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"Unworthy To Even Respond": India Slams Pak Minister's Kashmir Remarks
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ISLAMABAD:
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Sunday that Pakistan had completed its dossier on the Indian forces' human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Addressing a press conference alongside National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf and Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari, the foreign minister said that Pakistan will share this dossier with the international community to expose the Indian government, that has deployed 900,000 soldiers in Kashmir to oppress the local populace.
The 131-page long dossier contains reports of 32 human rights watchdogs and 14 reports by Pakistan in an apparent bid to ensure partiality, the minister told reporters.
According to the foreign minister, the dossier listed "solid proof" of extrajudicial killings through fake encounters and false flag operations by the Indian army.
The document also underscored how the Indian government had linked Kashmir's legitimate struggle for independence to terrorism, added Qureshi.
The ministers demanded of the International community, including the United Nations and its relevant human rights machinery, civil society organisations to fulfil their obligations towards Kashmiris by playing their part to “end the Indian rule of tyranny and oppression”.
“We expect the United Nations to compel the Government of India to allow free access to Special Procedure Mandate Holders of UN Human Rights Council for independent investigations of human rights violations,” Qureshi said during the presser.
Dossier on rights violations
The dossier covers accounts of 3,432 cases of war crimes in which 1,178 troops have been found to be involved, including one major general, four inspectors general, seven deputy inspectors-general, five brigadiers, 31 colonels and 188 majors and captains.
The FM also demanded that the UN record the names of individuals and units involved in the said war crimes and impose sanctions on them. “We expect the EU, UK and others to impose sanctions on India under their specific global human rights sanction regimes for perpetrating state-sponsored war crimes.”
The document stated that since Indian brutalities largely remain unreported “a comprehensive dossier…has been compiled which underscores that Modi government continues to obliterate Kashmiri indigenous identity due to differences in religion, culture, ethnicity and political views.”
The dossier said that “human rights violations reached epic proportions” after Narendra Modi-led BJP came to power. According to the document, since 1989 over 96,000 extra-judicial killings, around 162,000 cases of arbitrary arrests and torture, over 25,000 pellet gun injuries were recorded. Moreover, 11,250 women were raped, around 23,000 were widowed, while over 108,000 children were orphaned.
The document also provided details of the 8,652 unmarked mass graves that have been identified in 89 villages of Kashmir.
Another key factor highlighted by Pakistan was the suspected use of chemical weapons by India against the Kashmiris. It pointed out that the bodies of 37 Kashmiris burnt alive by the Indian troops were completely beyond recognition.
The document said that the use of chemical weapons was in complete contravention to the ‘Chemical Weapons Convention’ and that it necessitated “an impartial international investigation.”
The dossier further maintains that Kashmiris were also being used as human shields by positioning women and children in the line of fire during encounters, making them sleep at military camps, forcing them to dig minefields and tying youth to military jeeps.
Pakistan said India had resorted to the use of snipers and cluster ammunition to target innocent Kashrniris living along the Line of Control. As many as 16 Kashmiris, including a nine-year-old, had been killed by Indian snipers.
India has also been violating the international ban on the use of cluster ammunition, it said, adding that in July 2019, India deliberately targeted 14 villages along the Line of Control with cluster ammunition that caused four deaths and 14 injuries.
The ministers urged the international community not to show “callousness and apathy towards the Kashmiris”. They said the world must force India to comply with its international and moral obligations and allow Kashmiris to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination as enshrined in international law and the relevant UNSC resolutions.
Pakistan also demanded of the Indian government to immediately stop human rights violations of innocent Kashmiris; proceed against perpetrators highlighted in the dossier and bring them to justice; halt demographic change and apartheid by lifting military and digital siege; release all political prisoners; allow unhindered access of UN to Kashmir.
The dossier also shared the GPS coordinates of five ISIS training camps. It said one such camp was located in Gulmarg, three in Rajasthan and one in Uttarakhand. “The latitudes and longitudes of these ISIS camps have been included in the dossier.”
Demographic change
Pakistan also highlighted the Indian attempts to change the demographic structure of the occupied Jammu and Kashmir. It said contrary to the Geneva Convention, after the introduction of the new ‘Domicile Law’ in March 2020, India has already granted over 4.2 million domiciles (31.5% of 13 million population).
The document pointed that a delimitation commission was constituted in March 2020 with the singular purpose to enhance Hindu representation and likely installation of a Hindu chief minister.
Read more ‘Over 3m fake domiciles issued to non-Kashmiris to change IIOJK demography’
Following the amendments in property laws, all Indians were now entitled to purchase land in the disputed territory with the sole objective of converting the proportion of the large Muslim population into a minority.
Torture cells
The dossier pointed out that six draconian laws -- Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act; Terrorist & Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, Jammu & Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act, Prevention of Terrorism Act, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act 2019 -- empower the Indian troops to declare anyone a “terrorist and arbitrarily detain without any charge for a period of upto 7 years”.
The report notes that the Indian forces were subjecting the Kashmiris to the worst kinds of torture. “432 case studies revealed that Indian forces inflicted torture as a tool of intimidation and coercion.”
Since 2014, more than 30,000 people have faced 31 forms of torture, including water-boarding; forced starvation, sleep deprivation and burning of bodies.
The report also identified 239 torture cells across the occupied region; the majority of which have been established in northern Kashmir with 65 camps in Baramula and 53 in Srinagar. Of these 144 were controlled by the Indian Army, 52 by police, 19 by the Indian Special Operations Group and 24 by other agencies.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Sunday that Pakistan had completed its dossier on the Indian forces' human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Addressing a press conference alongside National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf and Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari, the foreign minister said that Pakistan will share this dossier with the international community to expose the Indian government, that has deployed 900,000 soldiers in Kashmir to oppress the local populace.
The 131-page long dossier contains reports of 32 human rights watchdogs and 14 reports by Pakistan in an apparent bid to ensure partiality, the minister told reporters.
According to the foreign minister, the dossier listed "solid proof" of extrajudicial killings through fake encounters and false flag operations by the Indian army.
The document also underscored how the Indian government had linked Kashmir's legitimate struggle for independence to terrorism, added Qureshi.
The ministers demanded of the International community, including the United Nations and its relevant human rights machinery, civil society organisations to fulfil their obligations towards Kashmiris by playing their part to “end the Indian rule of tyranny and oppression”.
“We expect the United Nations to compel the Government of India to allow free access to Special Procedure Mandate Holders of UN Human Rights Council for independent investigations of human rights violations,” Qureshi said during the presser.
Dossier on rights violations
The dossier covers accounts of 3,432 cases of war crimes in which 1,178 troops have been found to be involved, including one major general, four inspectors general, seven deputy inspectors-general, five brigadiers, 31 colonels and 188 majors and captains.
The FM also demanded that the UN record the names of individuals and units involved in the said war crimes and impose sanctions on them. “We expect the EU, UK and others to impose sanctions on India under their specific global human rights sanction regimes for perpetrating state-sponsored war crimes.”
The document stated that since Indian brutalities largely remain unreported “a comprehensive dossier…has been compiled which underscores that Modi government continues to obliterate Kashmiri indigenous identity due to differences in religion, culture, ethnicity and political views.”
The dossier said that “human rights violations reached epic proportions” after Narendra Modi-led BJP came to power. According to the document, since 1989 over 96,000 extra-judicial killings, around 162,000 cases of arbitrary arrests and torture, over 25,000 pellet gun injuries were recorded. Moreover, 11,250 women were raped, around 23,000 were widowed, while over 108,000 children were orphaned.
The document also provided details of the 8,652 unmarked mass graves that have been identified in 89 villages of Kashmir.
Another key factor highlighted by Pakistan was the suspected use of chemical weapons by India against the Kashmiris. It pointed out that the bodies of 37 Kashmiris burnt alive by the Indian troops were completely beyond recognition.
The document said that the use of chemical weapons was in complete contravention to the ‘Chemical Weapons Convention’ and that it necessitated “an impartial international investigation.”
The dossier further maintains that Kashmiris were also being used as human shields by positioning women and children in the line of fire during encounters, making them sleep at military camps, forcing them to dig minefields and tying youth to military jeeps.
Pakistan said India had resorted to the use of snipers and cluster ammunition to target innocent Kashrniris living along the Line of Control. As many as 16 Kashmiris, including a nine-year-old, had been killed by Indian snipers.
India has also been violating the international ban on the use of cluster ammunition, it said, adding that in July 2019, India deliberately targeted 14 villages along the Line of Control with cluster ammunition that caused four deaths and 14 injuries.
The ministers urged the international community not to show “callousness and apathy towards the Kashmiris”. They said the world must force India to comply with its international and moral obligations and allow Kashmiris to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination as enshrined in international law and the relevant UNSC resolutions.
Pakistan also demanded of the Indian government to immediately stop human rights violations of innocent Kashmiris; proceed against perpetrators highlighted in the dossier and bring them to justice; halt demographic change and apartheid by lifting military and digital siege; release all political prisoners; allow unhindered access of UN to Kashmir.
The dossier also shared the GPS coordinates of five ISIS training camps. It said one such camp was located in Gulmarg, three in Rajasthan and one in Uttarakhand. “The latitudes and longitudes of these ISIS camps have been included in the dossier.”
Demographic change
Pakistan also highlighted the Indian attempts to change the demographic structure of the occupied Jammu and Kashmir. It said contrary to the Geneva Convention, after the introduction of the new ‘Domicile Law’ in March 2020, India has already granted over 4.2 million domiciles (31.5% of 13 million population).
The document pointed that a delimitation commission was constituted in March 2020 with the singular purpose to enhance Hindu representation and likely installation of a Hindu chief minister.
Read more ‘Over 3m fake domiciles issued to non-Kashmiris to change IIOJK demography’
Following the amendments in property laws, all Indians were now entitled to purchase land in the disputed territory with the sole objective of converting the proportion of the large Muslim population into a minority.
Torture cells
The dossier pointed out that six draconian laws -- Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act; Terrorist & Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, Jammu & Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act, Prevention of Terrorism Act, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act 2019 -- empower the Indian troops to declare anyone a “terrorist and arbitrarily detain without any charge for a period of upto 7 years”.
The report notes that the Indian forces were subjecting the Kashmiris to the worst kinds of torture. “432 case studies revealed that Indian forces inflicted torture as a tool of intimidation and coercion.”
Since 2014, more than 30,000 people have faced 31 forms of torture, including water-boarding; forced starvation, sleep deprivation and burning of bodies.
The report also identified 239 torture cells across the occupied region; the majority of which have been established in northern Kashmir with 65 camps in Baramula and 53 in Srinagar. Of these 144 were controlled by the Indian Army, 52 by police, 19 by the Indian Special Operations Group and 24 by other agencies.
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India orders probe into shooting of two civilians in IIOJK
Authorities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) ordered a probe on Thursday into the killing of two men during a security operation, after police violently broke up a protest demanding the bodies be returned to their families.
Police said that the men died in "crossfire" on Monday during a shootout inside a commercial complex in Srinagar, the disputed region's main city.
Their families said that they were civilians and accused security forces of murdering the pair in "cold blood", denying police claims that the pair were associated with separatists.
Manoj Sinha, a New Delhi appointee serving as IIOJK's top administrator, said that the government would take "suitable action" as soon as a report into Monday's incident was completed.
Read more: FO strongly condemns killing of five Kashmiris in IIOJK
The deaths of Mohammad Altaf Bhat and Mudasir Ahmed Gul sparked outrage in the territory, where around three dozen civilians have been killed this year.
Bhat owned the building where Monday's incident took place, while Gul was a tenant in the complex running a real estate business. Two freedom fighters also died in the encounter.
Police raided a candlelight vigil in Srinagar staged by family members demanding the pair's bodies be returned for a proper Islamic burial.
The sit-in protest had been underway since Wednesday morning, despite biting winter cold, but electricity was cut in the area around midnight and several people were bundled into an armoured vehicle.
"They harassed and beat us up and took us into a police station," Abdul Majeed, Bhat's brother, told AFP.
"All I am saying is that please return my innocent brother's body so we can give him a decent burial."
Read Pakistan ‘deeply concerned’ over deployment troops in IIOJK
Those detained were later sent home.
After Bhat and Gul were killed, they were hurriedly buried in the middle of the night by police in a remote graveyard without their families present.
Since last year police in IIOJK have refused families access to the bodies of freedom fighters or their "associates", saying it helps stop the "glorification" of anti-India rebels, whose funerals were usually attended by thousands of people.
Pervez Imroz, a prominent human rights lawyer who has monitored violence in the occupied territory for over three decades, said the probe was meant to "deflate public anger".
"We have seen numerous executive probes ordered here in the past, but perpetrators were never punished despite many indictments," Imroz told AFP.
A faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference group called on people in IIOJK to shutter their shops and businesses on Friday to protest the deaths.
Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed since an armed rebellion against Indian rule erupted more than three decades ago.
Tensions have festered since 2019 when New Delhi cancelled the region's partial autonomy and brought it under direct rule.
Via : https://tribune.com.pk/story/2330057/india-orders-probe-into-shooting-of-two-civilians-in-iiojk
Authorities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) ordered a probe on Thursday into the killing of two men during a security operation, after police violently broke up a protest demanding the bodies be returned to their families.
Police said that the men died in "crossfire" on Monday during a shootout inside a commercial complex in Srinagar, the disputed region's main city.
Their families said that they were civilians and accused security forces of murdering the pair in "cold blood", denying police claims that the pair were associated with separatists.
Manoj Sinha, a New Delhi appointee serving as IIOJK's top administrator, said that the government would take "suitable action" as soon as a report into Monday's incident was completed.
Read more: FO strongly condemns killing of five Kashmiris in IIOJK
The deaths of Mohammad Altaf Bhat and Mudasir Ahmed Gul sparked outrage in the territory, where around three dozen civilians have been killed this year.
Bhat owned the building where Monday's incident took place, while Gul was a tenant in the complex running a real estate business. Two freedom fighters also died in the encounter.
Police raided a candlelight vigil in Srinagar staged by family members demanding the pair's bodies be returned for a proper Islamic burial.
The sit-in protest had been underway since Wednesday morning, despite biting winter cold, but electricity was cut in the area around midnight and several people were bundled into an armoured vehicle.
"They harassed and beat us up and took us into a police station," Abdul Majeed, Bhat's brother, told AFP.
"All I am saying is that please return my innocent brother's body so we can give him a decent burial."
Read Pakistan ‘deeply concerned’ over deployment troops in IIOJK
Those detained were later sent home.
After Bhat and Gul were killed, they were hurriedly buried in the middle of the night by police in a remote graveyard without their families present.
Since last year police in IIOJK have refused families access to the bodies of freedom fighters or their "associates", saying it helps stop the "glorification" of anti-India rebels, whose funerals were usually attended by thousands of people.
Pervez Imroz, a prominent human rights lawyer who has monitored violence in the occupied territory for over three decades, said the probe was meant to "deflate public anger".
"We have seen numerous executive probes ordered here in the past, but perpetrators were never punished despite many indictments," Imroz told AFP.
A faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference group called on people in IIOJK to shutter their shops and businesses on Friday to protest the deaths.
Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed since an armed rebellion against Indian rule erupted more than three decades ago.
Tensions have festered since 2019 when New Delhi cancelled the region's partial autonomy and brought it under direct rule.
Via : https://tribune.com.pk/story/2330057/india-orders-probe-into-shooting-of-two-civilians-in-iiojk
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National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf has said that consensus on the Kashmir issue and national security is imperative to safeguard supreme national interest, Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday.
In an interview with a private news channel, Moeed said the government believes in consensus and dialogue to address all internal and external threats being faced by the country.
Dr Yusuf also expressed serious concern over massive human rights violations, brutalities and atrocities being committed by Indian troops against innocent Kashmiris in Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Commenting on Pakistan-India relations, he regretted that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appeared as the most fascist leader in the world after Hitler.
Regarding the prevailing situation in Afghanistan, he warned that Pakistan would not allow the new Afghan government to carry out activities from Afghan soil against any country.
The adviser said that unrest in Afghanistan will incur impacts on Pakistan, and peaceful Afghanistan is in the best interest of the entire region.
On Pak-US relationships, the NSA reaffirmed government's commitment of friendly relations with the US as both the countries share common interests in various areas.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Pakistan doesn’t want confrontation with any country and that there would be no compromise on national interests.
Immediate solution of Kashmir must for regional peace, says Qureshi
He said the PTI government wanted better ties with the neighbouring countries, adding that resolution of chronic issues is a must for regional progress.
He said that Pakistan is committed to the principle of peaceful coexistence and Pakistan's efforts to establish peace in the region are not hidden from anyone.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/4013...imperative-to-safeguard-national-interest-nsa
In an interview with a private news channel, Moeed said the government believes in consensus and dialogue to address all internal and external threats being faced by the country.
Dr Yusuf also expressed serious concern over massive human rights violations, brutalities and atrocities being committed by Indian troops against innocent Kashmiris in Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Commenting on Pakistan-India relations, he regretted that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appeared as the most fascist leader in the world after Hitler.
Regarding the prevailing situation in Afghanistan, he warned that Pakistan would not allow the new Afghan government to carry out activities from Afghan soil against any country.
