AJK PM urges world to take notice of Indian atrocities in Kashmir

KARACHI: Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi on Sunday urged the international community to take notice of the atrocities and suppression of the Indian occupation forces over the innocent people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) and other minority communities across India.

“Muslims of India, particularly the people of IIOJ&K were living a miserable life under the oppressive and tyrannical rule of India and they were being subjected to vendetta of RSS and Modi government. Even the Kashmiris living on the Pakistani side of Line of Control (LoC) were not safe from the Indian atrocities as they were the target of Indian guns from across the LoC and their daily life was disrupted due to firing and shelling by the Indian forces,” said the AJK PM while addressing a press conference at PTI leader Haleem Adil Shiekh’s residence in Karachi.

Deputy Speaker AJK Assembly Chaudhry Riaz Gujjar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Mehmood Moulvi, MNA Jai Parkash, Members of Sindh Assembly Khurram Sher Zaman, Raja Azhar, Sead Afridi, Jamal Siddiqui, Rabistan Khan, Advisor to the Governor Sindh Ali Junejo and the PTI leaders and workers were present on the occasion.

The AJK PM paid homage to the people and leadership of Jammu and Kashmir who, despite the brutalities and carnage of the Indian barbaric forces, were determined and fighting on every front for their right to self-determination. “I myself belong to a village situated near the LOC that incessantly receive bullets and shells fired from the other side,” he said.

He said that the US, UK, European Union, United Nations, and the international human rights organizations had turned deaf ears to the hue and cry of the oppressed people of IIOJ&K and minorities of India. Even the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had failed to sense the miseries of the people of occupied-Kashmir, Palestine, and Rohingya communities of Myanmar and did not play a proactive role in providing solace to the Muslims suffering atrocities and oppression, he added.

He said that he conveyed the same feelings to the visiting delegation of OIC and urged them to exercise their influence over the US, EU, and United Nations for protecting the minorities of India, particularly the people of IIOJ&K from the repression of brutal Indian forces and extremist RSS.

The AJK PM said that the minorities in Pakistan were enjoying equal rights and availing all the facilities like other citizens of the country as they have equal opportunities of participation in the political and social life as well as the economic activities.

He lauded Prime Minister Imran Khan for raising his voice for the people of IIOJ&K in the United Nations and announcing Rs500 billion packages for the development and promotion of tourism in Azad Jammu and Kashmir that would open the vistas of development and help uplift the standard of living in the valley. The work on different projects under the package has been initiated, he added. He criticised the previous AJK governments saying that the PMLN’s AJK government left difficulties and created hurdles for the upcoming government. The PMLN recruited over five thousand people by violating the merit and regularised their services just four days before the expiry of their term by an act, he said, adding that the PTI government has enacted a law that entails regularisation of services with a test to ensure career opportunities on the basis of merit.

He said the PMLN cabinet throughout its five-year tenure consisted of 33 ministers but at the eleventh hour they restricted the cabinet size to 16 members, adding: “People of Kashmir have rejected the PMLN as they only gained five seats in the previous elections.” “PTI has no issue to work with 16 ministers as they were determined to serve the masses by dealing with all the difficulties,” he said.