ISLMABAD, JUNE 26: Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has said that India in Indian Occupied Kashmir has crossed all limits of barbarity and aggression in its attempts to quell the voice of the Kashmiris whose only demand is freedom from Indian occupation. “India will never succeed in its dastardly designs to subdue the freedom movement in IOK”, he said.
The President made these remarks while addressing a condolence reference organised by the National Press Club (NPC) in memory of veteran journalist Shujaat Bukhari who was martyred on June 14 in IOK.
President Masood Khan while paying rich tribute to the martyred journalist, said that Shujaat Bukhari was a seasoned professional who was a shining beacon for journalists in IOK, Azad Kashmir and Pakistan. He said the murder of Shujaat Bukhari has exposed the India and how it systematically is targeting the intelligentsia in IOK, who are raising their voice for a peaceful and amicable solution to this long-standing dispute.
The President said that the martyrdom of Shujaat Bukhari had shocked everyone in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. He said that he was an intellect with in-depth knowledge of the dispute and its current dynamics. He said, Shujaat wanted to further the role of Kashmiris who had been relegated to helpless bystanders to the dispute by India and that he believed India’s use of force was in no way a solution to the issue and the resolution of this dispute is only possible if the people of Kashmir are allowed to exercise their political will.
Terming the report issued by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation in IOK as a major milestone, the President also commended the bold role of the High Commissioner in publishing this eye-opening report despite incessant Indian lobbying to keep it under wraps. “This report is undeniably a major milestone which exposes India’s horrid face to the world” , he said.
President Azad Kashmir said that report points to gross human right violations in IOK, including murders, rapes, ransacking of homes, illegal incarcerations and extrajudicial killings. He said that apart from these obvious violations, India is trying to change the demographic status of Jammu and Kashmir by amending their constitutions and settling Hindu pandits and retired soldiers from other parts of India.
The President also commended the role of Pakistan’s Foreign Office in highlighting the Kashmir issue and raising their voice at various international forums. He said that Kashmir will always be the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy and we would never compromise on our stance.
President Masood Khan urged that we as a nation must forge unity amongst our ranks. He added that by using traditional and modern means of communication and leveraging the strengths of the Pakistan-Kashmiri diaspora we must raise the profile of the Kashmir dispute. He said that we must ingress into the global civil society, especially the Indian civil society in order to make them aware of the on-ground situation in IOK. Being the only diplomatic window for the Kashmiri people, he said that we must strive for a diplomatically, economically and politically strong Pakistan and AJK. – PR
