kashmir, but also of the region.

The Prime Minister, who earlier led a solidarity walk in the AJK capital alongside AJK president and Premier, said India had committed a “strategic blunder” on August 5 last year. He said the situation, which Kashmir was currently going through, would ultimately culminate into the freedom of Kashmir. “India stands exposed before the world, yet again, as an oppressor and aggressor,” Khan said in a statement. “Its so-called secular and democratic credentials stand fully discredited,” he added, calling India’s action last year a “crime against humanity”.

Khan accused India of trying to turn Kashmir’s Muslim majority into a minority by ending restrictions on outsiders buying up property “in blatant violation of... UN Security Council Resolutions and international laws”.

In Islamabad, a one-minute silence was held, along with a rally led by President Arif Alvi. “India has learned from Israel how to change the demography,” Alvi told the rally. Hundreds of billboards and banners displayed images of human rights violations by Indian authorities.