Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has said that an economically and militarily strong and stable Pakistan was not only the dream of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah but it also guaranteed freedom of the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir as well as protection of the Indian Muslims.
"The principles of faith, unity and discipline set by the great leader are prerequisite to turn Pakistan into economic power and to make it invincible in terms of defence," he noted while speaking to delegations from different strata of life on Saturday.
Masood said that faith, unity and discipline was not merely a political slogan of the great Quaid, but he had personally followed this principle in letter and spirit in his political struggle, and through the inception of Pakistan, he practically proved how much the faith, unity and discipline of the nation were imperative to achieve the goal.
The AJK president said that Quaid-e-Azam was the well-wisher and benefactor of the Kashmiri people in the real sense because he was firm to make Kashmir part of Pakistan, and to materialise the dream of granting democratic, constitutional economic rights to the people of the state. He had visited Kashmir in 1926, 1929, 1936 and 1944, closely watched the plight of the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir, and raised his voice for their political, religious, and socio-economic rights, he added.
Sardar Masood Khan said that in turn, the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir also firmly believe in the political acumen of Quaid-e-Azam and love him.
Citing a message of Quaid-e-Azam to the Kashmiri leadership in 1946, the state president said that in his message, the great leader had called upon the Kashmiri leadership to make their people well-disciplined in educational, socio-economic and political terms, and the struggle for their rights selflessly and firmly, and then no power on the world would be able to deny freedom and legitimate rights to them.
Describing Kashmir liberation struggle as a continuation of two-nation theory, the AJK president said that the worst discriminatory treatment being meted out to Kashmiri people and Indian Muslims under Hindutva agenda has once again proved the political sagacity and farsightedness of Quaid-e-Azam and his colleagues.
Now even pro-India political parties and leaders of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) are realising the authenticity of two-nation theory, he said and made it clear that the theory does not mean denying rights of non-Muslims and minorities in Kashmir.
The AJK president said that in the history of the Jammu and Kashmir state, the Hindu pundits have always been living in peace with the Muslims, and they have not only been appointed on top government positions but discriminatory treatment has also been never extended to them on religious basis.
"It is high time that the whole nation follows political principles of Quaid-e-Azam," he said, adding that the liberation struggle of the Kashmiri people can never succeed nor a safe future of the Muslims of South Asia can be ensured without a strong Pakistan.
Indian firing at LoC condemned
Masood also condemned the shelling in Dara Sher Khan, Tatta Pani and Chakoti sectors along the Line of Control by the Indian forces that resulted in the martyrdom of a teenage girl and injuries to two others including an elderly woman.
In a statement issued from Kashmir House Islamabad on Saturday, the AJK president condemned the targeting of the civilian population in the strongest terms and described it a cowardly act by the Indian Army.
He said that the Indian Army was violating international law by deliberately violating the ceasefire agreement and targeting the unarmed civilians, especially women and children. “It is an attempt by India to divert the world's attention from the situation in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
Masood said that these negative tactics of India can neither stop the people of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir from fighting for freedom nor can the world be deceived. He maintained that India's 900,000 troops were involved in the worst human rights violations, massacres of innocent people and war crimes against humanity in the occupied territory.
In order to cover up their crimes and divert the world's attention from the overall situation in IIOJK, the occupying forces are continuously targeting citizens of Azad Kashmir living in the areas adjacent to the Line of Control.
He said that the Pakistan Army was responding to the cowardly actions of the Indian forces and very carefully targeting only the enemy's military installations but the Indian Army had shifted its artillery inside the population in Occupied Kashmir to use civilians as a human shield.
Strongly condemning the so-called cordon and search operations by the Indian forces in Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Masood said youth are being martyred, maimed and injured in fake encounters by the Indian Army.
He paid tribute to the unparalleled sacrifices of the Kashmiri youth and expressed the hope that the great cause for which they are making sacrifices will surely be achieved. He appealed to the international community, including the United Nations, to take notice of India's heinous crimes, worst human rights violations and aggression against the peaceful civilian population of Azad Kashmir.
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