The adviser said that unrest in Afghanistan will incur impacts on Pakistan, and peaceful Afghanistan is in the best interest of the entire region.
On Pak-US relationships, the NSA reaffirmed government's commitment of friendly relations with the US as both the countries share common interests in various areas.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Pakistan doesn’t want confrontation with any country and that there would be no compromise on national interests.
Immediate solution of Kashmir must for regional peace, says Qureshi
He said the PTI government wanted better ties with the neighbouring countries, adding that resolution of chronic issues is a must for regional progress.
He said that Pakistan is committed to the principle of peaceful coexistence and Pakistan's efforts to establish peace in the region are not hidden from anyone.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/4013...imperative-to-safeguard-national-interest-nsa
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Indian atrocities against civilians in occupied Kashmir are well-enough known. Disappearances. Hundreds killed. Many more injured or blinded by pellets. Censorship. A constant, oppressive and menacing military presence.
The situation was made worse by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision in 2019 to cancel nearly all of Article 370 of the Indian constitution, the basis of Kashmir’s sensitive relationship with India for seven decades. Thanks to this controversial move, the limited autonomy given to Indian-controlled Kashmir - including its own flag and freedom to pass laws - was taken away.
Yet, attacks by Indian troops on Kashmiris in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir are less reported. Until a ceasefire this past February, villagers say they lived under constant fear of being shelled or fired at from Indian positions. Pakistani military sources told us that 67 civilians had died on their side of the Line of Control - the boundary dividing the parts of Kashmir controlled by India and those controlled by Pakistan - in the last five years, while 398 had been injured.
Contacted for comment, the Indian army did not respond directly to these figures, but said that Pakistani forces had caused dozens of civilian casualties on the Indian side of the line in recent years, with 22 deaths and 71 severe injuries in 2020.
We visited the Battal sector of the Line of Control with the Pakistani army, travelling in civilian vehicles to avoid attracting attention from the Indian military posts in the hills above. There, we spoke to many victims of Indian shelling, and heard their terrible stories.
Injuries and amputations
Thirteen-year-old schoolboy Omar Ajaid stepped out of his front door to fetch school books from the courtyard. A bullet hit him in the neck.
Farmer Nazeem Khan, 55, was sleeping in his garden when a bullet struck him in the hip. Abdul Aziz, 62, was also asleep in his garden when he was permanently disabled by multiple splinters from a mortar explosion.
Farmer Muhammad Sadiq, 45, was hit by an Indian bullet while grazing cattle. Shabab Dharamasal was cutting firewood when an Indian bullet smashed into his right shoulder. Nine-year-old Yasera Yasa was playing with friends when an Indian mortar exploded. His leg has been amputated.
None of the people we spoke to had done anything wrong. Their only crime was living in close proximity to the Line of Control
Gravedigger Noor Ahmad Deen, 67, was hit by a mortar splinter. The person whose grave he was digging had died from injuries from Indian fire.
Qaiser Salram lost a leg when he stepped on an anti-personnel mine that had drifted down the mountains. He had been an outstanding cricketer before, and now he insists on carrying on playing with a runner. “I am a good batsman still,” he insists.
None of the people we spoke to had done anything wrong. Their only crime was living in close proximity to the Line of Control, which was once described by former US President Bill Clinton as “the most dangerous place in the world today”. He was referring to the danger that tensions could lead to war between the two nuclear-armed powers - a risk that persists to this day.
Bunkers on the ridge
At the part of the Line of Control we visited, Indian bunkers occupy the crest of the ridge above Shahmang village, in the Battal sector. Pakistani army bunkers were metres away on the next ridge. In the words of the Pakistani army brigadier who accompanied us, the two opposing armies were “eyeball to eyeball” in these mountains.
The village itself was 2.5 kilometres away. Topography is important, helping to explain why the many injuries sustained by villagers cannot be put down to civilians caught in crossfire. We could discern no military reason for Indian soldiers to be aiming down the mountain at villagers, rather than at Pakistani soldiers on the nearby ridge.
In a statement to MEE, the Indian army denied targeting civilians, noting that soldiers were “committed to fighting terrorism and preventing infiltration attempts by terrorists from [Jammu and Kashmir] and has always exercised maximum restraint to maintain peace”.
The Indian army further alleged that Pakistani troops "have frequently resorted to use of ... gun and mortar positions from posts sited in close proximity to villages and has also moved weapons to civilian-inhabited areas to fire on our posts, thereby endangering the lives of innocent civilians”.
But according to Pakistani official sources, Pakistan has always "respected the sanctity of the Line of Control; never initiated fire on the LOC and only responds to unprovoked Indian Ceasefire Violations (CFV)." “Pakistani troops only target Indian military posts in response to their CFVs and never target the civilian population as it is against the UN Charter / International Law and secondly, because it is the Kashmiris who are living on both sides of the LOC.”
The sources added: "Since the BJP Govt came into power, there has been an unprecedented surge in Indian unprovoked CFVs: out of total 13627 CFV since 2003, 12312 CFV have been committed by the Indian army along LOC under the BJP regime alone since 2014."
While a ceasefire has been in place for months, tensions remained high during our October visit after the killing of five Indian soldiers on the Indian side of the Line of Control by suspected Kashmiri rebels the previous day. India often accuses Pakistan of supporting the rebels behind such attacks.
Several Pakistani villagers with whom we spoke told us that they believed the Indian army’s aim was to force them to leave and establish a civilian-free area
There are tens of Pakistani villages along the Line of Control. Several Pakistani villagers with whom we spoke told us that they believed the Indian army’s aim was to force them to leave and establish a civilian-free area, similar to the one on the Indian side.
Behind the Indian side of the fence were several kilometres of “anti-infiltration” measures - electronic fences, cameras, anti-personnel mines, radar, underground sensors and hand-held night-vision equipment.
“They have a very effective anti-infiltration system,” the Pakistani army officer asserted. “If they blame Pakistan for the attacks in illegally occupied Kashmir, either it’s down to the incompetence of their own troops, or the attacks are not coming from our side of the border.”
Scarred by mortars
In the village of Shahmang, buildings were scarred by mortar splinters. Witnesses told us that Indian guns and mortars had pounded local buildings, livestock and crops; part of a nearby government high school was still in ruins after taking a direct hit four years earlier.
The strike had occurred at 9:30 in the morning, but there were no classes at the time, or there would have been carnage. Teacher Hannan Gul-Zahid told us that Indian forces “target the village, target our cattle in the fields”. They “want to target us so that we leave our places”, she said, but added: “This is our motherland. We don’t want to leave.”
One pupil, Toyoba Yousaf, said she had been walking back from school to her home when a mortar exploded nearby, knocking her unconscious. We went to the spot where the mortar landed. From there, the nearest Indian and Pakistani military positions were both visible. The Indian post, on the brow of a nearby hill, was approximately 800 metres away. Lower down, we could see a Pakistani bunker.
Pakistani and Indian forces have regularly fired at each other in recent years, but the attacks on the village below were not accidental; it is clear that it was deliberately targeted.
These attacks are not one-way. India says it has closed schools and withdrawn residents from areas on its side because of Pakistani shelling. Mercifully, there have been no attacks since the ceasefire was agreed this past February between the two countries.
This has led to an unusual and badly needed period of peace and tranquillity. Villagers told us that life was returning to normal, businesses were reopening, and locals no longer had to live with constant anxiety over the possibility of a new attack.
Ceasefire relief
Robina Baig, a 50-year-old mother of two sons and four daughters, said the daily bombardments used to last three hours or more. Their livelihood was threatened as cattle were injured in the fields.
Sitting on her porch, Baig said life used to be “full of suffering because of the firing. There are two kinds of suffering: first when somebody dies, and second when somebody … suffers injuries which affect their ability to live day-to-day life.” Now, thanks to the ceasefire, “we are extremely happy and enjoying our freedom”.
Jawal, a 40-year-old shopkeeper and father of four, told us that before the ceasefire, the village attacks came at any time and could last for one to three hours. Initially, villagers would rush for cover, but the army is now constructing bomb shelters.
'They are targeting the civilian population instead of engaging the Pakistan army'
Village elder Mohammad Riaz, who serves on a village defence committee that liaises with the Pakistani army, told us that Indian forces were “doing it by design. They are targeting the civilian population instead of engaging the Pakistan army. They destroy our building and infrastructure deliberately.” The purpose, he added, was to create a “wedge between the citizens and the army”.
Military sources told us that Indian attacks on civilians mainly took the form of mortars and small arms fire, adding that the Indian army “tends to do shelling where there is a Muslim majority” on both sides of the border.
The Indian army denied such allegations, saying that its forces “do not make any religious distinctions while undertaking operations. We consider people of [Jammu and Kashmir] as our own people and there is no question of deliberate targeting of Muslim-majority areas. The claims of Pakistan Army suggesting targeted shelling of Muslim majority areas is fictitious at best."
Suffering continues
Three wars have been fought over Kashmir since partition in 1947 left the Muslim-majority state divided between neighbouring India and Pakistan. The United Nations demanded a plebiscite on the future of Kashmir in 1948, but this was never implemented. Pakistan calls its own side of the Line of Control “Azad Kashmir”, which translates to “free Kashmir”, while referring to the Indian side as “occupied Kashmir”.
India rejects that term, but there is no question that Indian-controlled Kashmir, with a population of approximately 13 million, has a heavy military presence. Indian sources say they have approximately 350,000 soldiers in Kashmir, while Pakistani sources say the true number is more than twice that.
The Line of Control was established as a de facto border at the end of the 1971 war, and since then, the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has monitored ceasefire violations.
According to official sources, Pakistan has always allowed free movement of international observers including UNMOGIP and coverage by international/domestic media along LOC with free access to the civil population whereas India has neither allowed UNMOGIP or media to visit along LOC to verify the facts. According to Pakistani official sources, there are 33 observers on the Pakistani side but only eight on the Indian side.
When we asked the Indian army about this apparent discrepancy, they did not respond directly, but noted that “India does not encourage any third-party mediation for resolution of bilateral issues”. UNMOGIP did not respond to our inquiries.
There is little question that many of those with whom we spoke were victims of war crimes. Article 8 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court states that war crimes include “intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities”.
Before we left Battal, some of the victims of the shooting and shelling - about 30 of them - formed a quiet circle outside the officers’ mess at the Pakistani brigade headquarters in Battal. Each in turn told their story; their suffering continues to this day. We asked them to lift up their trousers. Six had prosthetic limbs.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/india-pakistan-kashmir-civilians-pay-price-conflict
The situation was made worse by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision in 2019 to cancel nearly all of Article 370 of the Indian constitution, the basis of Kashmir’s sensitive relationship with India for seven decades. Thanks to this controversial move, the limited autonomy given to Indian-controlled Kashmir - including its own flag and freedom to pass laws - was taken away.
Yet, attacks by Indian troops on Kashmiris in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir are less reported. Until a ceasefire this past February, villagers say they lived under constant fear of being shelled or fired at from Indian positions. Pakistani military sources told us that 67 civilians had died on their side of the Line of Control - the boundary dividing the parts of Kashmir controlled by India and those controlled by Pakistan - in the last five years, while 398 had been injured.
Contacted for comment, the Indian army did not respond directly to these figures, but said that Pakistani forces had caused dozens of civilian casualties on the Indian side of the line in recent years, with 22 deaths and 71 severe injuries in 2020.
We visited the Battal sector of the Line of Control with the Pakistani army, travelling in civilian vehicles to avoid attracting attention from the Indian military posts in the hills above. There, we spoke to many victims of Indian shelling, and heard their terrible stories.
Injuries and amputations
Thirteen-year-old schoolboy Omar Ajaid stepped out of his front door to fetch school books from the courtyard. A bullet hit him in the neck.
Farmer Nazeem Khan, 55, was sleeping in his garden when a bullet struck him in the hip. Abdul Aziz, 62, was also asleep in his garden when he was permanently disabled by multiple splinters from a mortar explosion.
Farmer Muhammad Sadiq, 45, was hit by an Indian bullet while grazing cattle. Shabab Dharamasal was cutting firewood when an Indian bullet smashed into his right shoulder. Nine-year-old Yasera Yasa was playing with friends when an Indian mortar exploded. His leg has been amputated.
None of the people we spoke to had done anything wrong. Their only crime was living in close proximity to the Line of Control
Gravedigger Noor Ahmad Deen, 67, was hit by a mortar splinter. The person whose grave he was digging had died from injuries from Indian fire.
Qaiser Salram lost a leg when he stepped on an anti-personnel mine that had drifted down the mountains. He had been an outstanding cricketer before, and now he insists on carrying on playing with a runner. “I am a good batsman still,” he insists.
None of the people we spoke to had done anything wrong. Their only crime was living in close proximity to the Line of Control, which was once described by former US President Bill Clinton as “the most dangerous place in the world today”. He was referring to the danger that tensions could lead to war between the two nuclear-armed powers - a risk that persists to this day.
Bunkers on the ridge
At the part of the Line of Control we visited, Indian bunkers occupy the crest of the ridge above Shahmang village, in the Battal sector. Pakistani army bunkers were metres away on the next ridge. In the words of the Pakistani army brigadier who accompanied us, the two opposing armies were “eyeball to eyeball” in these mountains.
The village itself was 2.5 kilometres away. Topography is important, helping to explain why the many injuries sustained by villagers cannot be put down to civilians caught in crossfire. We could discern no military reason for Indian soldiers to be aiming down the mountain at villagers, rather than at Pakistani soldiers on the nearby ridge.
In a statement to MEE, the Indian army denied targeting civilians, noting that soldiers were “committed to fighting terrorism and preventing infiltration attempts by terrorists from [Jammu and Kashmir] and has always exercised maximum restraint to maintain peace”.
The Indian army further alleged that Pakistani troops "have frequently resorted to use of ... gun and mortar positions from posts sited in close proximity to villages and has also moved weapons to civilian-inhabited areas to fire on our posts, thereby endangering the lives of innocent civilians”.
But according to Pakistani official sources, Pakistan has always "respected the sanctity of the Line of Control; never initiated fire on the LOC and only responds to unprovoked Indian Ceasefire Violations (CFV)." “Pakistani troops only target Indian military posts in response to their CFVs and never target the civilian population as it is against the UN Charter / International Law and secondly, because it is the Kashmiris who are living on both sides of the LOC.”
The sources added: "Since the BJP Govt came into power, there has been an unprecedented surge in Indian unprovoked CFVs: out of total 13627 CFV since 2003, 12312 CFV have been committed by the Indian army along LOC under the BJP regime alone since 2014."
While a ceasefire has been in place for months, tensions remained high during our October visit after the killing of five Indian soldiers on the Indian side of the Line of Control by suspected Kashmiri rebels the previous day. India often accuses Pakistan of supporting the rebels behind such attacks.
Several Pakistani villagers with whom we spoke told us that they believed the Indian army’s aim was to force them to leave and establish a civilian-free area
There are tens of Pakistani villages along the Line of Control. Several Pakistani villagers with whom we spoke told us that they believed the Indian army’s aim was to force them to leave and establish a civilian-free area, similar to the one on the Indian side.
Behind the Indian side of the fence were several kilometres of “anti-infiltration” measures - electronic fences, cameras, anti-personnel mines, radar, underground sensors and hand-held night-vision equipment.
“They have a very effective anti-infiltration system,” the Pakistani army officer asserted. “If they blame Pakistan for the attacks in illegally occupied Kashmir, either it’s down to the incompetence of their own troops, or the attacks are not coming from our side of the border.”
Scarred by mortars
In the village of Shahmang, buildings were scarred by mortar splinters. Witnesses told us that Indian guns and mortars had pounded local buildings, livestock and crops; part of a nearby government high school was still in ruins after taking a direct hit four years earlier.
The strike had occurred at 9:30 in the morning, but there were no classes at the time, or there would have been carnage. Teacher Hannan Gul-Zahid told us that Indian forces “target the village, target our cattle in the fields”. They “want to target us so that we leave our places”, she said, but added: “This is our motherland. We don’t want to leave.”
One pupil, Toyoba Yousaf, said she had been walking back from school to her home when a mortar exploded nearby, knocking her unconscious. We went to the spot where the mortar landed. From there, the nearest Indian and Pakistani military positions were both visible. The Indian post, on the brow of a nearby hill, was approximately 800 metres away. Lower down, we could see a Pakistani bunker.
Pakistani and Indian forces have regularly fired at each other in recent years, but the attacks on the village below were not accidental; it is clear that it was deliberately targeted.
These attacks are not one-way. India says it has closed schools and withdrawn residents from areas on its side because of Pakistani shelling. Mercifully, there have been no attacks since the ceasefire was agreed this past February between the two countries.
This has led to an unusual and badly needed period of peace and tranquillity. Villagers told us that life was returning to normal, businesses were reopening, and locals no longer had to live with constant anxiety over the possibility of a new attack.
Ceasefire relief
Robina Baig, a 50-year-old mother of two sons and four daughters, said the daily bombardments used to last three hours or more. Their livelihood was threatened as cattle were injured in the fields.
Sitting on her porch, Baig said life used to be “full of suffering because of the firing. There are two kinds of suffering: first when somebody dies, and second when somebody … suffers injuries which affect their ability to live day-to-day life.” Now, thanks to the ceasefire, “we are extremely happy and enjoying our freedom”.
