Khizar Hayat Abbasi, |
ISLAMABAD: Sardar Masood Khan, President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, endorsed the statement of Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, in regard to the Pulwama incident. He said that India in the interest of peace and stability in the region should act responsibly and eschew from giving provocative statements.
Prime Minister Khan in a televised address to the nation on Tuesday warned India against any misadventure and said Pakistan will immediately retaliate if India attacks.
“The hype and fanatic frenzy whipped up in India by the ruling party and extremist groups are a systematic incitement to hatred which is violation of international law, national laws and human norms”, he said.
Without any shred of evidence, he said, India has accused Pakistan of being behind the Pulwama attack. People of Azad Kashmir and Pakistan in good faith are ready for any fair, impartial and independent international investigation into the incident. Through such a process, truth would come forth and Pakistan and Kashmiris would have an opportunity to establish beyond a shadow of doubt their adherence to the peaceful diplomatic and political means to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
“Trumped up and fabricated accusations of terrorism should not be used to demonize Kashmiris, who are suffering under Indian oppression, defame Pakistan and suppress the Kashmiris movement for self-determination”, he said.
The international community is horrified by the oppressive operations of the occupation forces in IOK and recently there were voices in the global community to hold India accountable for human rights violations committed by its occupation forces with impunity and to start a Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement. India wants to turn the table on Kashmiris and Pakistan. This would not help resolve the key dispute of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sardar Masood Khan said. Kashmiris firmly believe that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute cannot be resolved through oppression and state terrorism, it requires “diplomatic and political mechanism”, he said.
The president said that India has taken up a despotical and tyrannical posture towards the Kashmiris for the past 71 years and now it wants to spread the same despotism and tyranny to Muslims in India and Pakistan, “This”, he said, “is adding fuel to the fire”.
He appealed to the Indian civil society to not be lead by religious zealots, violent extremists who want to plunge the whole region into communal strife. The Indian civil society, he said, should council the Indian government to defuse and deescalate the tension, promote dialogue and encourage diplomatic overtures, communication between the two sides and steps for ascertaining of the truth.
No doubt India has the right to defend itself; but so have the people of Kashmir and Pakistan, he said. Respect for the rights of the Kashmiris, including their political aspirations for their liberty and self-determination in accordance with UN SC resolution is the key to stability, peace and good neighbourliness in South Asia.
India must not, he said, spurn this path of prudence and statesmanship in favor of religious fanaticism.
“Kashmiris condemn terrorism in all of its manifestations as they have been worst victims in the past 71 years and before that of the tyranny of the Dogra regime.