Occupied Kashmir Is In The Line Of Fire: Masood Khan

MIRPUR (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Feb, 2018 ) , Feb 25 (APP)::President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Sardar Masood Khan has said that the Indian occupied Kashmir - the paradise on earth - was on fire and the world community was not sending any firefighters or peacekeepers to extinguish the raging fires there.

He made these remarks while addressing a convention of British Councilors, Lord Mayors and Mayors in London, hosted by the Pakistan High Commission in the United Kingdom, a message received here on Sunday said.

He paid tribute to Pakistan High Commissioner Ibn-e-Abbas for successfully organizing and hosting the event and congratulated the councilors of Pakistani and Kashmiri extraction for their successful integration into the British political fabric.

He said that this was no accidental fire, but Indian occupation forces were the "arsonists" who would not let any firefighter enter into the region and extinguish the fires. And the world was busy appeasing India and the arsonists instead of sending peacekeepers to the region because they say they have their economic interests tied with that country.

The president also said Jammu and Kashmir was the most obscure conflict in the region where thousands of people are killed, maimed, tortured, and incarcerated every year. Unlike other conflicts, Kashmir has little visibility on the international radar screen and Kashmir is also the least reported conflict, he said.

The United Nations Security Council and the United Nations Secretary General, instead of hiding behind bland statements, should intercede to take full cognizance of the situation in the Indian occupied Kashmir and stop massacres, killings, and illegal detentions.

India would never agree to the UN Secretary General's good offices but why should the SG be deterred by India's non-compliance? The president asked: Has the UN not intervened in South Sudan, Mali, Central African Republic, Yemen, and Libya, without waiting for the consent of the parties to the conflict? Sardar Masood said the UN Security Council should, instead of acting as a bystander in the Kashmir dispute, should take full cognizance of the matter and play its rightful role.

He appealed to the Councilors, mayors and lord mayors to raise the visibility of the Kashmir dispute in the parleys in the legislative bodies, conventions and conferences.

This, he said, could be done by raising questions on the floors, moving resolutions, and holding events on the sidelines.

He said Pakistan should stop talking to India on Kashmir because of three reasons: Kashmir is an international, not a bilateral, dispute; secondly, India has closed all doors for bilateral dialogue; and thirdly, the rounds of bilateral engagement so far have proved to be a mirage and totally unproductive.

The real pressure for the solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute will come from the international forums and global civil society. The AJK president clarified that Jammu and Kashmir never was and never will be an integral part of India.

"That's a falsehood coined by India, which it cannot sustain or justify, as is evident from the situation on the ground", he said. He also underlined that Kashmir was a trilateral issue between Pakistan, India and the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the Kashmiris were the most important party in this dispute because they have to decide their political future in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.

He said India wants to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir through the use of unbridled and brutal state terrorism; whereas Pakistan believes in dialogue, diplomacy and the rule of law as written into the UN Charter.

Kashmiris were not, he said, terrorists but were waging a peaceful movement for the libertarian of their own homeland. "This is neither terrorism, nor a crime by any law or standard; this is a legitimate aspiration", he said.

The president introduced Azad Kashmir as a destination for investment, commerce and economic activity. He apprised his audience how Azad Kashmir had become part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and a hub for economic activity focusing on roads, hydropower generation, high quality and higher education, universal access to health, organization of tourism as an industry, exploitation of extractive industry, and development of the agriculture sector.

He told his audience that work on the Rathua Haryana bridge will be completed with speed. APP/ahr/maj