Jawal, a 40-year-old shopkeeper and father of four, told us that before the ceasefire, the village attacks came at any time and could last for one to three hours. Initially, villagers would rush for cover, but the army is now constructing bomb shelters.
'They are targeting the civilian population instead of engaging the Pakistan army'
Village elder Mohammad Riaz, who serves on a village defence committee that liaises with the Pakistani army, told us that Indian forces were “doing it by design. They are targeting the civilian population instead of engaging the Pakistan army. They destroy our building and infrastructure deliberately.” The purpose, he added, was to create a “wedge between the citizens and the army”.
Military sources told us that Indian attacks on civilians mainly took the form of mortars and small arms fire, adding that the Indian army “tends to do shelling where there is a Muslim majority” on both sides of the border.
The Indian army denied such allegations, saying that its forces “do not make any religious distinctions while undertaking operations. We consider people of [Jammu and Kashmir] as our own people and there is no question of deliberate targeting of Muslim-majority areas. The claims of Pakistan Army suggesting targeted shelling of Muslim majority areas is fictitious at best."
Suffering continues
Three wars have been fought over Kashmir since partition in 1947 left the Muslim-majority state divided between neighbouring India and Pakistan. The United Nations demanded a plebiscite on the future of Kashmir in 1948, but this was never implemented. Pakistan calls its own side of the Line of Control “Azad Kashmir”, which translates to “free Kashmir”, while referring to the Indian side as “occupied Kashmir”.
India rejects that term, but there is no question that Indian-controlled Kashmir, with a population of approximately 13 million, has a heavy military presence. Indian sources say they have approximately 350,000 soldiers in Kashmir, while Pakistani sources say the true number is more than twice that.
The Line of Control was established as a de facto border at the end of the 1971 war, and since then, the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has monitored ceasefire violations.
According to official sources, Pakistan has always allowed free movement of international observers including UNMOGIP and coverage by international/domestic media along LOC with free access to the civil population whereas India has neither allowed UNMOGIP or media to visit along LOC to verify the facts. According to Pakistani official sources, there are 33 observers on the Pakistani side but only eight on the Indian side.
When we asked the Indian army about this apparent discrepancy, they did not respond directly, but noted that “India does not encourage any third-party mediation for resolution of bilateral issues”. UNMOGIP did not respond to our inquiries.
There is little question that many of those with whom we spoke were victims of war crimes. Article 8 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court states that war crimes include “intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities”.
Before we left Battal, some of the victims of the shooting and shelling - about 30 of them - formed a quiet circle outside the officers’ mess at the Pakistani brigade headquarters in Battal. Each in turn told their story; their suffering continues to this day. We asked them to lift up their trousers. Six had prosthetic limbs.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/india-pakistan-kashmir-civilians-pay-price-conflict
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Overseas Kashmiris have praised Prime Minister Imran Khan for reiterating support for the Kashmir cause at the 17th extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad held a day earlier, terming it "welcoming and encouraging".
At the crucial huddle held on Sunday to discuss the Afghan situation, PM Imran warned that the neighbouring country could potentially become the “biggest man-made crisis” if the world did not act.
Praising the stance, Tehreek-e-Kashmir (TeK) United Kingdom President Raja Fahim Kayani said reiterating the stance regarding the Kashmiris' right to self-determination was a sign of Pakistan’s commitment to the just and sacred struggle.
“Prime Minister Khan spoke his heart out for people of Kashmir and Palestine at the OIC summit,” he said and urged the international community to heed Pakistan's call for the end to the occupation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The TeK president added that the people of IIOJK are fighting for a legitimate, just cause enshrined in the UN resolutions, which is the right to self-determination to decide the political fate.
The premier told the summit that the people of IIOJK and Palestine are waiting for a united response from the Muslim world to help them in their struggle.
Kayani observed that the convening of the OIC summit after 41 years was a sign that “conscience and humanity are still alive.”
“Kashmir too calls for such a summit to help take their struggle to a logical end. The OIC is best placed to convene and force India to stop its war crimes, halt demographic changes and stop the genocide in IIOJK,” he said.
Concluding, Kayani said: “Kashmiris thank PM Khan for his stand and urge the government of Pakistan to hold a high profile international Kashmir conference in Islamabad."
During the summit, the OIC set up a humanitarian fund to be operated by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to help avert the humanitarian and economic crises in Afghanistan.
The humanitarian fund would channel financial aid to be provided by member states to Afghanistan as currently, there are no formal banking channels or financial systems operating in the war-torn country.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/233478...aise-pm-imran-for-encouraging-stance-on-iiojk
At the crucial huddle held on Sunday to discuss the Afghan situation, PM Imran warned that the neighbouring country could potentially become the “biggest man-made crisis” if the world did not act.
Praising the stance, Tehreek-e-Kashmir (TeK) United Kingdom President Raja Fahim Kayani said reiterating the stance regarding the Kashmiris' right to self-determination was a sign of Pakistan’s commitment to the just and sacred struggle.
“Prime Minister Khan spoke his heart out for people of Kashmir and Palestine at the OIC summit,” he said and urged the international community to heed Pakistan's call for the end to the occupation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The TeK president added that the people of IIOJK are fighting for a legitimate, just cause enshrined in the UN resolutions, which is the right to self-determination to decide the political fate.
The premier told the summit that the people of IIOJK and Palestine are waiting for a united response from the Muslim world to help them in their struggle.
Kayani observed that the convening of the OIC summit after 41 years was a sign that “conscience and humanity are still alive.”
“Kashmir too calls for such a summit to help take their struggle to a logical end. The OIC is best placed to convene and force India to stop its war crimes, halt demographic changes and stop the genocide in IIOJK,” he said.
Concluding, Kayani said: “Kashmiris thank PM Khan for his stand and urge the government of Pakistan to hold a high profile international Kashmir conference in Islamabad."
During the summit, the OIC set up a humanitarian fund to be operated by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to help avert the humanitarian and economic crises in Afghanistan.
The humanitarian fund would channel financial aid to be provided by member states to Afghanistan as currently, there are no formal banking channels or financial systems operating in the war-torn country.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/233478...aise-pm-imran-for-encouraging-stance-on-iiojk
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Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday berated the Narendra Modi-led Indian government for "brazenly" violating the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.
The prime minister's message comes as Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and across the world over observe the Right to Self-Determination Day today in their bid to remind the UN of implementing its own resolutions on the dispute passed on January 5 in 1949.
It was on January 5, 1949, when the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan adopted a resolution that guaranteed the Kashmiris the right to self-determination through an impartial plebiscite.
The prime minister, in a series of tweets, said the UNSC commitment of an UN-supervised plebiscite in Kashmir remains unfulfilled due to the attitude of the Modi government.
"The Hindutva Modi govt brazenly violates UNSC resolutions, international humanitarian laws, and international conventions, including 4th Geneva Convention, and commits war crimes by seeking to alter status and demography of IIOJK," he said.
The prime minister said the international community, especially the UN, must take action against India's war crimes and crimes against humanity in IIOJK.
"Pakistan remains steadfast in its commitment to the just Kashmiri struggle for self-determination," he added.
In a separate message on the occasion, the prime minister, while reminding the world community that it cannot abandon its moral and legal responsibilities towards Kashmiris, said that durable peace in South Asia is contingent upon peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with international legitimacy.
The importance of the inalienable right to self-determination has been acknowledged in all important human rights covenants and decisions of the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council, the prime minister said.
“While observing 5th of January as the Right to Self-Determination Day for the Kashmiris, we reiterate our commitment to uphold the fundamental human rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and pay homage to the Kashmiris’ just struggle spanning over more than seven decades," he said.
"We are commemorating this day to remind the world community that it cannot abandon its moral and legal responsibilities towards the Kashmiri people.”
He pointed out that the right to self-determination was granted to the Kashmiris by the United Nations and cannot be unilaterally denied by India.
Three generations of Kashmiris have waited for the world community and the UN to honour their solemn commitments made to Kashmiris, he said.
"Indian atrocities in the IOJK continue unabated but the courage and spirit of Kashmiris remain strong," he added.
GEO
The prime minister's message comes as Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and across the world over observe the Right to Self-Determination Day today in their bid to remind the UN of implementing its own resolutions on the dispute passed on January 5 in 1949.
It was on January 5, 1949, when the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan adopted a resolution that guaranteed the Kashmiris the right to self-determination through an impartial plebiscite.
The prime minister, in a series of tweets, said the UNSC commitment of an UN-supervised plebiscite in Kashmir remains unfulfilled due to the attitude of the Modi government.
"The Hindutva Modi govt brazenly violates UNSC resolutions, international humanitarian laws, and international conventions, including 4th Geneva Convention, and commits war crimes by seeking to alter status and demography of IIOJK," he said.
The prime minister said the international community, especially the UN, must take action against India's war crimes and crimes against humanity in IIOJK.
"Pakistan remains steadfast in its commitment to the just Kashmiri struggle for self-determination," he added.
In a separate message on the occasion, the prime minister, while reminding the world community that it cannot abandon its moral and legal responsibilities towards Kashmiris, said that durable peace in South Asia is contingent upon peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with international legitimacy.
The importance of the inalienable right to self-determination has been acknowledged in all important human rights covenants and decisions of the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council, the prime minister said.
“While observing 5th of January as the Right to Self-Determination Day for the Kashmiris, we reiterate our commitment to uphold the fundamental human rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and pay homage to the Kashmiris’ just struggle spanning over more than seven decades," he said.
"We are commemorating this day to remind the world community that it cannot abandon its moral and legal responsibilities towards the Kashmiri people.”
He pointed out that the right to self-determination was granted to the Kashmiris by the United Nations and cannot be unilaterally denied by India.
Three generations of Kashmiris have waited for the world community and the UN to honour their solemn commitments made to Kashmiris, he said.
"Indian atrocities in the IOJK continue unabated but the courage and spirit of Kashmiris remain strong," he added.
GEO
Hassaan HS
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The UNSC commitment of a UN-supervised plebiscite in Kashmir remains unfulfilled as the Hindutva Modi govt brazenly violates UNSC resolutions, int humanitarian laws & int conventions incl 4th Geneva Convention; & commits war crimes by seeking to alter status & demography of IIOJK</p>— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1478565065028775938?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Hassaan HS
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The int community, esp the UN, must take action on India's war crimes & crimes against humanity in IIOJK as Kashmiris continue to reject & resist Indian Occupation & oppression. Pakistan remains steadfast in its commitment to the just Kashmiri struggle for self determination.</p>— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1478565067524395011?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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The Senate on Friday unanimously passed a resolution to express solidarity with Kashmiris in connection with Kashmir Solidarity Day, which will be observed across the country tomorrow (February 5), during a session that was chaired by a Hindu senator.
Senator Krishna Kumari Kohli chaired today's session and was welcomed by the loud thumping of desks as she sat on the chair's seat.
"A Hindu presiding [over] the Senate session on Kashmir in Pakistan. Chairman Senate [asked] our colleague Krishna Kumari Kohli to do the honour. In connection with #KashmirSolidarityDay, it's a strong message going out depicting [the] difference between Pakistan and Hindustan," Senator Faisal Javed Khan said on Twitter.
In her own tweet, Kohli said it was a "great honour".
"It is great honour [that] I chaired the Senate session called to discuss the current situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on the eve of Kashmir Solidarity Day," she said.
The senator, who was elected in 2018 to a reserved seat on a PPP ticket, thanked party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for giving her an opportunity to become a member of the upper house of Parliament.
Kohli became the first Hindu Dalit woman to be elected to the Senate in 2018. Prior to becoming a senator, she was an activist in a village in Nagarparkar.
Resolution expresses solidarity with Kashmiris
The resolution passed during today's session, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, paid tribute to the heroism and valour of the Kashmiris.
The resolution rejected the illegal and unilateral action taken by India on August 5, 2019, and demanded that it revoke the step, calling it a "gross violation of all United Nations resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir".
The resolution also condemned the unabated Indian human rights violations, war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law in IIOJK. "Ever since Aug 5, 2019, hundreds of innocent Kashmiris have been martyred, arbitrarily arrested or rounded up under trumped-up charges," the resolution stated.
It warned India that the worst form of state terrorism would not break the will of the Kashmiri people or crush their legitimate struggle.
Lawmakers demanded that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his "fascist RSS organisation" be held accountable for their crimes against humanity. The resolution also called on the Indian government to stop extra-judicial killings of Kashmiris in fake encounters and cordon-and-search operations.
It denounced the illegal Indian measures to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory as well as "efforts to peddle a facade of normalcy" and demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners in IIOJK.
The resolution called on the international community to take note of "India's belligerence, intransigence and brazen persistence of cruelty against the Kashmiri people, including the danger of genocide which is now documented internationally".
It reassured the Kashmiri people that the government, people and Parliament of Pakistan would always stand firm with them in their just struggle until it is resolved according to their wishes and as per the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
"The Senate of Pakistan reiterates its support to the people of Kashmir in the just struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination every step of the way," the resolution concluded.
Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani will send a copy of the signed resolution to different world leaders and the UN secretary general.
DAWN
Senator Krishna Kumari Kohli chaired today's session and was welcomed by the loud thumping of desks as she sat on the chair's seat.
"A Hindu presiding [over] the Senate session on Kashmir in Pakistan. Chairman Senate [asked] our colleague Krishna Kumari Kohli to do the honour. In connection with #KashmirSolidarityDay, it's a strong message going out depicting [the] difference between Pakistan and Hindustan," Senator Faisal Javed Khan said on Twitter.
In her own tweet, Kohli said it was a "great honour".
"It is great honour [that] I chaired the Senate session called to discuss the current situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on the eve of Kashmir Solidarity Day," she said.
The senator, who was elected in 2018 to a reserved seat on a PPP ticket, thanked party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for giving her an opportunity to become a member of the upper house of Parliament.
Kohli became the first Hindu Dalit woman to be elected to the Senate in 2018. Prior to becoming a senator, she was an activist in a village in Nagarparkar.
Resolution expresses solidarity with Kashmiris
The resolution passed during today's session, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, paid tribute to the heroism and valour of the Kashmiris.
The resolution rejected the illegal and unilateral action taken by India on August 5, 2019, and demanded that it revoke the step, calling it a "gross violation of all United Nations resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir".
The resolution also condemned the unabated Indian human rights violations, war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law in IIOJK. "Ever since Aug 5, 2019, hundreds of innocent Kashmiris have been martyred, arbitrarily arrested or rounded up under trumped-up charges," the resolution stated.
It warned India that the worst form of state terrorism would not break the will of the Kashmiri people or crush their legitimate struggle.
Lawmakers demanded that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his "fascist RSS organisation" be held accountable for their crimes against humanity. The resolution also called on the Indian government to stop extra-judicial killings of Kashmiris in fake encounters and cordon-and-search operations.
It denounced the illegal Indian measures to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory as well as "efforts to peddle a facade of normalcy" and demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners in IIOJK.
The resolution called on the international community to take note of "India's belligerence, intransigence and brazen persistence of cruelty against the Kashmiri people, including the danger of genocide which is now documented internationally".
It reassured the Kashmiri people that the government, people and Parliament of Pakistan would always stand firm with them in their just struggle until it is resolved according to their wishes and as per the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
"The Senate of Pakistan reiterates its support to the people of Kashmir in the just struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination every step of the way," the resolution concluded.
Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani will send a copy of the signed resolution to different world leaders and the UN secretary general.
DAWN
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LOL, sounds like a desperate hero - BTW, world understands Indian side too and what Pakistanis are doing so don't expect the IOK, POK is louder..this can be solved either by total destruction or total 50/50 where both brains and public can agree..else keep tweeting
That is powerful. This will definitely make an impact to the ground situation I think.
Enough impact on you to arrive here.
He has been saying the saying things (fascist, Hindutva, illegal occupation, human rights violations etc.) for 3 years and the world has ignored him and India has felt no pressure to change anything.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.
He should rather devote his energy to the economy of his country which has double digit inflation (which hits the poor the hardest), minuscule FDI and near zero exports from modern industries.
transparent opacity
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Pakistan slams int’l community’s silence over Indian atrocities
FO says Delhi pogrom, mass rape in Kashmir continue to scar world’s conscience
Pakistan on Wednesday said that the reprehensible incidents of Delhi Riots Pogrom of 2020 and mass rapes of Kashmiri women in Kunan and Poshpura villages of occupied Kashmir in 1991 continue to be a scar on the collective conscience of the international community.
In a statement, the Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said, “Today, we somberly observe the second anniversary of the horrific Delhi Riots Pogrom of 2020 and the 31st anniversary of the despicable mass rapes of Kashmiri women in Kunan and Poshpura villages of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in 1991.”
“These reprehensible incidents continue to be a scar on the collective conscience of the international community,” he added.
He also said that the Delhi pogrom of February 2020 was one of the most harrowing manifestations of India’s systematic campaign to discriminate against, dispossess and dehumanise the Muslim community.
He added that the repugnant calls of “shoot the traitors” by senior BJP leaders during the protests against the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) only revealed the depth of the state-sanctioned hysteria and hatred prevailing in India against the Muslims.
