Indian atrocities: Killings in IOK tantamount to genocide, says Masood

AJK president says silence of powerful nations distressing

President Azad State of Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Muhammad Masood Khan on Saturday said that the killings in Indian occupied Kashmir were tantamount to genocide and crimes against humanity.

Speaking to the media at the Manchester airport, the president said that he is on an official visit to apprise the British parliamentarians on the deteriorating situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir.

He lamented the silence of powerful nations of the world over the loss of hundreds of Kashmiri lives and thousands of serious injuries.

“Since July 8 this year, the Indian occupation forces have killed hundreds of civilians, blinded hundreds and seriously injured more than ten thousand people - men, women and children. This is a crime of massive proportions,” he said.

He condemned the killing of a civilian by the Indian armed forces. “Yesterday unarmed Jawaid Mir, who was the only son of his parents and was not participating in any protest, was killed”.

Masood said that the occupation forces had violated the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution recognised by International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in situations of armed conflict. “But here the situation is even more catastrophic because India is using force against unarmed non-combatants,” he stressed adding that the entire population had been made captive and held hostage.

“The stark tragedy that is unfolding in the besieged IOK is that people are being killed, tortured, maimed, blinded and persecuted in their own land by foreign occupation forces,” he added

Pakistan, he said, debunked India’s claim that Indian Occupied Kashmir was its integral part. “Were that so, why would the people of IOK quash that claim every day by their words and deeds? Though the UN has been hesitating to hold a plebiscite because of power politics, the brave people of IOK every day hold a referendum and say no to the Indian rule,” the president said and added that the people had already given their verdict.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2016.