Freedom is near, PM Imran tells AJK assembly

Premier Visits Muzaffarabad on Kashmir Solidarity Day; warns corrupt will not be spared


​ Our Correspondent February 05, 2020

MUZAFFARABAD: [fbvideo link="https://www.facebook.com/etribune/videos/174243813854079/"][/fbvideo]

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said that New Delhi move to revoke the special status of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) on August 5 exposed the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it would pave way for the independence of the region.

Addressing the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad, the prime minister termed the Kashmir issue a diplomatic and political struggle and announced the formation of a committee in consultation with the AJK government to further highlight the issue.

“If the Indian prime minister had not annexed the [IOK] region, he would not have been exposed,” the prime minister told the AJK legislators. “No one in the world would have been listening about Kashmir issue had Modi not made that mistake,” he added.

“Kashmiris should not be disappointed. “On that day [Aug 5] Modi made a fatal mistake, one that he could not step back from. He [Modi] is in panic. Kashmir will now hopefully gain its independence. Only those nations rise to prominence, which overcome the difficult times.”

Imran trashed Modi’s war rhetoric, saying that it was the result of his desperation from the internal turmoil. Modi did it only to please followers of RSS philosophy, he continued. India would be delusional if it believed that they could defeat Pakistan within 11 days, he said.

“We both are nuclear-armed states. A normal person cannot make such statements,” Imran said. “Modi only wants followers. The Indian army chief also said that India will conquer Azad Kashmir on the orders of the parliament. Only nervous people make such statements.”

Imran cautioned that the Indian government could stage a false flag operation like the one in the aftermath of Pulwama to divert world attention away from its internal havoc. He reminded the AJK legislators to be careful about India’s game plan.

Under the RSS ideology and a systematic mechanism, minorities in India were targeted, he said, adding the recent citizenship laws would directly affect 500 million people in that country, including about 200 million Muslims.

Imran reminded the AJK lawmakers that he had promised to become the ambassador of Kashmir and he tried his best to raise the issue at all the international forums, including the UN General Assembly, refugee conference in Geneva, as well as in his talks with the heads of different countries.

The European countries have started realising the alarming situation in India, he said, adding: “For the first time, about 600 EU parliamentarians supported the resolution over Kashmir.” Media in the West is expressing concerns over the grave threat which India posed to the Kashmiris.

The prime minister also maintained that the word “Islamic terrorism” was used as propaganda and regretted that the Muslim leaders had never fully explained it. “There is no relation between the religion and terrorism,” he said.

No reconciliation with corrupt

Earlier, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider in his address said Kashmir Solidarity Day this year had assumed great significance after August 5 last year, when the Indian government took illegal and unilateral steps to revoke the special status of IOK.

Haider pleaded to the prime minister to opt for reconciliation with other parties, indirectly alluding to certain leaders of political parties, who had been facing corruption cases. In his speech, however, Imran vehemently opposed the idea.

He said he was a democrat and reaffirmed his firm stance against corruption. He maintained that he had no personal enmity with anyone but “if anyone had looted the national wealth or committed corruption, how could he be spared?” he said: “It’s fight against corruption.”

He lamented that every government entity was corrupted. “History proves the efficacy of democratic system… There is prosperity and less poverty in better democratic dispensations, while others lagged behind,” he pointed out.

Imran stressed that availability of resources was not the cause of poverty, but graft and corruption was. “The reason for prosperous nations is the functioning of a clean and transparent government,” he added.

“Take the example of China which had sent about 450 ministerial-level people in jail whereas in the US and Europe, corruption-tainted people were put behind bars even after lapse of so many years,” he emphasised.

On the domestic front, the prime minister reiterated the commitment to steer the country out of difficult times and make Pakistan a great nation.

The legislative assembly session began with the AJK and the Pakistan anthems. Speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir welcomed Imran as well as the other government officials who were accompanying the prime minister.

Earlier in the day, Imran arrived in Muzaffarabad to express solidarity with the oppressed people of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. He was received by AJK President Sardar Masood Khan, Prime Minister Haider, Speaker Ghulam Qadir and other officials.

With input from APP

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