MIRPUR (AJK): (Altaf Hamid Rao) Sardar Masood Khan, President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has said
that the UK should help the people of Kashmir in finding a peaceful solution of the Kashmir issue and put an end to their suffering inflicted on them every by the Indian occupation forces.
Speaking to the newly elected members of the Britrish House of Commons in Manchester late Sunday including MPs Tony Loyd, Jeff Smith, Liz McInnes, Afzal Khan, Yasmin Qureshi, Faisal Rashid, Jim McMohan, Angela Rayner and Debbie Abraham and MEP Wajid Khan, Masood Khan said that India cannot resolve the Kashmir dispute by state terrorism practiced by its occupational forces in the territory and by silencing the voices of the masses demanding freedom and the right to self-determination.
“There is a human rights and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Kashmir every day. India has cordoned off the Occupied Kashmir and is killing youth in Kashmir with impunity. Rampaging soldiers have been given immunity from prosecutionâ€, he said according to a message reaching to this Correspondent here Sunday night.
“The occupation forces’ writ in IOK is illegitimate and they use, what Amnesty International calls, ‘lawless laws’ to kill and terrorize Kashmiris and then demonize Kashmiris as extremistsâ€, President Masood Khan, currently on visit to Britian heading an AJK delegation said.
“India prefers the gun over the negotiating table and that too against unarmed people . What kind of moral compass does it have? â€, he asked.
Sardar Masood Khan urged the British parliamentarians to raise the profile of Kashmir in the House of Commons and make it more responsive and vocal on the plight of Kashmiris. The British Parliament, he said, can play a role in exploring a peaceful solution of the Kashmir dispute. He said that bipartisan consensus on Kashmir within the UK will help the cause of Kashmir immensely.
The AJK President said that the United Kingdom, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, can play a pivotal role in activating the United Nations in implementing its resolutions and promoting respect for international law, international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
Sardar Masood Khan complained that Kashmiris were a victim of double standards. Some nations, who champion human rights elsewhere, have chosen to side with the oppressor – India – because of their profit interests or misplaced strategic considerations.
Sardar Masood Khan reiterated the resolve of the Kashmiri people that they would continue their struggle until they attain freedom from India’s occupation.
President Masood Khan invited British MPs to visit Azad Kashmir to see how the people on this side of the Line of Control were enjoying freedom.
