'India neither democratic nor a secular state'

AJK president also calls upon international community to move forward instead of relying on hollow statements

MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan on Sunday said that India's claims of  being the world's largest democratic state stood nullified to the entire world.

"India is neither democratic nor a secular state where minorities and non-Hindu people are being denied their right to live," said Masood in a video message aired by media on the occasion of India's Republic Day.

“People who love freedom across the world – particularly people of Pakistan and Kashmir – are observing black day today to expose India's hegemonic and fanatic designs, especially the oppressive face of ruling Bharatia Janata Party (BJP) and its ally RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh],” he added.

Lamenting on the fact that even after 72 long years, India continues to occupy the Muslim majority state of Kashmir, the AJK president said that now under a satanic plan New Delhi is ousting Kashmiri people from their homeland.

"The plan is designed for ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri people and the turn the Muslim majority of Kashmir into a minority,” he added.

On August 5, India had stripped Occupied Kashmir of the special autonomy it had for seven decades through a rushed presidential order.

By repealing Article 370 of the constitution, people from the rest of India are now have the right to acquire property in the Himalayan valley and settle there permanently.

 

While pointing out at the several attempts the Modi regime made to impose its fascism on the Indian Muslims and other minorities, the AJK president said that whole of India had risen up against the BJP and the RSS, and "thus the extremist approach of Narendra Modi paved the way for Kashmir-like uprising in the length and cranny of his own country".

Army chief reassures AJK president of full military support to Kashmir cause

"We convey to India to lift its occupation of Kashmir, pull back its troops, end the siege and grant right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people," President Masood said, adding that Indian rulers and military chiefs must stop threatening to wage war on "Azad Kashmir and Pakistan, otherwise, the brunt of even minor mistake will have to be borne by coming generations".

He added: "Today is certainly the blackest day because the people of Occupied Kashmir are faced with the Indian brutalities and barbarity.”

The AJK president also called upon the international community particularly the United Nations to move forward, and instead of relying on hollow statements, take concrete steps to prevent ethnic cleansing of the Kashmiri people.

He also paid glowing tributes to detained Hurriyat leaders and hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri people for offering resistance and sacrifices amidst Indian brutalities in the disputed valley.