AJK president pays tributes to IIOJ&K people for resisting colonialism

Masood Khan says Indian rulers are pushing the region to the brink of war

MUZAFFARABAD:

President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Sardar Masood Khan on Friday paid tributes to the valiant people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJ&K) for their resilience to face the Modi government's barbaric scorched-earth policy and their resolve to resist colonialism and foreign occupation.

“We are with our brothers and sisters in IIOJ&K until together, we repulse the Indian invasion and wrestle down the monster of Hindutva which is feeding on Kashmiri lives and rights,” he said in a video message to the Kashmiri people in connection with August 5.

He said that this day has gone down as the blackest day in the history of Kashmir as on this day last year 900,000 Indian occupational forces invaded IIOJ&K and re-occupied it. "Ever since they have been brutalising the people and colonising the territory."

The AJK president said Indian troops have killed hundreds of young men, incarcerated thousands of boys and children and forcibly disappeared Kashmiris. "All freedom leaders are under illegal detention. Concentration camps have been set up in the occupied territory in order to force political activists to discard their quest for liberty."

He pointed out that late last year, illicitly, India bifurcated the disputed territory into two parts and declared that they would be ruled by New Delhi, without the consent of the people. "In another sinister move this year, India has launched massive import and transfer of Hindus from India to settle them in the occupied territory in order to change the demographic composition of the state. This is a flagrant violation of the fourth Geneva Convention and international law."

He observed that the scale at which these atrocities are being committed has been rightly termed as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. He added that Kashmiris are being exterminated; they are being made aliens in their own land, homeless in their homeland.

“The full-fledged aggression against Kashmiris is driven by the neo-fascist Hindutva doctrine and settler colonialism. We see a replication of the Nazi policies in the occupied territory.”

President Masood said Indian rulers and armed forces, through their warmongering, ceasefire violations and threats to attack Azad Kashmir and disintegrate Pakistan, are pushing the region to the brink of war. "In fact, they have declared multiple wars against all their neighbouring and even against their own population."

Expressing deep gratitude to the international media, world parliaments, international civil society and human rights organisations for calling out India’s revolting and despicable crimes against humanity and for speaking up for the oppressed and besieged Kashmiris, he regretted that with the exception of China, Turkey, Malaysia, Iran and West European countries, the response of the most powerful nations has been disappointing and faltering.

He also thanked the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for its strong solidarity with the Kashmiris; and the periodic statements issued by the UN leadership. "But this is not enough. We demand action."

The AJK president appealed to the international community, especially the United Nations, to step forward and help us liberate the people of IIOJ&K. "Otherwise, it would be too late. The entire people will be disenfranchised, dispossessed, displaced and destroyed altogether."

In another video message, President Masood paid homage to Ghazi-e-Millat Sardar Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, saying that undoubtedly he was a hero of the liberation movement and a popular Kashmiri leader who had got a resolution of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan passed at his residence in Srinagar on 19 July 1947 was also instrumental in declaring war against Maharaja Hari Singh’s forces and liberating of one-third part of Kashmir. "If India had not landed its troops in Srinagar on 27 October 1947, the whole Jammu and Kashmir would have formed Pakistan today, he added.

Terming late Ghazi-e-Millat as an honest, upright and most clean politician of his time, the AJK president said that best tribute to our founder leader is to dedicate all our abilities for strengthening and reinforcing Kashmir liberation struggle while adhering to his principles and thoughts. He urged the youth of AJK to follow the footsteps of late Ghazi-e-Millat to achieve desired goals in life.

In a special message on the eve of Festival of Sacrifice, he expressed the confidence that the day is not far off when the Kashmiri people would celebrate Eidul Azha and observe the Sunnah-e-Ibrahimi in an environment of liberty by virtue of the unprecedented sacrifices they have offered for their supreme cause of freedom from the usurper.

He said that on this Eidul Azha, on the one hand, the people of Occupied Kashmir who are faced with the worst siege of their homeland by India, are fighting the novel coronavirus while on the other, the Indian rulers and the occupational forces have tied them like animals, and dozens of youth are being martyred on a daily basis.

While extending Eid greetings to the people of IIOJ&K, the AJK president assured that the people of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir would continue to support their freedom struggle till the occupied territory is liberated from usurper India.

He also assured the people of Occupied Kashmir that their brethren in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir stood shoulder to shoulder with them and they would cross all limit for the freedom of their Kashmiri brethren from the Indian yoke.