Overseas Kashmiris laud Pakistan for UN statement

TeK UK president urges Islamabad to appoint special deputy foreign minister-level official for Kashmir cause

BIRMINGHAM:

Lauding Pakistan for reiterating its policy on Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) at the UN General Assembly, Kashmiris across the globe urged Islamabad to announce a special deputy foreign minister-level official, dedicated to Kashmir cause.

“Kashmiris are indebted to the state of Pakistan for its realistic stand and policy on Kashmir which was reiterated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the UNGA in September," said Fahim Kayani, leader of UK-based Tehreek-e-Kashmir.

“This is despite the fact that Pakistan faces challenges from all sides but standing by people of IIOJK for their demand of right to self-determination according to the UN resolutions speaks volumes about sincerity of state of Pakistan.”

Talking about the regional situation at the UNGA, Premier Shehbaz had said Pakistan is seeking peace with all its neighbours, including India. "Sustainable peace and stability in South Asia, however, remains contingent upon a just and lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute."

Read more: FO condemns extrajudicial killings in IIOJK

He said that India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019, to change the internationally recognised “disputed” status of IIOJK undermined the prospects of peace and inflamed regional tensions.

India’s relentless campaign of repression against Kashmiris has continued to grow in scale and intensity, he said, adding New Delhi had ramped up its military deployments in IIOJK to 900,000 troops, thus making it the most militarised zone in the world.

"The serial brutalisation of Kashmiris takes many forms: extrajudicial killings, incarceration, custodial torture and death, indiscriminate use of force, deliberate targeting of Kashmiri youth with pellet guns, and ‘collective punishments’ imposed on entire communities,” Sharif told the UNGA.

Kayani said the people of IIOJK look at Islamabad for breaking the status quo imposed by the west on the diplomatic front on Kashmir due to the rising strategic importance of India to the US and its allies.

“This means we have to re-strategise and take steps that break the status powerful nations have imposed on solving Kashmir according to wishes of people of IIOJK,” Kayani said.

The Tehreek-e-Kashmir UK leaders said Kashmiris across the board demand that Islamabad appoints a special deputy foreign minister who will be authorised only to work on Kashmir cause.

Recalling the sacrifices of Kashmiris, Kayani said it is incumbent upon the state of Pakistan and Kashmiri diaspora activists to work continuously to seek the release of Masarat Alam, Shabir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Asiya Andrabi, Peer Saifullah, Ghulam Muhammad Bhat, Muhammad bin Qasim, Nahida Nasreen, Fehmeeda Sofi, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Mehraj uddin Kalwal, Ayaz Akbar, Nayeem Ahmad Khan and others.

“They are our faces of the resistance movement against illegal Indian occupation and it is our responsibility to keep speaking for them,” Kayani said, condemning India’s terror-inflicting agency, the so-called NIA, for opposing court application of Asiya Andrabi and other resistance leaders against attachment of their properties.

India has not just arrested the resistance leaders but attached their properties for they stand against illegal military occupation in Kashmir.

“These are costs of conviction for standing against India in Kashmir,” Kayani said, referring to the illegal attachment of houses of the resistance leaders by India.