The spokesperson said that in the aftermath of these calls, targeted campaigns against Muslims aimed at discrediting their legitimate right to protest were launched, which resulted in the mass killings of Muslims and vandalisation of their properties, businesses and heritage sites and sacrilege of their religious places.
“Equally frightful is the grim memory of 23/24th February 1991, when Indian soldiers mercilessly raped more than 40 Kashmiri women in Kunan and Poshpura villages of the IIOJK,” he said.
“Ever since, the victims of Kunan-Poshpura mass rape are awaiting justice against Colonel K S Dalal, the main perpetrator, and his 125 associates of 4 Rajputana Rifles,” he added.
Iftikhar said that for 31 years, the lack of accountability for the heinous act was a frightening example of the brazen impunity which defines India’s gruesome human rights violations in the IIOJK.
“The people of IIOJK would never forget this brutality by Indian occupation forces, the scars and trauma of which cannot be healed until the perpetrators are punished for their heinous crimes,” he remarked.
He called upon the international community, particularly the United Nations and relevant international human rights and humanitarian organisations to hold India accountable for its gross and systematic human rights violations against minorities, especially Muslims, and take immediate measures against the worrying trajectory of Islamophobia which can regress into a genocide anytime.
“India must also be compelled to halt its state-sponsored terrorism in the IIOJK, immediately cease human rights violations, lift the inhuman military siege, and let the people of IIOJK exercise their right to self-determination as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” he added.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2345070/pakistan-slams-intl-communitys-silence-over-indian-atrocities
FO says Delhi pogrom, mass rape in Kashmir continue to scar world’s conscience
Pakistan on Wednesday said that the reprehensible incidents of Delhi Riots Pogrom of 2020 and mass rapes of Kashmiri women in Kunan and Poshpura villages of occupied Kashmir in 1991 continue to be a scar on the collective conscience of the international community.
In a statement, the Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said, “Today, we somberly observe the second anniversary of the horrific Delhi Riots Pogrom of 2020 and the 31st anniversary of the despicable mass rapes of Kashmiri women in Kunan and Poshpura villages of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in 1991.”
“These reprehensible incidents continue to be a scar on the collective conscience of the international community,” he added.
He also said that the Delhi pogrom of February 2020 was one of the most harrowing manifestations of India’s systematic campaign to discriminate against, dispossess and dehumanise the Muslim community.
He added that the repugnant calls of “shoot the traitors” by senior BJP leaders during the protests against the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) only revealed the depth of the state-sanctioned hysteria and hatred prevailing in India against the Muslims.
The spokesperson said that in the aftermath of these calls, targeted campaigns against Muslims aimed at discrediting their legitimate right to protest were launched, which resulted in the mass killings of Muslims and vandalisation of their properties, businesses and heritage sites and sacrilege of their religious places.
“Equally frightful is the grim memory of 23/24th February 1991, when Indian soldiers mercilessly raped more than 40 Kashmiri women in Kunan and Poshpura villages of the IIOJK,” he said.
“Ever since, the victims of Kunan-Poshpura mass rape are awaiting justice against Colonel K S Dalal, the main perpetrator, and his 125 associates of 4 Rajputana Rifles,” he added.
Iftikhar said that for 31 years, the lack of accountability for the heinous act was a frightening example of the brazen impunity which defines India’s gruesome human rights violations in the IIOJK.
“The people of IIOJK would never forget this brutality by Indian occupation forces, the scars and trauma of which cannot be healed until the perpetrators are punished for their heinous crimes,” he remarked.
He called upon the international community, particularly the United Nations and relevant international human rights and humanitarian organisations to hold India accountable for its gross and systematic human rights violations against minorities, especially Muslims, and take immediate measures against the worrying trajectory of Islamophobia which can regress into a genocide anytime.
“India must also be compelled to halt its state-sponsored terrorism in the IIOJK, immediately cease human rights violations, lift the inhuman military siege, and let the people of IIOJK exercise their right to self-determination as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” he added.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2345070/pakistan-slams-intl-communitys-silence-over-indian-atrocities
YousafTheBeast
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Whilst all the eyes are on Russia and Ukraine you’d think this would be the best time for either of Pakistan and India to make a move in Kashmir.
Sorry other than Islamic countries , not many are concerned or buy Pakistan versions of Kashmir
It has to be resolved between the 2 countries but love or force which neither can afford. Till Modi is there, forget about it
Unsure when they get rid of that dumb Rahul Gandhi, no one will pick Congress
It has to be resolved between the 2 countries but love or force which neither can afford. Till Modi is there, forget about it
Unsure when they get rid of that dumb Rahul Gandhi, no one will pick Congress
Local.Dada
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Turkey and Malaysia I think put a couple of statements back in the day . Which other Islamic country are you talking about?
Even Taliban said they don’t care about matters in other countries.
Cover Drive Six
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Yes
Its good time to invade, Pakistan can win the war with the help of strong allies China and Russia.
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Pakistan has rejected India's "baseless" objection to inviting Kashmiri leaders to participate in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit being held next week in Islamabad.
In a statement on Thursday, the Foreign Office said Pakistan strongly rejected the statement by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson objecting to the invitation, adding that India has "no locus standi" to claim that occupied Kashmir is its "internal matter".
The meeting of OIC's Council of Foreign Minis*ters is being held on March 22-23 in Islamabad. Foreign ministers of 48 countries have confirmed their participation in the event.
A day earlier, spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi, said he had seen reports in the local media that the OIC secretary general had invited All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to the meeting.
The Indian government takes a "very serious view of such actions which are aimed directly at subverting India's unity and violating our sovereignty and territorial integrity," The Hindustan Times quoted Bagchi as saying.
"We have repeatedly called upon the OIC to refrain from allowing vested interests to exploit its platform for comments on India's internal affairs," he added.
Responding to the Indian MEA spokesperson's statement, the Foreign Office noted that several United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions stated that the final decision of the Kashmir dispute would be made in accordance with the wishes of the people of the territory through a plebiscite.
"India's repeated assertions to the contrary cannot obfuscate the reality of its illegal occupation and repression in [occupied Kashmir]," the FO added.
It further said that both the UNSC as well as the OIC recognised Kashmiris' right to self-determination. "Accordingly, OIC has consistently supported the just struggle of the Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination and has traditionally invited the Kashmiri leadership to attend the OIC meetings."
In its statement, the FO also called on India to "not create hurdles in the participation of true representatives of the Kashmiri people" in the OIC summit.
"Instead of questioning OIC's principled stance for the dignity and liberty of the oppressed Kashmiri people, India should reflect inwards and end its repression and widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and let the Kashmiri people exercise their right to self-determination in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council," the FO said.
DAWN
In a statement on Thursday, the Foreign Office said Pakistan strongly rejected the statement by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson objecting to the invitation, adding that India has "no locus standi" to claim that occupied Kashmir is its "internal matter".
The meeting of OIC's Council of Foreign Minis*ters is being held on March 22-23 in Islamabad. Foreign ministers of 48 countries have confirmed their participation in the event.
A day earlier, spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi, said he had seen reports in the local media that the OIC secretary general had invited All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to the meeting.
The Indian government takes a "very serious view of such actions which are aimed directly at subverting India's unity and violating our sovereignty and territorial integrity," The Hindustan Times quoted Bagchi as saying.
"We have repeatedly called upon the OIC to refrain from allowing vested interests to exploit its platform for comments on India's internal affairs," he added.
Responding to the Indian MEA spokesperson's statement, the Foreign Office noted that several United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions stated that the final decision of the Kashmir dispute would be made in accordance with the wishes of the people of the territory through a plebiscite.
"India's repeated assertions to the contrary cannot obfuscate the reality of its illegal occupation and repression in [occupied Kashmir]," the FO added.
It further said that both the UNSC as well as the OIC recognised Kashmiris' right to self-determination. "Accordingly, OIC has consistently supported the just struggle of the Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination and has traditionally invited the Kashmiri leadership to attend the OIC meetings."
In its statement, the FO also called on India to "not create hurdles in the participation of true representatives of the Kashmiri people" in the OIC summit.
"Instead of questioning OIC's principled stance for the dignity and liberty of the oppressed Kashmiri people, India should reflect inwards and end its repression and widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and let the Kashmiri people exercise their right to self-determination in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council," the FO said.
DAWN
India is too strong for anyone to mess with it. Pakistan can't do anything and won't get support from any country on this matter. Pakistan will be better off forgetting about Kashmir. Keep what you have, focus on your economy, take care of your minorities (whose population has gone down significantly after 1947)
Cover Drive Six
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There is no next move, IK agreed that they have failed.
Let him rant on forums.
Meanwhile in J&K
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A 40 members delegation of UAE is on a 3-day visit to Srinagar to explore the investment potential of Jammu and Kashmir. <a href="https://t.co/emPzsSx9xW">pic.twitter.com/emPzsSx9xW</a></p>— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1505775650925584387?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Let him rant on forums.
Meanwhile in J&K
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A 40 members delegation of UAE is on a 3-day visit to Srinagar to explore the investment potential of Jammu and Kashmir. <a href="https://t.co/emPzsSx9xW">pic.twitter.com/emPzsSx9xW</a></p>— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1505775650925584387?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
YousafTheBeast
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I mean Imran Khan isn’t the one calling Kashmir “aN iNtEgRaL pArT oF pAkIsTaN”.
Would love to see the chai wala send people to Gilgit-Baltistan to explore potential investments after all, it’s an integral part of India, no?
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New Delhi: India today reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter and said it rejects the "uncalled reference" to it by the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his speech at a function in Pakistan. "Matters related to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are entirely the internal affairs of India. Other countries including China have no locus standi to comment. They should note that India refrains from public judgement of their internal issues," ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told reporters today in response to queries on the Chinese Foreign Minister's speech.
Mr Wang had made a reference to Kashmir in his opening speech at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Pakistan. "On Kashmir, we have heard again today the calls of many of our Islamic friends. And China shares the same hope," he had said.
New Delhi's rejection of Wang Yi's comments came in the midst of hectic consultations between the two sides over a possible visit by him to New Delhi within two days.
China has time and again reiterated its support to the stand of Pakistan -- its strategic ally -- on the matter of Jammu and Kashmir.
Last month, India rejected the references to Jammu and Kashmir in a China-Pakistan joint statement, asserting that the region as well as the Union Territory of Ladakh "have been, are and will" remain integral and inalienable parts of India.
The joint statement was issued on February 6 following talks in Beijing between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. Mr Bagchi said India has "always rejected such references and our position is well known to China and Pakistan".
In July last year, China had reiterated its support to Pakistan on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, saying it opposes any unilateral action which could complicate the situation.
NDTV
Mr Wang had made a reference to Kashmir in his opening speech at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Pakistan. "On Kashmir, we have heard again today the calls of many of our Islamic friends. And China shares the same hope," he had said.
New Delhi's rejection of Wang Yi's comments came in the midst of hectic consultations between the two sides over a possible visit by him to New Delhi within two days.
China has time and again reiterated its support to the stand of Pakistan -- its strategic ally -- on the matter of Jammu and Kashmir.
Last month, India rejected the references to Jammu and Kashmir in a China-Pakistan joint statement, asserting that the region as well as the Union Territory of Ladakh "have been, are and will" remain integral and inalienable parts of India.
The joint statement was issued on February 6 following talks in Beijing between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. Mr Bagchi said India has "always rejected such references and our position is well known to China and Pakistan".
In July last year, China had reiterated its support to Pakistan on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, saying it opposes any unilateral action which could complicate the situation.
NDTV
Kroll
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Acha, perhaps bring that Yogi Bear guy as well so he can call upon the massacre of these people for belonging to a certain religion.
KingKhanWC
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Pakistan still controls nearly half of Kashmir, which India believes Pakistan is occupying their land. 70 odd years India has failed to retake its land & you think India is strong enough?
Throughout history, all occupied, oppressed people have gained freedom. Even if takes a few more decades the same will happen here.
Pakistan is doing the right thing atm, keep bringing up Kashmir. If India attacks as they did, capture a few more pilots , we have plenty of good quaility dood phatti to go around.
LongtimeLurk3r
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Pakistan still controls nearly half of Kashmir, which India believes Pakistan is occupying their land. 70 odd years India has failed to retake its land & you think India is strong enough?
Throughout history, all occupied, oppressed people have gained freedom. Even if takes a few more decades the same will happen here.
Pakistan is doing the right thing atm, keep bringing up Kashmir. If India attacks as they did, capture a few more pilots , we have plenty of good quaility dood phatti to go around.
Good for Pak. Perhaps they can show how they truly care for Kashmir and Kashmiris by making that a separate country and allow it to thrive. Not autonomous region but a separate country.
cricketjoshila
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Its not even autonomous. The leader of PoK has to swear allegiance to Pakistan.
LongtimeLurk3r
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Cover Drive Six
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We want good ties with India but it cannot happen without a peaceful resolution to the Kashmir question. We will raise the issue of Kashmir on every international platform:
Newly elected Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif
Newly elected Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif
JaDed
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Status quo then.
Local.Dada
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PM of purana Pakistan sounds exactly like Pm from Naya Pakistan lol.
As I have told Pakistani friends before there wasn’t anything personal against IK. No matter who is in charge they have to come up with the same rhetoric.
However I think Shahbaz from what I hear from Indian media has a long and historical business interests in India, so we can understand if he is just saying that for public consumption. As far as no terror activities and back channel business/ diplomacy I feel we should be ok. However just validates the point I have made before.
Kianig89
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Beggars cant be chosers we won't move anything just routine lip service
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The State Investigation Agency (SIA), a unit carved out of the Jammu and Kashmir police has filed a charge sheet against three persons, including an Indian student enrolled in a Pakistani university and his father, for indulging in terror activities ...
https://www.deccanherald.com/nation...ted-for-terror-activities-spying-1106102.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/nation...ted-for-terror-activities-spying-1106102.html
Romali_rotti
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AN Indian student in a Pakistani University ??????????
Whats wrong with this picture.....
Varun
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I am sure IK is planning his next move as I write this
Well, let's hope his 'next next' move is a better one.
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The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), an organisation advocating reunification and complete independence of the divided state of Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir, called upon Islamabad on Saturday to have a “serious review” of its policy on the disputed Himalayan region in the wake of India’s unilateral Aug 5, 2019 actions.
“Pakistan should formally rescind the Simla Agreement of 1972 with India to free itself as well as the Kashmiris from the futility of bilateralism and take the issue of Kashmir to the UNSC,” said the JKLF in an open letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a copy of which was also emailed to Dawn.
Pakistan’s failure to engage with the UN had enabled India to continue its aggression against the Kashmiris, the organisation said in the more than 2,200-word letter signed by its acting chairman Raja Muhammed Haq Nawaz Khan.
The JKLF asserted that the “lack of meaningful political and diplomatic measures on the part of Pakistan” to counter India’s illegal unilateral action of Aug 5, 2019 had subsequently intensified “serious apprehensions among the Kashmiris about Pakistan’s Kashmir policy, and policy on the status of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).”
“For almost 75 years, the Kashmiris have come to expect Pakistan’s ardent support for their right to freely decide on the status of their internationally disputed homeland. There is a painful realisation, especially since August 2019, that Pakistan’s stated policy of support for the struggle and territorial integrity of Kashmir within the UN Charter and relevant UNSC resolutions has changed.”
In its letter, the JKLF maintained that the Indian move was a fundamental departure from the historical context of the issue, which required a “robust political and diplomatic response” from Pakistan. “But Islamabad’s response can hardly be considered appropriate, let alone robust.”
“Far from having to explain her [India’s] aggression against Kashmir to the UNSC, the Indian government has been emboldened, despite having defied the UN resolutions 38, 91, and 122 with Kashmir’s annexation,” it added.
Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2022
“Pakistan should formally rescind the Simla Agreement of 1972 with India to free itself as well as the Kashmiris from the futility of bilateralism and take the issue of Kashmir to the UNSC,” said the JKLF in an open letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a copy of which was also emailed to Dawn.
Pakistan’s failure to engage with the UN had enabled India to continue its aggression against the Kashmiris, the organisation said in the more than 2,200-word letter signed by its acting chairman Raja Muhammed Haq Nawaz Khan.
The JKLF asserted that the “lack of meaningful political and diplomatic measures on the part of Pakistan” to counter India’s illegal unilateral action of Aug 5, 2019 had subsequently intensified “serious apprehensions among the Kashmiris about Pakistan’s Kashmir policy, and policy on the status of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).”
“For almost 75 years, the Kashmiris have come to expect Pakistan’s ardent support for their right to freely decide on the status of their internationally disputed homeland. There is a painful realisation, especially since August 2019, that Pakistan’s stated policy of support for the struggle and territorial integrity of Kashmir within the UN Charter and relevant UNSC resolutions has changed.”
In its letter, the JKLF maintained that the Indian move was a fundamental departure from the historical context of the issue, which required a “robust political and diplomatic response” from Pakistan. “But Islamabad’s response can hardly be considered appropriate, let alone robust.”
“Far from having to explain her [India’s] aggression against Kashmir to the UNSC, the Indian government has been emboldened, despite having defied the UN resolutions 38, 91, and 122 with Kashmir’s annexation,” it added.
Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2022
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Pakistani and Indian diplomats engaged into a verbal duel at the United Nations on Wednesday on the Kashmir dispute, particularly the life sentence given to prominent Kashmiri leader and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Yasin Malik.
Pakistan’s permanent representative Munir Akram, while drawing the UN attention, castigated New Delhi for its continued oppression in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), as he drew attention to the life sentence awarded to Malik by an Indian court on fake terrorism charges.
Reacting to the Pakistani envoy’s statement, Indian representative Vidisha Maitra claimed that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India. However, Pakistani representative Qasim Aziz Butt rejected India’s oft-repeated claim, saying Kashmir was a disputed territory.
Butt referred to the UN resolution 47 of 1948, resolution 91 of 1951and 122 of 1957, besides other resolutions of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan, notably those of August 1948 and January 1949.
India, he said, was bound to comply with those resolutions in line with Article 25 of the Charter of the United Nations. “Only an occupier will oppose the implementation of Security Council resolutions that promise self-determination to the people of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Butt accused India of being one of the world’s largest purveyors of state terrorism, notably against each of its neighbours, including Pakistan. “At home, state-directed terrorism is being unleashed against all minorities,” he said.
“In today’s incredibly intolerant and fading India, 200 million Muslim minority faces frequent lynching by ‘cow vigilantes’; pogroms by RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] thugs, with official complicity; discriminatory citizenship laws to expel Muslims; and a concerted campaign to destroy mosques and the rich Muslim heritage of India,” Butt said.
Earlier, Ambassador Akram drew the 15-member UN Security Council’s attention to the life sentence handed down to Malik, calling it the “latest illustration of Indian oppression” in IIOJK. “Like other colonialists, India has sought to portray the Kashmiri freedom struggle as terrorism,” he said.
“The conviction and sentencing today by an Indian kangaroo court of the Kashmiri leader, Yasin Malik, is the latest illustration of Indian oppression,” he said. He cited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s statement that “India can imprison Yasin Malik but it can never imprison the idea of freedom he symbolizes”.
Speaking in a debate on ‘Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’, Akram posed the question as how the civilians could be protected when the suppression of civilians was the very object of a military’s operations.
“This is the case when foreign occupation forces resort to the forcible denial of the right of peoples to self-determination and seek to perpetuate their illegal occupation,” he said, adding that the objective of the 900,000 Indian troops in IIOJK was to suppress the Kashmiri people’s demand for freedom.
Express Tribune
Pakistan’s permanent representative Munir Akram, while drawing the UN attention, castigated New Delhi for its continued oppression in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), as he drew attention to the life sentence awarded to Malik by an Indian court on fake terrorism charges.
Reacting to the Pakistani envoy’s statement, Indian representative Vidisha Maitra claimed that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India. However, Pakistani representative Qasim Aziz Butt rejected India’s oft-repeated claim, saying Kashmir was a disputed territory.
Butt referred to the UN resolution 47 of 1948, resolution 91 of 1951and 122 of 1957, besides other resolutions of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan, notably those of August 1948 and January 1949.
India, he said, was bound to comply with those resolutions in line with Article 25 of the Charter of the United Nations. “Only an occupier will oppose the implementation of Security Council resolutions that promise self-determination to the people of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Butt accused India of being one of the world’s largest purveyors of state terrorism, notably against each of its neighbours, including Pakistan. “At home, state-directed terrorism is being unleashed against all minorities,” he said.
“In today’s incredibly intolerant and fading India, 200 million Muslim minority faces frequent lynching by ‘cow vigilantes’; pogroms by RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] thugs, with official complicity; discriminatory citizenship laws to expel Muslims; and a concerted campaign to destroy mosques and the rich Muslim heritage of India,” Butt said.
Earlier, Ambassador Akram drew the 15-member UN Security Council’s attention to the life sentence handed down to Malik, calling it the “latest illustration of Indian oppression” in IIOJK. “Like other colonialists, India has sought to portray the Kashmiri freedom struggle as terrorism,” he said.
“The conviction and sentencing today by an Indian kangaroo court of the Kashmiri leader, Yasin Malik, is the latest illustration of Indian oppression,” he said. He cited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s statement that “India can imprison Yasin Malik but it can never imprison the idea of freedom he symbolizes”.
Speaking in a debate on ‘Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’, Akram posed the question as how the civilians could be protected when the suppression of civilians was the very object of a military’s operations.
“This is the case when foreign occupation forces resort to the forcible denial of the right of peoples to self-determination and seek to perpetuate their illegal occupation,” he said, adding that the objective of the 900,000 Indian troops in IIOJK was to suppress the Kashmiri people’s demand for freedom.
Express Tribune
IK can't do everything on his own like he thinks. Pak's time will come when we have honest leaders as for India we all know what the situation is with daily calls of genocide of your Muslim's. That will keep India occupied for the foreseeable future.
Varun
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If that wasn't Imran Khan, who else can it be?
He had 4 years to invade and sort this issue out for good but he did nothing.
IK is more off a show off and narcissist with his PTI being a cult more then a political party. This pacifist would never invade IoK and neither did he claim that which is not to say it won't happen. New politicians come forth every day too with different views. Certain Indian politicians have also been claiming of taking back our AJK for years.
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Pakistan on Saturday strongly rejected and opposed the Indian government's reported plan to hold a G20 event in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK) next year.
According to a report published in The Indian Express on Friday, India has decided to host the meetings of the G20 in the disputed region next year and formed a five-member committee to coordinate the event.
An official order issued by IOJK's housing and urban development department on Thursday revealed that the committee was formed in response to a June 4 communication from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
Separately, a Hindustan Times report said that this would be the first major international "summit" to be held in occupied Kashmir after the Indian government revoked its special status guaranteed under Article 370 of the Constitution.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Office today, Pakistan condemned the neighbouring country's plans, stressing that occupied Kashmir was an internationally recognised “disputed” territory between Pakistan and India.
The territory has been under forcible and illegal occupation of India since 1947 and this dispute has remained on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council for over seven decades.
The FO observed that India was responsible for "widespread atrocities and egregious human rights violations" in the region. "Since its illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019, Indian occupation forces have killed 639 innocent Kashmiris in extra-judicial murders.
"Numerous reports of the UN, including the two commissioned by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2018 and 2019, have re-confirmed ongoing Indian atrocities against the Kashmiri people," the statement highlighted.
It continued that contemplating the holding of any G20-related meeting/event in occupied Kashmir was in utter "disregard of the globally acknowledged disputed status of the territory" and was a "travesty" that the international community could not accept under any circumstances.
"It is expected that in case of any such controversial proposal from India, which would be designed to seek international legitimacy for an illegal and tyrannical occupation continuing for over 7 decades, the G20 members will be fully cognisant of the imperatives of law and justice and would reject it outright."
Pakistan also strongly urged the international community to call upon India to end its gross and systematic violations of human rights in IOJK, revoke its illegal and unilateral actions, and free all political prisoners including the true Kashmiri leaders.
"The only way to lasting peace in South Asia is by granting the people of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir their inalienable right to self-determination as pledged to them in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions," the FO added.
Correction: A previous version of this story erroneously stated that the FO's response was on India planning to host a G20 "summit" when the response was actually on a planned G20 "meeting/event". The error is regretted.
DAWN
According to a report published in The Indian Express on Friday, India has decided to host the meetings of the G20 in the disputed region next year and formed a five-member committee to coordinate the event.
An official order issued by IOJK's housing and urban development department on Thursday revealed that the committee was formed in response to a June 4 communication from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
Separately, a Hindustan Times report said that this would be the first major international "summit" to be held in occupied Kashmir after the Indian government revoked its special status guaranteed under Article 370 of the Constitution.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Office today, Pakistan condemned the neighbouring country's plans, stressing that occupied Kashmir was an internationally recognised “disputed” territory between Pakistan and India.
The territory has been under forcible and illegal occupation of India since 1947 and this dispute has remained on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council for over seven decades.
The FO observed that India was responsible for "widespread atrocities and egregious human rights violations" in the region. "Since its illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019, Indian occupation forces have killed 639 innocent Kashmiris in extra-judicial murders.
"Numerous reports of the UN, including the two commissioned by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2018 and 2019, have re-confirmed ongoing Indian atrocities against the Kashmiri people," the statement highlighted.
It continued that contemplating the holding of any G20-related meeting/event in occupied Kashmir was in utter "disregard of the globally acknowledged disputed status of the territory" and was a "travesty" that the international community could not accept under any circumstances.
"It is expected that in case of any such controversial proposal from India, which would be designed to seek international legitimacy for an illegal and tyrannical occupation continuing for over 7 decades, the G20 members will be fully cognisant of the imperatives of law and justice and would reject it outright."
Pakistan also strongly urged the international community to call upon India to end its gross and systematic violations of human rights in IOJK, revoke its illegal and unilateral actions, and free all political prisoners including the true Kashmiri leaders.
"The only way to lasting peace in South Asia is by granting the people of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir their inalienable right to self-determination as pledged to them in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions," the FO added.
Correction: A previous version of this story erroneously stated that the FO's response was on India planning to host a G20 "summit" when the response was actually on a planned G20 "meeting/event". The error is regretted.
DAWN
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daytrader
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Youm-e-Istehsal Kashmir: PM Shehbaz condemns India's use of 'unbridled force' in IIOJK
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called out India for its continuous use of "unbridled force" in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) as the nation marked three years since New Delhi stripped the valley of its special autonomy.
In a series of tweets, the premier said: "Today marks the third sombre anniversary of India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019 aimed at changing the internationally recognised disputed status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir and altering the demographic structure of the occupied territory."
He lauded brave Kashmiris for persevering in the face of fear, intimidation, torture and the worst forms of human rights violations. "Indian oppression has failed to dent their resolve," PM Shehbaz remarked.
"The Jammu and Kashmir dispute has been a battle of hope against overwhelming odds, of courage against fear and of sacrifice against tyranny. Today, we pay rich tributes to all the martyrs of IIOJK for their ultimate sacrifice and to their families for their resolve and courage," the prime minister added.
In a statement issued by the President House, President Dr Arif Alvi said that the resolution of the Kashmir dispute was the only way to ensure durable peace and stability in the region.
"India's actions of August 5, 2019 contravene several United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions which stipulated that the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of the people through a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations," he stated.
The president further promised that Pakistan would "continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Kashmiri brothers and sisters in their just struggle".
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari highlighted that the developments in the occupied valley over the last three years had proven that "India has been relentlessly pursuing its nefarious design of furthering demographic changes".
"It is doing so through repressive measures, including outrageous gerrymandering, to create Hindu-dominated constituencies at the expense of Muslim majorities, the issuance of millions of fake domicile certificates to non-Kashmiris, and modifying laws on ownership of land and property," he said.
Bilawal pointed out that the presence of 900,000 troops had turned India into "the most militarised zone in the world", highlighting that more than 650 Kashmiris had been martyred since August 5, 2019, including over 130 so far this year.
Calling on the international community, he demanded that the United Nations live up to its promise of granting the right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people.
"The international community must demand an end to India’s gross and widespread human rights violations in IIOJK, reversal of its unilateral and illegal actions of August 5, 2019, repeal of draconian laws, and implementation of relevant UNSC resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir," the foreign minister said.
Pakistan will always remain in strong support and solidarity with the Kashmiri brethren till the full realisation of their legitimate rights, he added.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that on August 5, 2019, the Modi government "violated the UNSC resolutions and international law by illegally revoking the special status of IIOJK".
Further, India then "moved to commit a war crime under Fourth Geneva Convention by altering the demography of IIOJK," he pointed out.
India thought the move would crush the spirit of Kashmiri resistance but instead it continued to grow, he said.
The ex-premier condemned the silence of the international community, calling it "selective morality".
"We are asked to echo condemnations on issues of human rights the powerful in the international community take up. But when it comes to India and its massive human rights violations in IIOJK, there is complete silence by the same powers because of India's market or its strategic military partnerships," he said.
Parliamentarians take out rally in Islamabad
Meanwhile, federal ministers Khawaja Asif and Qamar Zaman Kaira led a rally in Islamabad from the Foreign Office to the Constitution Avenue to express solidarity with oppressed Kashmiris.
Federal ministers Khawaja Asif and Qamar Zaman Kaira speak at a rally in Islamabad. — Photo courtesy: Radio Pakistan
According to a report by Radio Pakistan, the participants held banners and chanted slogans against Indian atrocities in the occupied valley.
Addressing the rally, Asif said that Pakistan's commitment to IIJOK was everlasting and promised that it would never falter.
In his remarks, Kaira said that the Kashmiri people had been braving Indian atrocities over the last seven decades and had sacrificed over 100 lives.
Every Pakistani is aware of their national responsibility and stands by their Kashmiri brothers and sisters, he added.
India's 2019 revocation of Article 370
On August 5, 2019, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had revoked occupied Kashmir's special status by repealing Article 370 of the constitution. The move allowed people from the rest of the country to have the right to acquire property in occupied Kashmir and settle there permanently.
Kashmiris, international organisations and critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government saw the move as an attempt to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers.
Earlier this year, the Indian government said a delimitation commission had finalised 90 assembly constituencies for the IIOJK, excluding Ladakh, with 43 seats for Jammu and 47 for Kashmir. Earlier, Jammu had 37 seats and the Kashmir valley had 46.
The delimitation commission claimed it had been difficult to accommodate competing claims from various sides, citing in a statement the region’s "peculiar geo-cultural landscape".
Subsequently, the Pakistan Foreign Office had handed over a demarche to Indian charge d’affaires, conveying the Government of Pakistan’s categorical rejection of the report of the so-called ‘Delimitation Commission’, which was aimed at disenfranchising and disempowering the Muslim majority population of occupied Kashmir.
The FO had called on India to refrain from bringing about any illegal demographic changes in the occupied territory, stop forthwith its oppression in the IIOJK, and let the Kashmiri people determine their own future through a free and fair plebiscite under the UN auspices.
DAWN
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called out India for its continuous use of "unbridled force" in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) as the nation marked three years since New Delhi stripped the valley of its special autonomy.
In a series of tweets, the premier said: "Today marks the third sombre anniversary of India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019 aimed at changing the internationally recognised disputed status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir and altering the demographic structure of the occupied territory."
He lauded brave Kashmiris for persevering in the face of fear, intimidation, torture and the worst forms of human rights violations. "Indian oppression has failed to dent their resolve," PM Shehbaz remarked.
"The Jammu and Kashmir dispute has been a battle of hope against overwhelming odds, of courage against fear and of sacrifice against tyranny. Today, we pay rich tributes to all the martyrs of IIOJK for their ultimate sacrifice and to their families for their resolve and courage," the prime minister added.
In a statement issued by the President House, President Dr Arif Alvi said that the resolution of the Kashmir dispute was the only way to ensure durable peace and stability in the region.
"India's actions of August 5, 2019 contravene several United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions which stipulated that the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of the people through a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations," he stated.
The president further promised that Pakistan would "continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Kashmiri brothers and sisters in their just struggle".
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari highlighted that the developments in the occupied valley over the last three years had proven that "India has been relentlessly pursuing its nefarious design of furthering demographic changes".
"It is doing so through repressive measures, including outrageous gerrymandering, to create Hindu-dominated constituencies at the expense of Muslim majorities, the issuance of millions of fake domicile certificates to non-Kashmiris, and modifying laws on ownership of land and property," he said.
Bilawal pointed out that the presence of 900,000 troops had turned India into "the most militarised zone in the world", highlighting that more than 650 Kashmiris had been martyred since August 5, 2019, including over 130 so far this year.
Calling on the international community, he demanded that the United Nations live up to its promise of granting the right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people.
"The international community must demand an end to India’s gross and widespread human rights violations in IIOJK, reversal of its unilateral and illegal actions of August 5, 2019, repeal of draconian laws, and implementation of relevant UNSC resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir," the foreign minister said.
Pakistan will always remain in strong support and solidarity with the Kashmiri brethren till the full realisation of their legitimate rights, he added.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that on August 5, 2019, the Modi government "violated the UNSC resolutions and international law by illegally revoking the special status of IIOJK".
Further, India then "moved to commit a war crime under Fourth Geneva Convention by altering the demography of IIOJK," he pointed out.
India thought the move would crush the spirit of Kashmiri resistance but instead it continued to grow, he said.
The ex-premier condemned the silence of the international community, calling it "selective morality".
"We are asked to echo condemnations on issues of human rights the powerful in the international community take up. But when it comes to India and its massive human rights violations in IIOJK, there is complete silence by the same powers because of India's market or its strategic military partnerships," he said.
Parliamentarians take out rally in Islamabad
Meanwhile, federal ministers Khawaja Asif and Qamar Zaman Kaira led a rally in Islamabad from the Foreign Office to the Constitution Avenue to express solidarity with oppressed Kashmiris.
Federal ministers Khawaja Asif and Qamar Zaman Kaira speak at a rally in Islamabad. — Photo courtesy: Radio Pakistan
According to a report by Radio Pakistan, the participants held banners and chanted slogans against Indian atrocities in the occupied valley.
Addressing the rally, Asif said that Pakistan's commitment to IIJOK was everlasting and promised that it would never falter.
