EU lawmaker proposes trade, travel restrictions on India amid IOK lockdown

AJK president welcomes EU initiatives, cautions about imminent risk of genocide of Muslim population in IOK

MUZAFFARABAD: As the clampdown in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) has crossed a month, a European parliamentarian has proposed “trade sanctions and travel restrictions on those involved in the acts of terrorism and human rights violations in the Muslim-majority state”.

While addressing a conference held in Brussels, Co-Chair of Friends of Kashmir group in European Parliament (EP) Richard Corbett also called for utilising all possible means to mount pressure on the government in New Delhi to ease the ongoing lockdown in the disputed Himalayan region.

According to an official statement, the conference was attended by Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan which was jointly organised by Friends of Kashmir Group in the EP and Jammu-Kashmir Self-Determination Movement, at the European Parliament on Thursday.

September 12; Brussels: At the Friends of Kashmir Conference at the European Parliament. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/lsheNduubs

— Masood Khan (@Masood__Khan) September 13, 2019

EU lawmakers, who are members of Friends of Kashmir Group, briefed the participants of the summit on their visit to AJK last month where they met victims of Indian cross-border firing along Line of Control (LoC).

They also interacted with a wide range of people – including journalists, civil society organisations, physicians, teachers, students and lawyers – and gathered first-hand information.

The EU lawmakers called upon the Indian government to provide them the similar kind of access in Occupied Kashmir.



AJK President Masood, while addressing the session, welcomed the European Parliament's decision of holding a debate on September 17 over the situation in IOK, saying the decision reflected growing concern in Europe over the deteriorating human rights situation in the disputed region.

He cautioned about imminent risk of genocide of Muslim population in IOK and called for swift action by the international community.

The AJK president also apprised the participants about the implications of the Modi administration's unilateral decision to revoke Articles 370 and 35A on August 5 under which outsiders were allowed to buy property in the India's only Muslim-majority state .

He also urged the world community to take firm steps to check the worst human rights violations at the hands of Indian forces in the occupied territory.

"Trade relations with India should be linked to human rights situation in Occupied Kashmir," he added.

The president also thanked European Parliament's foreign affairs committee for holding an in-camera session on Kashmir on the 2nd of this month and taking proactive initiatives on IOK and raising awareness about the deteriorating human rights condition in the valley.

Those who spoke on the occasion included members of European parliament Anthea McIntyre, Mohammad Shaffaq, John Howarth, Irena Von Weise, Theresa Griffin and Raja Najabat Hussain who is chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Self Determination Movement.