President of Azad Jammu & Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan on Friday while paying glowing tributes to the Kashmiri leadership in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK) has urged Pakistanis and Kashmiris to remain committed and united against Indian propaganda as global community has started rejecting Indian narrative on Kashmir.
Addressing a seminar titled "Self-Determination Day: Voices from Kashmir," jointly organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, he said, "Ascertaining the true aspiration of the Kashmiris is the key to resolve the Kashmir issue."
The AJK president paid tributes to the true Kashmiri leadership including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yaseen Malik, Aasia Andrabi, Ashraf Sehrai and Shabbir Shah for their resolve and commitment.
He said that Shiekh Abdullah's National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti's People Democratic Party have all along been a party to India's massacre, arrests and blinding of the Kashmiri people and "we cannot equate the leaders of these parties to the true representative leadership of the Kashmiris."
He said that the UN alone is not responsible for the failure in implementing its resolutions on Kashmir but India has over the past seven decades stonewalled the process and instead sent 900,000 troops to cement its illegal occupation of the Jammu and Kashmir territory.
India's claim of terrorism in IoK has been a method employed by it to simply avoid talks and maintain a status quo but now time has changed and global community has started rejecting Indian narrative.
Masood Khan said that resolution of Kashmir dispute is not the world's moral obligation but a legal, political and diplomatic obligation.
He said, "We have squandered three decades in futile bilateral dialogues with India and the main reason the issue has remained unresolved is that Kashmiris have not been made a part of structured talks and instead the true leadership has been relegated to the margins."
The AJK president said that India had on August 5 once again invaded IoK and in a planned manner bifurcated the region on October 31. The disputed and special status of the State has been simply downgraded to a municipality. "India has now, in a bid to further agitate the situation, gone to the extent of fabricating maps that include AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan within the territorial boundaries of India," said the President.
Masood Khan said that despite the silence of major world capitals and the disappointing role of the UN Security Council, the international media and major parliaments have spoken up.
"We have been given an opportunity on a global scale and we must not lose this window given to us wherein a factual narrative has been built in favor of the people of Kashmir," he said.
"Kashmiris across the borders and worldwide are committed to one point agenda of achieving our right to self-determination at any cost," he asserted. He said that the people of Kashmir have rejected India's writ and in a display of civil disobedience boycotted the selling of their annual produce leading to losses running into millions of dollars.
He thanked China, Turkey, Malaysia, Finland, Germany and Sweden who have spoken boldly in favor of the just struggle of the Kashmiris. He also informed that the Malaysian Parliament has founded a Kashmir Advocacy Group and the ASEAN has also expressed their interest in establishing a similar group.
Masood Khan said that the siege in IoK has now entered its 160th day and the communication blockade and security lockdown have crippled life in the territory. He said that Guardian in a recent article called India the "Internet shutdown capital of the world." He said that India in its attempts to project an image of normalcy in IoK invited envoys stationed in Delhi to visit Srinagar. The European Union envoy rejected to be part of 'guided tour' proving that India has much to hide in the IoK.
DG ISS Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said that the unilateral action taken by India in Jammu and Kashmir is illegal and in violation of the UN resolutions and the agreements signed between Pakistan and India.
Chairman Kashmir Institute of International Relations, Altaf Wani informed that genocide is taking place in IoK and the identity, culture and very life of the Kashmiris are at risk of annihilation.
Other speakers including Khalid Rehman, Executive Director IPS, said that India has continued to violate its commitments with the UN and in turn, proved that the world order has failed in maintaining peace and security. He added, "We need to bring forward the facts of the dispute and present a long-term strategy for resolution of the Kashmir issue."
Dr Syed Nazir Gillani said, "The UN has acknowledged the right to self-determination to the Kashmir people and we must use all the mechanisms present under the UN Charter for resolving the Kashmir issue."
Syed Abdullah Gillani, convener APHC, said that today is a day of introspection. He said, "Today is a day to renew our commitments towards the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. The people of Kashmir will continue their struggle till the last Indian soldier leaves the land of Jammu and Kashmir."
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