In his remarks, Kaira said that the Kashmiri people had been braving Indian atrocities over the last seven decades and had sacrificed over 100 lives.
Every Pakistani is aware of their national responsibility and stands by their Kashmiri brothers and sisters, he added.
India's 2019 revocation of Article 370
On August 5, 2019, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had revoked occupied Kashmir's special status by repealing Article 370 of the constitution. The move allowed people from the rest of the country to have the right to acquire property in occupied Kashmir and settle there permanently.
Kashmiris, international organisations and critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government saw the move as an attempt to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers.
Earlier this year, the Indian government said a delimitation commission had finalised 90 assembly constituencies for the IIOJK, excluding Ladakh, with 43 seats for Jammu and 47 for Kashmir. Earlier, Jammu had 37 seats and the Kashmir valley had 46.
The delimitation commission claimed it had been difficult to accommodate competing claims from various sides, citing in a statement the region’s "peculiar geo-cultural landscape".
Subsequently, the Pakistan Foreign Office had handed over a demarche to Indian charge d’affaires, conveying the Government of Pakistan’s categorical rejection of the report of the so-called ‘Delimitation Commission’, which was aimed at disenfranchising and disempowering the Muslim majority population of occupied Kashmir.
The FO had called on India to refrain from bringing about any illegal demographic changes in the occupied territory, stop forthwith its oppression in the IIOJK, and let the Kashmiri people determine their own future through a free and fair plebiscite under the UN auspices.
DAWN
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‘Kashmir dispute can spark an Indo-Pak crisis’
Pakistani envoy stresses geographical sensitivity of disputed territory
WASHINGTON:
While the international community faces crises like the Russia-Ukraine war, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan has warned that high tensions between India and Pakistan over the Jammu and Kashmir dispute could spark another crisis.
In an interview with Newsweek, which coincided with the third anniversary of India’s revocation of Articles 370 and 35A that repealed the special status of the Indian-occupied part of the disputed Kashmir region, he said that while New Delhi’s move continued to stir frictions between two nuclear-armed nations, there has been a “dangerous indifference” to the issue on the part of the international community.
“Because of several developments in the international realm, for instance, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific region, the United States or other permanent members of the UN Security Council have not been able to devote much attention to Kashmir,” Ambassador Khan was quoted as saying. “So, there is this continuing spell of inattention, which makes Kashmir a blind spot for the international community,” he said.
“This is perilous because, after all, Kashmir is located in a very sensitive region, and in this neighborhood, there are three nuclear powers, Pakistan, India and China.” Newsweek correspondent Tim O’Connor, who interviewed the Pakistani envoy, wrote, “The fate of
Kashmir and its mostly Muslim population led by a Hindu ruler, sparked the first large-scale conflict between India and Pakistan, who would go on to fight three more wars and continued to clash in recent years, with an uneasy, rare ceasefire reached only in February of last year.”
The report also includes Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying’s comments made on the third anniversary of India’s annexation of Jammu and Kashmir, saying, “China’s position is clear and consistent.”
“The Kashmir issue is an issue left over from history between India and Pakistan,” Hua said.
“This is also the shared view of the international community. We stated back then that parties concerned need to exercise restraint and prudence. In particular, the parties should avoid taking actions that unilaterally change the status quo or escalate tensions,” she said.
“We call on both India and Pakistan to peacefully resolve the dispute through dialogue and consultation,” she added. Friday’s anniversary drew some international attention elsewhere as well, the report pointed out. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued a statement condemning India’s “illegal and unilateral actions taken in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which were followed by additional unlawful measures including illegal demographic changes”.
“Such illegal actions can neither alter the disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir nor prejudice the legitimate right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people,” it added.
Express Tribune
Pakistani envoy stresses geographical sensitivity of disputed territory
WASHINGTON:
While the international community faces crises like the Russia-Ukraine war, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan has warned that high tensions between India and Pakistan over the Jammu and Kashmir dispute could spark another crisis.
In an interview with Newsweek, which coincided with the third anniversary of India’s revocation of Articles 370 and 35A that repealed the special status of the Indian-occupied part of the disputed Kashmir region, he said that while New Delhi’s move continued to stir frictions between two nuclear-armed nations, there has been a “dangerous indifference” to the issue on the part of the international community.
“Because of several developments in the international realm, for instance, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific region, the United States or other permanent members of the UN Security Council have not been able to devote much attention to Kashmir,” Ambassador Khan was quoted as saying. “So, there is this continuing spell of inattention, which makes Kashmir a blind spot for the international community,” he said.
“This is perilous because, after all, Kashmir is located in a very sensitive region, and in this neighborhood, there are three nuclear powers, Pakistan, India and China.” Newsweek correspondent Tim O’Connor, who interviewed the Pakistani envoy, wrote, “The fate of
Kashmir and its mostly Muslim population led by a Hindu ruler, sparked the first large-scale conflict between India and Pakistan, who would go on to fight three more wars and continued to clash in recent years, with an uneasy, rare ceasefire reached only in February of last year.”
The report also includes Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying’s comments made on the third anniversary of India’s annexation of Jammu and Kashmir, saying, “China’s position is clear and consistent.”
“The Kashmir issue is an issue left over from history between India and Pakistan,” Hua said.
“This is also the shared view of the international community. We stated back then that parties concerned need to exercise restraint and prudence. In particular, the parties should avoid taking actions that unilaterally change the status quo or escalate tensions,” she said.
“We call on both India and Pakistan to peacefully resolve the dispute through dialogue and consultation,” she added. Friday’s anniversary drew some international attention elsewhere as well, the report pointed out. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued a statement condemning India’s “illegal and unilateral actions taken in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which were followed by additional unlawful measures including illegal demographic changes”.
“Such illegal actions can neither alter the disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir nor prejudice the legitimate right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people,” it added.
Express Tribune
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Pakistan on Sunday categorically rejected India’s “ludicrous comments and fallacious claims,” criticising the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for denouncing illegal actions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
“It is indeed astounding to see an unabashed practitioner of ‘Hindutva’ to accuse others of ‘bigotry’ or ‘communal agenda.’ Equally appalling is the audacity of an established serial violator of human rights and purveyor of state-terrorism, pointing accusing fingers towards others,” said Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad.
The statement added that “OIC is the largest multilateral forum of Islamic countries representing more than 1.7 billion Muslims and have always been vocal in support of the legitimate rights of the Kashmiri people, who had suffered unspeakably from India’s over seven-decades long illegal occupation and unabated oppression.”
The OIC Secretariat, in a statement on August 5, reiterated its stance over India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019 in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The spokesperson further said it was indeed astounding to see an unabashed practitioner of ‘Hindutva’ to accuse others of ‘bigotry’ or ‘communal agenda.’
Jammu and Kashmir was never a part of India, and never would be. It is an internationally recognized “disputed” territory between Pakistan and India that has been under forcible and illegal Indian occupation since 1947. The dispute remained on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council for nearly 75 years. The relevant UNSC resolutions pledged to the Kashmiris their inalienable right to self-determination, to be exercised through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations, it added.
While perpetuating its tyranny and injustice, the spokesperson said India would not succeed in misleading the international community by claiming “socio-economic growth and development” in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
“No amount of repetition would turn a falsehood into truth,” the FO said.
In the interest of justice as well as durable peace and security in South Asia, India must honour its commitment to the Kashmiris and to the world community by faithfully implementing the UNSC resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir dispute, the spokesperson maintained.
ARY
“It is indeed astounding to see an unabashed practitioner of ‘Hindutva’ to accuse others of ‘bigotry’ or ‘communal agenda.’ Equally appalling is the audacity of an established serial violator of human rights and purveyor of state-terrorism, pointing accusing fingers towards others,” said Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad.
The statement added that “OIC is the largest multilateral forum of Islamic countries representing more than 1.7 billion Muslims and have always been vocal in support of the legitimate rights of the Kashmiri people, who had suffered unspeakably from India’s over seven-decades long illegal occupation and unabated oppression.”
The OIC Secretariat, in a statement on August 5, reiterated its stance over India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019 in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The spokesperson further said it was indeed astounding to see an unabashed practitioner of ‘Hindutva’ to accuse others of ‘bigotry’ or ‘communal agenda.’
Jammu and Kashmir was never a part of India, and never would be. It is an internationally recognized “disputed” territory between Pakistan and India that has been under forcible and illegal Indian occupation since 1947. The dispute remained on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council for nearly 75 years. The relevant UNSC resolutions pledged to the Kashmiris their inalienable right to self-determination, to be exercised through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations, it added.
While perpetuating its tyranny and injustice, the spokesperson said India would not succeed in misleading the international community by claiming “socio-economic growth and development” in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
“No amount of repetition would turn a falsehood into truth,” the FO said.
In the interest of justice as well as durable peace and security in South Asia, India must honour its commitment to the Kashmiris and to the world community by faithfully implementing the UNSC resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir dispute, the spokesperson maintained.
ARY
sweep_shot
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Truth be told, Pakistan probably cannot liberate Kashmir, unless there is an all out war. Soft methods are unlikely to work.
Also, China may have to get involved. India is no match to China. If China gets involved militarily, liberation of Kashmir is quite possible.
An all out war is unlikely though as it can damage Chinese and Pakistani economies.
Also, China may have to get involved. India is no match to China. If China gets involved militarily, liberation of Kashmir is quite possible.
An all out war is unlikely though as it can damage Chinese and Pakistani economies.
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daytrader
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Pakistanis to stand with Kashmiris till right to self-determination: FO
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad has said the people of Pakistan would always stand with their Kashmiri brothers and sisters and continue to extend all possible support to them for realisation of their right to self-determination, guaranteed to them by the United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Addressing a weekly press briefing here on Friday, he said that over the past seven decades, three generations of Kashmiris had waited for the world community and the United Nations to honour their solemn commitment of giving them their right to self-determination. He said the international community must demand an end to India’s gross and widespread human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), reversal of its unilateral and illegal actions of August 5, 2019, repeal of draconian laws and implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.
The spokesperson said that it was harrowing to note that more than 650 Kashmiris had been martyred since Aug 5, 2019, including over 130 in the year 2022 alone. In the past week, Indian occupation forces martyred six more innocent Kashmiris in Kulgam Pulwama and Rajouri areas of IIOJK. He said that extrajudicial killings, harassment and humiliation, arbitrary arrests and house raids by the Indian forces had become normal in the IIOJK.
Asim Iftikhar said the people of India and Pakistan are going to celebrate their independence days, but the BJP government had launched its mischievous move to mark August 14 the ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’. “We strongly denounce this move which reeks of the reprehensible playbook of hatred, misinformation and communalism, that has become the hallmark of BJP-led India of today,” added the spokesperson.
Asim Iftikhar said that it was deplorable that the BJP government, as part of its divisive political agenda, was wantonly attempting to play with the sentiments of the people through one-sided and distorted interpretation of history. He said that the government of India was advised to desist from politicising the events related to independence and instead sincerely honour the memories of all those who sacrificed their lives for a better future for all.
“Let me say this loud and clear... Pakistan will proudly celebrate the magnificent milestone of our Diamond Jubilee as befits the nation. Preparations are underway across federal and provincial governments to celebrate the momentous occasion with various activities.
“Notably this includes release of the new recording of our national anthem. On its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also paying a musical tribute to ‘Pakistan At 75’ through a special rendition by the ministry officers to be released on Aug 14,” he said.
The News PK
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad has said the people of Pakistan would always stand with their Kashmiri brothers and sisters and continue to extend all possible support to them for realisation of their right to self-determination, guaranteed to them by the United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Addressing a weekly press briefing here on Friday, he said that over the past seven decades, three generations of Kashmiris had waited for the world community and the United Nations to honour their solemn commitment of giving them their right to self-determination. He said the international community must demand an end to India’s gross and widespread human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), reversal of its unilateral and illegal actions of August 5, 2019, repeal of draconian laws and implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.
The spokesperson said that it was harrowing to note that more than 650 Kashmiris had been martyred since Aug 5, 2019, including over 130 in the year 2022 alone. In the past week, Indian occupation forces martyred six more innocent Kashmiris in Kulgam Pulwama and Rajouri areas of IIOJK. He said that extrajudicial killings, harassment and humiliation, arbitrary arrests and house raids by the Indian forces had become normal in the IIOJK.
Asim Iftikhar said the people of India and Pakistan are going to celebrate their independence days, but the BJP government had launched its mischievous move to mark August 14 the ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’. “We strongly denounce this move which reeks of the reprehensible playbook of hatred, misinformation and communalism, that has become the hallmark of BJP-led India of today,” added the spokesperson.
Asim Iftikhar said that it was deplorable that the BJP government, as part of its divisive political agenda, was wantonly attempting to play with the sentiments of the people through one-sided and distorted interpretation of history. He said that the government of India was advised to desist from politicising the events related to independence and instead sincerely honour the memories of all those who sacrificed their lives for a better future for all.
“Let me say this loud and clear... Pakistan will proudly celebrate the magnificent milestone of our Diamond Jubilee as befits the nation. Preparations are underway across federal and provincial governments to celebrate the momentous occasion with various activities.
“Notably this includes release of the new recording of our national anthem. On its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also paying a musical tribute to ‘Pakistan At 75’ through a special rendition by the ministry officers to be released on Aug 14,” he said.
The News PK
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Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad has said the people of Pakistan would always stand with their Kashmiri brothers and sisters and continue to extend all possible support to them for realisation of their right to self-determination, guaranteed to them by the United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Addressing a weekly press briefing here on Friday, he said that over the past seven decades, three generations of Kashmiris had waited for the world community and the United Nations to honour their solemn commitment of giving them their right to self-determination. He said the international community must demand an end to India’s gross and widespread human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), reversal of its unilateral and illegal actions of August 5, 2019, repeal of draconian laws and implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.
The spokesperson said that it was harrowing to note that more than 650 Kashmiris had been martyred since Aug 5, 2019, including over 130 in the year 2022 alone. In the past week, Indian occupation forces martyred six more innocent Kashmiris in Kulgam Pulwama and Rajouri areas of IIOJK. He said that extrajudicial killings, harassment and humiliation, arbitrary arrests and house raids by the Indian forces had become normal in the IIOJK.
Asim Iftikhar said the people of India and Pakistan are going to celebrate their independence days, but the BJP government had launched its mischievous move to mark August 14 the ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’. “We strongly denounce this move which reeks of the reprehensible playbook of hatred, misinformation and communalism, that has become the hallmark of BJP-led India of today,” added the spokesperson.
Asim Iftikhar said that it was deplorable that the BJP government, as part of its divisive political agenda, was wantonly attempting to play with the sentiments of the people through one-sided and distorted interpretation of history. He said that the government of India was advised to desist from politicising the events related to independence and instead sincerely honour the memories of all those who sacrificed their lives for a better future for all.
“Let me say this loud and clear... Pakistan will proudly celebrate the magnificent milestone of our Diamond Jubilee as befits the nation. Preparations are underway across federal and provincial governments to celebrate the momentous occasion with various activities.
“Notably this includes release of the new recording of our national anthem. On its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also paying a musical tribute to ‘Pakistan At 75’ through a special rendition by the ministry officers to be released on Aug 14,” he said.
TheNews
Addressing a weekly press briefing here on Friday, he said that over the past seven decades, three generations of Kashmiris had waited for the world community and the United Nations to honour their solemn commitment of giving them their right to self-determination. He said the international community must demand an end to India’s gross and widespread human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), reversal of its unilateral and illegal actions of August 5, 2019, repeal of draconian laws and implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.
The spokesperson said that it was harrowing to note that more than 650 Kashmiris had been martyred since Aug 5, 2019, including over 130 in the year 2022 alone. In the past week, Indian occupation forces martyred six more innocent Kashmiris in Kulgam Pulwama and Rajouri areas of IIOJK. He said that extrajudicial killings, harassment and humiliation, arbitrary arrests and house raids by the Indian forces had become normal in the IIOJK.
Asim Iftikhar said the people of India and Pakistan are going to celebrate their independence days, but the BJP government had launched its mischievous move to mark August 14 the ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’. “We strongly denounce this move which reeks of the reprehensible playbook of hatred, misinformation and communalism, that has become the hallmark of BJP-led India of today,” added the spokesperson.
Asim Iftikhar said that it was deplorable that the BJP government, as part of its divisive political agenda, was wantonly attempting to play with the sentiments of the people through one-sided and distorted interpretation of history. He said that the government of India was advised to desist from politicising the events related to independence and instead sincerely honour the memories of all those who sacrificed their lives for a better future for all.
“Let me say this loud and clear... Pakistan will proudly celebrate the magnificent milestone of our Diamond Jubilee as befits the nation. Preparations are underway across federal and provincial governments to celebrate the momentous occasion with various activities.
“Notably this includes release of the new recording of our national anthem. On its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also paying a musical tribute to ‘Pakistan At 75’ through a special rendition by the ministry officers to be released on Aug 14,” he said.
TheNews
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Pakistan on Friday categorically rejected deliberate Indian attempts of “pre-poll rigging” and “overt manipulation” in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The statement comes days after the chief electoral officer in the occupied valley, Hirdesh Kumar, announced that non-locals living ordinarily could register their names in the voting list.
