Masood Khan warns India to discard toxic agenda of Expansionism

Islamabad, September 13, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, in a strong message to the BJP-RSS Hindutva-Fascist regime, has said that they must immediately halt the killing of the Kashmiris in IOJK otherwise Pakistan and the people of Kashmir will seek severe recompense, in the same manner, the survivors of World War II brought the holocaust perpetrators to task.

“India must not to target Kashmir and Pakistan and discard the misleading and fascist doctrine of Hindutva which advocates the demolition of all the states in the periphery of India and romanticizes the formation of Akhand Bharat”, said Masood Khan.

The President made these remarks while addressing a webinar titled “The Future of Kashmir: A Test for Global Multilateralism and Regional Peace”, organized by the Jinnah Institute. The event was moderated by Senator Sherry Rehman, President Jinnah Institute; and addressed by Labour MP Andrew Gwynne, German MEP Michael Gahler, former British MEP Julie Ward, senior Indian politician Sudheendra Kulkarni, former Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs to Prime Minister Pakistan on Foreign Policy Ambassador Tariq Fatemi, Kashmiri Academic and founding Vice-Chancellor of Islamic University Kashmir Dr. Siddiq Wahid, and Senior Kashmiri Journalist Iftikhar Gilani.

“Discard this very lethal and toxic agenda of expansionism as our response will not remain conciliatory or defensive and we will turn offensive on all fronts; be it the military front, diplomatic front, the political front, economic front or hybrid warfare. Don’t take that risk if you want peace and security in the region. Don’t take Pakistani and Kashmiris for granted. India’s actions have fostered a lot of anger amongst our people”, cautioned President Masood.

The AJK President said that unlike Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Azad Kashmir has no concertina wires, army check posts or enforced disappearances. Like its name, it is a free territory and even parties that have a dissenting view are allowed to express their views freely. Numerous international parliamentary delegations, diplomats and civil society representatives, that have visited AJK, can testify to this, he said

President Masood Khan said that the international multilateral system has been complacent in resolving sensitive conflicts and issues like Kashmir. The new world order established after the devastating World War II symbolized by the creation of the United Nations is now broken, he said.

The UN has the legitimacy to take decisions as it doesn’t have the effectiveness or the political will to do so. It has pawned its political will to the concert of the Permanent 5. They have made no intervention despite them being bound to take action according to the UN Charter’s Articles 33, 34, 36 and the situation in IOJK has deteriorated to the extent to invoke 41, 42 and 43, he said. “We will continue to reach out to the UNSC as India is seeks exceptionalism to genocide and the crimes against humanity being committed in IOJK”, he said.

Speaking about dialogue over Kashmir, the President said that trust-building can take place when there is an end to land grab in the IOJK. He said that we cannot have a monologue as Pakistan and the Kashmiri people are ready to talk but our Indian interlocutors are absent and they don’t want dialogue at any level. “We need megaphone diplomacy in this case as Kashmiris are being mercilessly killed. We need to muster the support of international citizenry. We thank the people of India who have spoken out for Kashmiris after the moves taken by the Indian government in August last year”, he said

The President warned that if the international community and formal institutions like the UN, the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly, world parliaments, and the civil society does not intercede, the future of Kashmir seems very bleak.

The AJK President said that what we see in IOJK is foreign occupation, colonial rule and alien domination. While human rights violations have been taking place in IOJK for decades; starting August 5 last year, a new phase of lebensraum and irredentism driven by the extremist-fascist doctrine of Hindutva has begun and the likes of which have never seen before.

President Masood Khan said that the core issues remains the human issue; the crimes against humanity, the slow-moving genocide, ethnic cleansing and rapid demographic change. Forced demographic transformation and granting 1.2 million non-native Hindus from all over India with Kashmiri domiciles is of grave concern as the demography in IOJK is being permanently changed. He added that economic exploitation is taking place and the decapitation of Kashmiri culture in the IOJK is also rampant, which are an open violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The AJK President informed that there is no terrorism taking place in IOJK. He maintained that Indian security officials have admitted that the total number of so-called “militants” is 250 to 300, of which 100 have been killed. “The reality is that 900,000 forces are fighting unarmed citizens without any regard to humanitarian norms like proportionality and precaution”, he said.

The President said that the Kashmir movement should be taken to a global level and the international community as a whole has to be involved. He suggested that at the multilateral level the proposal of establishing a Commission of Inquiry for Kashmir should be brought into action and the process of mediation by leading statesmen or global personalities should also take place.

“Kashmir is not a bilateral issue, rather it is a trilateral issue, as along with India and Pakistan, the Kashmiri people are the key constituent to the dispute. Any dialogue without the involvement of the Kashmiris is futile”, he said.

For more information, contact:
President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
President Secretariat, Muzaffarabad Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Kashmir House, F-5/2, Islamabad
Tel: +92-582-2920401, +92-519-214692
Email: presidency@presidentajk.gov.pk
Website: https://www.presidentajk.gov.pk/