‘Opposition has united due to accountability measures’

K-P minister urges international rights organisations to take note of Indian aggression in IOK

PESHAWAR: Owing to the across the board accountability drive launched by the government, all the opposition parties were banding together.

This was stated by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai in a statement about the Black Day being observed by Kashmiris across the world to protest against Indian occupation of the disputed Himalayan territory.

In the statement, Yousafzai urged the international community, especially international human rights organisations, to take notice of New Delhi’s aggression in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

Condemning the aggression of Indian forces against innocent Kashmiris, he said that residents of Jammu and Kashmir should never feel that they are alone since Pakistan will always raise a voice for their rights.

“India will have to one day answer for its aggression against innocent Kashmiris,” the provincial information minister stated.

He added that India had started committing brutalities against innocent Kashmiris 71 years ago. While the tactics used to suppress independent movements in IOK had changed, the lives and properties of Kashmiris remain in danger.

“Pellet guns are being used which have left thousands of innocent Kashmiris blind,” he said, adding, “innocent Kashmiris are being picked up by the Indian army and then killed in custody.”

Referring to the renewal of the alliance between all the opposition parties, Yousafzai stated that this show of unity was the result of the across the board accountability.

He explained that heads of opposition parties, including deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, former president Asif Zardari, Awami National Party (ANP) leader Asfandyar Wali Khan and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F)  chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman all feared accountability.

Yousafzai also aimed a dig at the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) governments, claiming that not only did they destroy state institutions, they also emptied the national treasury.

Regardless, Yousafzai expressed his confidence in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ability to steer the country out of its current crisis.

Yousafzai then joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed and former test cricketer Shoaib Akhtar as they departed for Denmark and Norway to raise funds for the Dam Fund.

The information minister claimed that the tour is being conducted on party funds rather than public money.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2018.