“Jammu and Kashmir is likely to get around 25 lakh additional voters, including outsiders, after the special summary revision of electoral rolls,” The Wire quoted Kumar as saying.
The report added that his remarks drew angry reactions from mainstream political parties in IIOJK.
In a statement issued today, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said the latest announcement of “permitting even temporary residents in the occupied territory, including outside workforce and security personnel, to register as ‘voters’ is a clear manifestation of the treacherous Indian design to influence the outcome of ‘so-called’ elections in IIOJK.”
“Pakistan reiterates its complete rejection of India’s entire litany of steps aimed at turning the Muslim majority in IIOJK into a minority — including the formulation of the so-called ‘delimitation’ commission and its baseless report, the issuance of fake Kashmiri domiciles to millions of outsiders, and changes in the property laws.”
The spokesperson said that despite the “reprehensible measures” that followed the revocation of the region’s special autonomy in 2019, India would not be able to break the will of the Kashmiri people or mislead the international community.
“The government of India must desist from all actions in IIOJK that violate international law, the United Nations Charter, and the 4th Geneva Convention,” he said.
The FO spokesperson also urged India to release all political prisoners detained on “trumped-up charges”, halt human rights violations in the occupied valley, lift the brutal military siege, and let Kashmiris exercise their right to self-determination as stipulated in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
The FO further called upon the international community to take immediate cognisance of blatant Indian attempts at “effecting illegal demographic changes” in IIOJK and to hold India accountable.
DAWN
The statement comes days after the chief electoral officer in the occupied valley, Hirdesh Kumar, announced that non-locals living ordinarily could register their names in the voting list.
“Jammu and Kashmir is likely to get around 25 lakh additional voters, including outsiders, after the special summary revision of electoral rolls,” The Wire quoted Kumar as saying.
The report added that his remarks drew angry reactions from mainstream political parties in IIOJK.
In a statement issued today, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said the latest announcement of “permitting even temporary residents in the occupied territory, including outside workforce and security personnel, to register as ‘voters’ is a clear manifestation of the treacherous Indian design to influence the outcome of ‘so-called’ elections in IIOJK.”
“Pakistan reiterates its complete rejection of India’s entire litany of steps aimed at turning the Muslim majority in IIOJK into a minority — including the formulation of the so-called ‘delimitation’ commission and its baseless report, the issuance of fake Kashmiri domiciles to millions of outsiders, and changes in the property laws.”
The spokesperson said that despite the “reprehensible measures” that followed the revocation of the region’s special autonomy in 2019, India would not be able to break the will of the Kashmiri people or mislead the international community.
“The government of India must desist from all actions in IIOJK that violate international law, the United Nations Charter, and the 4th Geneva Convention,” he said.
The FO spokesperson also urged India to release all political prisoners detained on “trumped-up charges”, halt human rights violations in the occupied valley, lift the brutal military siege, and let Kashmiris exercise their right to self-determination as stipulated in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
The FO further called upon the international community to take immediate cognisance of blatant Indian attempts at “effecting illegal demographic changes” in IIOJK and to hold India accountable.
DAWN
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Pakistan has rejected the “unwarranted remarks” by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ (EAM) official spokesperson regarding Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s joint press conference with his German counterpart in Berlin wherein the two spoke about the United Nations’ role in resolving the Kashmir dispute, according to a press release by the Foreign Office (FO) on Sunday.
In the press conference, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had said: “Germany also has a role and responsibility with regard to the situation in Kashmir. Therefore, we support intensively the engagement of the United Nations, to find peaceful resolutions in the region.”
Reacting to her remarks, EAM spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that the global community had a responsibility to “call out international terrorism, especially of a cross-border nature” in an apparent reference to Pakistan.
“The UN Security Council and FATF (Financial Action Task Force) are still pursuing Pakistan-based terrorists involved in the horrific 26/11 attacks,” he said. “When states do not recognise such dangers, either because of self-interest or indifference, they undermine the cause of peace, not promote it.”
Responding to Bagchi’s “gratuitous remarks”, the FO said they had “exposed the desperation of a country that finds itself increasingly isolated on the issue of its illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir and the reprehensible human rights violations being perpetrated by its ruthless occupation force in the occupied territory”.
The press release said the two foreign ministers had highlighted the centrality of the Kashmir dispute and agreed that there was a role and responsibility of the international community as well as a need for intensified efforts from the UN, with regard to a peaceful and just resolution of the issue.
The FO said that India’s “proclivity” to hoist the “bogey of cross-border terrorism” whenever there was a call for increased scrutiny of its actions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu Kashmir (IIOJK) was “well known”.
“It must, however, realise that no amount of obfuscation will change the reality of its repression in IIOJK. India’s credentials as a purveyor of state terrorism in IIOJK and as an instigator of cross-border terrorism in Pakistan need no reiteration.
“Hollow denials and evasion of responsibility will no longer cover up India’s mischievous strategy of posing as a ‘victim’ of terrorism while shifting blame elsewhere,” the FO said while rebuffing Bagchi’s remarks.
On the other hand, it added that Pakistan’s contribution to the cause of counterterrorism was globally acknowledged.
It also pointed out that Bagchi’s allusion to the FATF characterised India’s “bias, hostility and partiality” towards Pakistan and “corroborates Pakistan’s long-standing view that India has been politicising FATF and trying to misuse its membership of FATF to target Pakistan.”
The FO called on the FATF to take note of India’s “irresponsible statement”.
“Rather than making preposterous remarks about statements made by foreign ministers, India would do well to introspect, address the international community’s valid concerns and mend its conduct in the IIOJK.
“Pakistan urges the international community, particularly human rights and humanitarian organisations to condemn India’s barbaric state-terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and ensure that Kashmiris are given their right to self-determination as enshrined in the relevant UNSC (UN Security Council) resolutions and as per their own wishes,” the press release reads.
On Monday, the FO had “categorically rejected” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s remarks insinuating that Pakistan was involved in “international terrorism”.
Responding to his “unfounded remarks”, the FO had said they were “yet another manifestation of the Indian leaders’ obsession to concoct facts with respect to terrorism for misleading the international community and to point fingers at neighbours in a bid to mask India’s own well-known credentials as a state-sponsor of terrorism and a serial violator of human rights.”
DAWN
In the press conference, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had said: “Germany also has a role and responsibility with regard to the situation in Kashmir. Therefore, we support intensively the engagement of the United Nations, to find peaceful resolutions in the region.”
Reacting to her remarks, EAM spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that the global community had a responsibility to “call out international terrorism, especially of a cross-border nature” in an apparent reference to Pakistan.
“The UN Security Council and FATF (Financial Action Task Force) are still pursuing Pakistan-based terrorists involved in the horrific 26/11 attacks,” he said. “When states do not recognise such dangers, either because of self-interest or indifference, they undermine the cause of peace, not promote it.”
Responding to Bagchi’s “gratuitous remarks”, the FO said they had “exposed the desperation of a country that finds itself increasingly isolated on the issue of its illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir and the reprehensible human rights violations being perpetrated by its ruthless occupation force in the occupied territory”.
The press release said the two foreign ministers had highlighted the centrality of the Kashmir dispute and agreed that there was a role and responsibility of the international community as well as a need for intensified efforts from the UN, with regard to a peaceful and just resolution of the issue.
The FO said that India’s “proclivity” to hoist the “bogey of cross-border terrorism” whenever there was a call for increased scrutiny of its actions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu Kashmir (IIOJK) was “well known”.
“It must, however, realise that no amount of obfuscation will change the reality of its repression in IIOJK. India’s credentials as a purveyor of state terrorism in IIOJK and as an instigator of cross-border terrorism in Pakistan need no reiteration.
“Hollow denials and evasion of responsibility will no longer cover up India’s mischievous strategy of posing as a ‘victim’ of terrorism while shifting blame elsewhere,” the FO said while rebuffing Bagchi’s remarks.
On the other hand, it added that Pakistan’s contribution to the cause of counterterrorism was globally acknowledged.
It also pointed out that Bagchi’s allusion to the FATF characterised India’s “bias, hostility and partiality” towards Pakistan and “corroborates Pakistan’s long-standing view that India has been politicising FATF and trying to misuse its membership of FATF to target Pakistan.”
The FO called on the FATF to take note of India’s “irresponsible statement”.
“Rather than making preposterous remarks about statements made by foreign ministers, India would do well to introspect, address the international community’s valid concerns and mend its conduct in the IIOJK.
“Pakistan urges the international community, particularly human rights and humanitarian organisations to condemn India’s barbaric state-terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and ensure that Kashmiris are given their right to self-determination as enshrined in the relevant UNSC (UN Security Council) resolutions and as per their own wishes,” the press release reads.
On Monday, the FO had “categorically rejected” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s remarks insinuating that Pakistan was involved in “international terrorism”.
Responding to his “unfounded remarks”, the FO had said they were “yet another manifestation of the Indian leaders’ obsession to concoct facts with respect to terrorism for misleading the international community and to point fingers at neighbours in a bid to mask India’s own well-known credentials as a state-sponsor of terrorism and a serial violator of human rights.”
DAWN
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Pakistan on Tuesday “categorically rejected” the remarks made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about India-occupied Jammu & Kashmir during a public rally in Gujarat, saying his narrative was not only false and misleading but also reflected “how oblivious the Indian leadership has become of the ground realities in IIOJK”.
Modi, at a rally in Gujarat on Monday, claimed that he had somehow “resolved the Kashmir issue”.
“As I am following the footsteps of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (former Indian Congress leader), I have values of the land of Sardar and that was the reason I resolved the problem of Kashmir and paid true tributes to Sardar Patel,” Modi was quoted as saying by the Indian media.
Reacting to his remarks, the Foreign Office called out the Indian leader for making “delusional statements about having resolved the dispute unilaterally, the Indian leadership must deliver on their commitments to the Kashmiris”.
It said that Jammu and Kashmir was an internationally recognised dispute, the resolution of which had been on the agenda of the United Nations since 1948.
“Despite clear UN resolutions that prescribe a free and impartial plebiscite for the final disposition of the dispute, India has not only illegally occupied the territory but is also guilty of egregious human rights violations employing over 900,000 brutal occupation force,” the FO statement added.
It added that the fact remained that the people of IIOJK continued to brave India’s reprehensible occupation which it sought to perpetuate through malicious demographic changes and strong-arm tactics.
The craftily staged visits of the Indian leadership to the occupied territory and choreographed launches of so-called development projects in a bid to create a façade of ‘normalcy’ will neither dampen the spirit of the Kashmiris struggling to break free from the illegal Indian occupation nor would it deceive the world into believing India’s deception, the FO said.
“Pakistan has consistently called upon the international community to assume its role and responsibility with regards to IIOJK and the ongoing Indian atrocities in the occupied territory.”
The FO noted that India must also be held responsible for its “nefarious scheme of altering the demography of IIOJK”, as well as for its brutal repression of the innocent Kashmiris.
“Pakistan reiterates its call on human rights and humanitarian organizations to condemn India’s state terrorism in IIOJK and demand an immediate reversal of the Indian government’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019,” the statement added.
The Foreign Office reiterated that the only solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute lay in ensuring that the Kashmiris were allowed to exercise their right of self-determination through the democratic method of holding a UN-mandated free and impartial plebiscite as espoused in the relevant UNSC resolutions and as per the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
Modi, at a rally in Gujarat on Monday, claimed that he had somehow “resolved the Kashmir issue”.
“As I am following the footsteps of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (former Indian Congress leader), I have values of the land of Sardar and that was the reason I resolved the problem of Kashmir and paid true tributes to Sardar Patel,” Modi was quoted as saying by the Indian media.
Reacting to his remarks, the Foreign Office called out the Indian leader for making “delusional statements about having resolved the dispute unilaterally, the Indian leadership must deliver on their commitments to the Kashmiris”.
It said that Jammu and Kashmir was an internationally recognised dispute, the resolution of which had been on the agenda of the United Nations since 1948.
“Despite clear UN resolutions that prescribe a free and impartial plebiscite for the final disposition of the dispute, India has not only illegally occupied the territory but is also guilty of egregious human rights violations employing over 900,000 brutal occupation force,” the FO statement added.
It added that the fact remained that the people of IIOJK continued to brave India’s reprehensible occupation which it sought to perpetuate through malicious demographic changes and strong-arm tactics.
The craftily staged visits of the Indian leadership to the occupied territory and choreographed launches of so-called development projects in a bid to create a façade of ‘normalcy’ will neither dampen the spirit of the Kashmiris struggling to break free from the illegal Indian occupation nor would it deceive the world into believing India’s deception, the FO said.
“Pakistan has consistently called upon the international community to assume its role and responsibility with regards to IIOJK and the ongoing Indian atrocities in the occupied territory.”
The FO noted that India must also be held responsible for its “nefarious scheme of altering the demography of IIOJK”, as well as for its brutal repression of the innocent Kashmiris.
“Pakistan reiterates its call on human rights and humanitarian organizations to condemn India’s state terrorism in IIOJK and demand an immediate reversal of the Indian government’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019,” the statement added.
The Foreign Office reiterated that the only solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute lay in ensuring that the Kashmiris were allowed to exercise their right of self-determination through the democratic method of holding a UN-mandated free and impartial plebiscite as espoused in the relevant UNSC resolutions and as per the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
Romali_rotti
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If China tries to take Indian Kashmir, it would become an all out war, Americans and NATO will come to India's aid as they would use India's as a tool to destroy China.
Chinese know all this, they wont get involved and Pakistan will never get Indian Kashmir.
IMO Pakistan needs to be more careful of not losing Baluchistan, currently with the Pakistani economy in bankruptcy they are walking on thin ice.
Kashmir ship for Pakistan sailed away decades ago but their military needs the narrative to be in control otherwise their public would not approve of the military controlling Pakistan's economy...
The Indian side of Kashmir has been settled. It's over. It's the most imp part of Kashmir with water sources. Also Kashmiris care more about economy now and Modi government has been using carrot and stick policy in Kashmir with good results.
Based on all reports, many Kashmiris are part of Ajit Doval's payroll. There is no resistance except for a few skirmishes here and there. There will and should be skirmishes to push the Indian narrative of terrorism and the justification of lakhs of Indian soldiers. 30 lakh people have been given domicile certificates in J&K and there are electoral changes with jurisdictions and voters. BJP will be a force in Jammu and the Muslim parties will fight for each vote in Kashmir area. One of them will support BJP form the govt in J&K. Kashmiris are slowly learning that they don't want to be another Afghanistan. That will be their future if they align with Pak.
Based on all reports, many Kashmiris are part of Ajit Doval's payroll. There is no resistance except for a few skirmishes here and there. There will and should be skirmishes to push the Indian narrative of terrorism and the justification of lakhs of Indian soldiers. 30 lakh people have been given domicile certificates in J&K and there are electoral changes with jurisdictions and voters. BJP will be a force in Jammu and the Muslim parties will fight for each vote in Kashmir area. One of them will support BJP form the govt in J&K. Kashmiris are slowly learning that they don't want to be another Afghanistan. That will be their future if they align with Pak.
India and China have an understanding on Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin, Xianjiang and Taiwan
India refrained from resolutions on Xianjiang, Taiwan. China withdrew from the neutral lands along the LAC. All out war probably doesn't matter much to Pak that is already in economic doldrums but it matters a lot of China and India. Especially China with the sanctions from the West and the slowing economy. China also doesn't want the two frontal war in Ladakh and Taiwan. Both India and China have cards to play and hence a status quo will be maintained.
As far as Pak goes, it has been a worry of every nation that Pak's nukes will fall into the hands of terrorists. Every effort has been made for decades to stop that. The only way to a full scale war is if the world fails in securing Pak's nukes.
jeetu
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All 3 countries have nuclear weapon. So when push comes shove, any of the 3 countries will resort to using nuclear weapon if they get into realistic chance of losing massive territory.
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India scrapped on Thursday a rule granting voting rights to new residents of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu Kashmir (IIOJK) region after widespread anger among political parties, who labelled it a bid to change the demographics of the country’s only Muslim-majority region.
In 2019, India stripped the region of its remaining measure of autonomy, reorganising Jammu and Kashmir state into two federally-controlled territories and changing the constitution to let non-Kashmiris vote and own land there.
The rule scrapped on Thursday had been introduced just two days earlier in one district of 20 in the region.
It had allowed Indians who have lived in IIOJK for a year or more to register as voters, replacing a rule that limited the franchise only to those who had lived there in 1947 — the year that India gained independence — or their descendants.
The measure of October 11 “is withdrawn and to be treated as void”, an electoral officer in the Jammu region, Avny Lavasa, told Reuters, without giving a reason for the withdrawal.
IIOJK last voted in 2019 in national elections, a few months before it was stripped of its autonomy.
New voters
In August, the government said it expected to add 2.5 million voters to IIOJK’s rolls, which would swell the electorate by more than a third from 7.6 million now.
Kashmiris fear that any rule changes which add new voters would allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to alter the region’s makeup, stamping out a decades-long independence movement.
The BJP says its policies aim to benefit ordinary Kashmiris, but the region’s political parties do not see the measure in the same light.
