'PDM holding rallies only to reassure their workers'

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said that disappointment had spread within the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and that they were only holding rallies to reassure their workers so that the frustration doesn’t spread among them.

“We are aware of PDM’s internal turmoil and differences among them on the issue of submitting resignations,” FM Qureshi said adding that difference within Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam- Fazal (JUI-F)’s leadership were visible to everyone.

He added that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had taken a clear stand on the sit-ins whereas the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also given its opinion on the inconvenience caused to the people due to sit-ins.

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Talking about the law and order situation in the region, FM Qureshi said that Pakistan was satisfied that the world had supported the country’s narrative of the past two years.

The foreign minister was referring to the unprecedented development, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom (UK) on January 14 held a debate on the “critical situation” in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), rejecting the “argument that Kashmir is an internal matter of New Delhi”.

The debate on IIOJK, proposed by Labour MP Sarah Owen, saw all parliamentarians in agreement “to hold the Indian government accountable for its abusive behaviour, especially in the Kashmir Valley”.

They also hoped that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is due to make a visit to India at some point, will raise the IIOJK issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seek his reassurance that “all is being done to seek a permanent solution to the Kashmir dispute”.

In today’s statement, FM Qureshi said that India was propagating that IIOJK was their internal issue but the British parliamentarians made it clear that it was a global one on which there are many Security Council resolutions.

“This is not an internal matter of India at all,” Qureshi added. “India was giving the impression to the world that the situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir has returned to normalcy but the British parliamentarians opened the floodgates of India's false claims.”

This is a source of encouragement for Kashmiris; he said adding that it would further expose India.

“Millions of Indian soldiers were oppressing Kashmiris; Kashmiri youths were being arrested without justification and incidents of abuse against women were happening frequently,” he said.

He reiterated that thousands of Kashmiris were bound and no hearing was being held whereas independent observers were not being given access to the occupied territories and international media representatives were also not being allowed to visit IIOJK.

Read More: UK MPs reject India’s stance on Kashmir

The foreign minister hoped that the incoming Biden-administration would take up important responsibilities in the region as they were aware of the atrocities being perpetrated on Kashmiris.

“We expect him (Joe Biden) to raise his voice in the US Congress to save the unarmed Kashmiris from the Indian military siege,” Qureshi said.

Regarding Afghanistan, the foreign minister said that Pakistan had been constantly striving for lasting peace in Afghanistan and would continue to play a conciliatory role in this whole process.

“India is playing the role of a spoiler in peace efforts in Afghanistan, by making a vicious attempt to use Afghan territory against Pakistan,” Qureshi said. “We have also informed the Afghan authorities of this situation and are continuing to present this evidence to the world.”