“The BJP’s attempts to create religious and regional divisions between Jammu and Kashmir must be thwarted,” former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who is president of the J&K Peoples Democratic Party, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
Authorities are revising voter lists in all 20 electoral districts of IIOJK. India’s home minister Amit Shah said last week that elections would be held following the publication of the revised lists.
DAWN
In 2019, India stripped the region of its remaining measure of autonomy, reorganising Jammu and Kashmir state into two federally-controlled territories and changing the constitution to let non-Kashmiris vote and own land there.
The rule scrapped on Thursday had been introduced just two days earlier in one district of 20 in the region.
It had allowed Indians who have lived in IIOJK for a year or more to register as voters, replacing a rule that limited the franchise only to those who had lived there in 1947 — the year that India gained independence — or their descendants.
The measure of October 11 “is withdrawn and to be treated as void”, an electoral officer in the Jammu region, Avny Lavasa, told Reuters, without giving a reason for the withdrawal.
IIOJK last voted in 2019 in national elections, a few months before it was stripped of its autonomy.
New voters
In August, the government said it expected to add 2.5 million voters to IIOJK’s rolls, which would swell the electorate by more than a third from 7.6 million now.
Kashmiris fear that any rule changes which add new voters would allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to alter the region’s makeup, stamping out a decades-long independence movement.
The BJP says its policies aim to benefit ordinary Kashmiris, but the region’s political parties do not see the measure in the same light.
“The BJP’s attempts to create religious and regional divisions between Jammu and Kashmir must be thwarted,” former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who is president of the J&K Peoples Democratic Party, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
Authorities are revising voter lists in all 20 electoral districts of IIOJK. India’s home minister Amit Shah said last week that elections would be held following the publication of the revised lists.
DAWN
Good initiative. The pahadi SC reservation could be a game changer for BJP. The only agenda for the Muslim parties so far was against voting rights for new residents. With that scrapped, they have no agenda. This was also necessary for any future alliance between BJP and Azad's party or Apni party. BJP can win 30 to 35 seats in Jammu. If they can have an alliance with another party of 10 to 15 seats, they will rule J&K for 5 years.
daytrader
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Neighbours trade charges over Kashmir at CICA summit
ISLAMABAD: India responded angrily on Thursday after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pointed to human rights violations in held Kashmir and repression of minorities in the country at a regional conference, while reiterating the offer of dialogue for the sake of regional peace and prosperity.
Addressing the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures (CICA) in Astana, PM Sharif said: “Indian democracy is known less for its rights and freedoms and more for its repression and brutality. The truth is the hard and harsh fact that India today is a threat to its minorities, to its neighbours, to its region and to itself”.
“Yet... we are willing to engage with India for the sake of peace, prosperity and progress in the region because we cannot afford to have more poverty and unemployment on both sides of the border,” he said, adding the meagre resources available to the two countries could not be wasted on fuelling tensions.
Bilateral dialogue between the two neighbouring countries, which have been to war thrice in the past, has been suspended since 2016. Pakistan later downgraded diplomatic ties with India in 2019 after the latter unilaterally annexed occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Subsequent events in occupied Kashmir and Hindu supremacists’ actions against Muslims in India prevented any progress towards re-engagement.
The two sides had, however, last year agreed on the restoration of the 2003 ceasefire agreement on the Line of Control, separating the two parts of disputed Himalayan region, through back-channel diplomacy.
The ceasefire is holding since then, but not much progress could be made subsequently.
It has been Islamabad’s longstanding position on normalisation that it is for India to provide conducive environment for that to happen.
Reaffirming that position, Mr Sharif said: “I am absolutely ready and willing to have serious dialogue and discussion with our Indian counterparts provided they show sincerity of purpose and they show that they are ready to discuss issues which have really kept us at a distance over decades, created tensions, prevented trade and investment. This has to come to a stop.”
Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi, who was representing India at the conference, hit back by asking Pakistan to end the alleged cross-border terrorism and create suitable conditions for dialogue.
Ms Lekhi accused Pakistan of misusing the event to “propagate false and malicious propaganda” against India and diverging from the main focus of discussions.
She contended that PM Sharif’s remarks were not only tantamount to “gross interference in India’s internal affairs, sovereignty and territorial integrity”, but also violated CICA’s principles.
Ms Lekhi said Pakistan must “immediately cease anti-India cross-border terrorism and shut down its infrastructure of terrorism”.
She asked Pakistan to show sincerity in its offer by taking credible, verifiable and irreversible actions for preventing alleged cross-border terrorism against India.
DAWN
ISLAMABAD: India responded angrily on Thursday after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pointed to human rights violations in held Kashmir and repression of minorities in the country at a regional conference, while reiterating the offer of dialogue for the sake of regional peace and prosperity.
Addressing the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures (CICA) in Astana, PM Sharif said: “Indian democracy is known less for its rights and freedoms and more for its repression and brutality. The truth is the hard and harsh fact that India today is a threat to its minorities, to its neighbours, to its region and to itself”.
“Yet... we are willing to engage with India for the sake of peace, prosperity and progress in the region because we cannot afford to have more poverty and unemployment on both sides of the border,” he said, adding the meagre resources available to the two countries could not be wasted on fuelling tensions.
Bilateral dialogue between the two neighbouring countries, which have been to war thrice in the past, has been suspended since 2016. Pakistan later downgraded diplomatic ties with India in 2019 after the latter unilaterally annexed occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Subsequent events in occupied Kashmir and Hindu supremacists’ actions against Muslims in India prevented any progress towards re-engagement.
The two sides had, however, last year agreed on the restoration of the 2003 ceasefire agreement on the Line of Control, separating the two parts of disputed Himalayan region, through back-channel diplomacy.
The ceasefire is holding since then, but not much progress could be made subsequently.
It has been Islamabad’s longstanding position on normalisation that it is for India to provide conducive environment for that to happen.
Reaffirming that position, Mr Sharif said: “I am absolutely ready and willing to have serious dialogue and discussion with our Indian counterparts provided they show sincerity of purpose and they show that they are ready to discuss issues which have really kept us at a distance over decades, created tensions, prevented trade and investment. This has to come to a stop.”
Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi, who was representing India at the conference, hit back by asking Pakistan to end the alleged cross-border terrorism and create suitable conditions for dialogue.
Ms Lekhi accused Pakistan of misusing the event to “propagate false and malicious propaganda” against India and diverging from the main focus of discussions.
She contended that PM Sharif’s remarks were not only tantamount to “gross interference in India’s internal affairs, sovereignty and territorial integrity”, but also violated CICA’s principles.
Ms Lekhi said Pakistan must “immediately cease anti-India cross-border terrorism and shut down its infrastructure of terrorism”.
She asked Pakistan to show sincerity in its offer by taking credible, verifiable and irreversible actions for preventing alleged cross-border terrorism against India.
DAWN
daytrader
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Kashmiris across world observe Black Day
Protest rallies, marches reject illegal occupation of Kashmir by India
ISLAMABAD:
Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) as well as the world over observed Black Day on Thursday to convey a strong message to the world that they rejected illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India.
The day is marked every year to express support and solidarity with Kashmiri people in their just struggle for right to self-determination and remind the United Nations of its commitment to the resolution of this dispute.
Call for the observance of the shutdown and Black Day was given by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC). The day was marked by a complete shutdown in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K).
Protest marches, rallies and seminars were held in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Pakistan and all over the world to condemn the invasion of the territory by Indian Army on 27th October, 1947.
The Kashmiri people also expressed their resentment over the revocation of special status of occupied Kashmir by the Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government on August 5, 2019.
The APHC, in a statement in Srinagar, asked the Kashmiris to demonstrate to the world that they would not rest until Jammu and Kashmir was liberated from Indian slavery.
The Pakistan embassies and high commissions across the world observed the Kashmir Black Day to condemn Indian human rights abuses in IIOJK and reiterated the resolve to keep supporting the oppressed Kashmiri people.
In this connection, Pakistan’s diplomatic missions held a variety of events including seminars and photo exhibitions, attended by notables from the respective countries, members of the Pakistani and the Kashmiri communities.
Meanwhile, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) reiterated its “full solidarity” with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their quest for the right to self-determination.
The OIC General Secretariat also urged India to halt and reverse the illegal and unilateral actions taken on August 5, 2019, according to a statement issued by the OIC secretariat in Jeddah.
The Muslim world body called for the reversal of the subsequent Indian steps to change the internationally recognised disputed status of the territory and to alter the demographic structure of the occupied territory.
The OIC reiterated its call on the international community to step up its efforts to resolve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said that the Kashmir issue should be “properly managed peacefully” in accordance with the UN Charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreement.
“China’s position on the issue of Kashmir has been consistent and clear. This is an issue left over by history between India and Pakistan and should be properly managed peacefully,” she told her regular briefing at International Press Centre.
Express Tribune
Protest rallies, marches reject illegal occupation of Kashmir by India
ISLAMABAD:
Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) as well as the world over observed Black Day on Thursday to convey a strong message to the world that they rejected illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India.
The day is marked every year to express support and solidarity with Kashmiri people in their just struggle for right to self-determination and remind the United Nations of its commitment to the resolution of this dispute.
Call for the observance of the shutdown and Black Day was given by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC). The day was marked by a complete shutdown in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K).
Protest marches, rallies and seminars were held in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Pakistan and all over the world to condemn the invasion of the territory by Indian Army on 27th October, 1947.
The Kashmiri people also expressed their resentment over the revocation of special status of occupied Kashmir by the Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government on August 5, 2019.
The APHC, in a statement in Srinagar, asked the Kashmiris to demonstrate to the world that they would not rest until Jammu and Kashmir was liberated from Indian slavery.
The Pakistan embassies and high commissions across the world observed the Kashmir Black Day to condemn Indian human rights abuses in IIOJK and reiterated the resolve to keep supporting the oppressed Kashmiri people.
In this connection, Pakistan’s diplomatic missions held a variety of events including seminars and photo exhibitions, attended by notables from the respective countries, members of the Pakistani and the Kashmiri communities.
Meanwhile, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) reiterated its “full solidarity” with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their quest for the right to self-determination.
The OIC General Secretariat also urged India to halt and reverse the illegal and unilateral actions taken on August 5, 2019, according to a statement issued by the OIC secretariat in Jeddah.
The Muslim world body called for the reversal of the subsequent Indian steps to change the internationally recognised disputed status of the territory and to alter the demographic structure of the occupied territory.
The OIC reiterated its call on the international community to step up its efforts to resolve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said that the Kashmir issue should be “properly managed peacefully” in accordance with the UN Charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreement.
“China’s position on the issue of Kashmir has been consistent and clear. This is an issue left over by history between India and Pakistan and should be properly managed peacefully,” she told her regular briefing at International Press Centre.
Express Tribune
daytrader
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US calls on India to restore elections, political rights in IIOJ&K
The US recently pressed the Modi regime to restore local elections and political rights and address human rights violations in all the regions across the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir
WASHINGTON: The US recently pressed the Modi regime to restore local elections and political rights and address human rights violations in all the regions across the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. This was stated by US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu in an interview.
“I want to clarify that there has been no change in the American policy on Kashmir,” Lu said while talking to an international channel. He said the US has discussed human rights violations in India, especially in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, at a high level with New Delhi.
The assistant secretary said the solution to the Kashmir issue was possible only through direct negotiations between India and Pakistan. Lu further said that it should be ensured that the media could continue to do its job in Kashmir. “All this is necessary for peace and it is hoped that peace can be ensured in Kashmir in the coming years.” In addition when asked about the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, Lu said that this project of F-16 planes is not military aid, it is the sale of military equipment. “If America sells military equipment to a country, then it also provides technical support,” Lu said speaking in the interview. The US assistant secretary of state did not respond to a question about the PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan, clarifying that he would not answer any queries regarding the cricketer-turned-politician.
The News PK
The US recently pressed the Modi regime to restore local elections and political rights and address human rights violations in all the regions across the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir
WASHINGTON: The US recently pressed the Modi regime to restore local elections and political rights and address human rights violations in all the regions across the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. This was stated by US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu in an interview.
“I want to clarify that there has been no change in the American policy on Kashmir,” Lu said while talking to an international channel. He said the US has discussed human rights violations in India, especially in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, at a high level with New Delhi.
The assistant secretary said the solution to the Kashmir issue was possible only through direct negotiations between India and Pakistan. Lu further said that it should be ensured that the media could continue to do its job in Kashmir. “All this is necessary for peace and it is hoped that peace can be ensured in Kashmir in the coming years.” In addition when asked about the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, Lu said that this project of F-16 planes is not military aid, it is the sale of military equipment. “If America sells military equipment to a country, then it also provides technical support,” Lu said speaking in the interview. The US assistant secretary of state did not respond to a question about the PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan, clarifying that he would not answer any queries regarding the cricketer-turned-politician.
The News PK
daytrader
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Bilawal emphasises on need for peaceful solution to Kashmir issue for regional improvement
FM Bilawal Bhutto inaugurates 11th edition of international defence exhibition - IDEAS 2022 - being hosted by Pakistan
Pakistan has moved out of the danger of falling into a default, and now the coalition government is working on the many economic challenges faced by the country.
The foreign minister made this remark while inaugurating the 11th edition of a defence exhibition - IDEAS 2022 - which started at Expo Center in Karachi today (Tuesday).
"Pakistan has worked for peace in the world and will continue to do so," Bilawal said, adding that the country is improving relations with other countries under its foreign policy.
He emphasised on the need for a peaceful solution of the Kashmir issue for the improvement of the region.
Federal Minister for Defence Production Muhammad Israr Tareen, Sindh Chief Minster Murad Ali Shah and senior civil and military officials attended the inaugural ceremony.
The exhibition will continue till Friday. As many as 300 exhibitors from 32 countries will display their latest and innovative products, while more than 500 national and international delegates are taking part.
Apart from the six halls of the expo centre, three marquees have also been set up, one of which has been named after Kashmir.
A Karachi show will also be held on November Thursday at Nishan-e-Pakistan on the beach for the citizens.
High-level defence delegations of friendly countries are also participating in IDEAS-2022.
The News PK
FM Bilawal Bhutto inaugurates 11th edition of international defence exhibition - IDEAS 2022 - being hosted by Pakistan
Pakistan has moved out of the danger of falling into a default, and now the coalition government is working on the many economic challenges faced by the country.
The foreign minister made this remark while inaugurating the 11th edition of a defence exhibition - IDEAS 2022 - which started at Expo Center in Karachi today (Tuesday).
"Pakistan has worked for peace in the world and will continue to do so," Bilawal said, adding that the country is improving relations with other countries under its foreign policy.
He emphasised on the need for a peaceful solution of the Kashmir issue for the improvement of the region.
Federal Minister for Defence Production Muhammad Israr Tareen, Sindh Chief Minster Murad Ali Shah and senior civil and military officials attended the inaugural ceremony.
The exhibition will continue till Friday. As many as 300 exhibitors from 32 countries will display their latest and innovative products, while more than 500 national and international delegates are taking part.
Apart from the six halls of the expo centre, three marquees have also been set up, one of which has been named after Kashmir.
A Karachi show will also be held on November Thursday at Nishan-e-Pakistan on the beach for the citizens.
High-level defence delegations of friendly countries are also participating in IDEAS-2022.
The News PK
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The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Thursday strongly rejected the statement made by a top Indian Army official about taking control of parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
In an early morning tweet, the director general of the ISPR said: " the unwarranted statement of a high-ranking Indian army officer is an apt manifestation of Indian Armed Forces’ delusional mindset and showcases the vivid imprint of domestic political showboating on Indian military thought."
The military's media wing furthered that the "fallacious remarks" and "unfounded allegations" of launch-pads and terrorists in Pakistan are an attempt to shift the attention from the Indian Army’s "repressive use of force and gross human rights violations" in Indian-Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The ISPR statement maintained that the Kashmiris in the region are innocent, unarmed, and simply "striving for their right of self-determination, upheld by International Law and enshrined in UN Security Council Resolutions".
It stated that the Indian officer’s "lofty claims" and "surreal ambition" was intellectually insulting to the Pakistan military, which is "a force for good and a proponent of regional peace and stability".
The ISPR reiterated Pakistan Army's desire for peace but also highlighted its "capability and preparation to thwart any misadventure or aggression" against the country.
It noted that such an assertion has been "comprehensively validated on numerous occasions", referring to the Balakot episode.
The ISPR said that it would be "in the interest of peace for the region" for the Indian military to "abstain from irresponsible rhetoric and vitriolic communication to shore up electoral support for their political masters’ regressive ideology".
The ISPR's statement comes days after India's Northern Army Commander Lt General Upendra Dwivedi had said last week that the Indian Army is "always ready to make sure that ceasefire understanding is never broken as it is in the interest of both nations, but if broken at any time, we will give them a befitting reply," reported NDTV.
He added that the Indian military is ready to execute the government's orders, such as, taking back AJK.
"As far as the Indian Army is concerned, it will carry out any order given by the government of India. Whenever such orders are given, we will always be ready for it," said Lt Gen Dwivedi.
He further levelled allegations related to terrorism against Pakistan.
He said "we have almost 160 terrorists sitting at the launchpad of which there are 130 north of Pir Panjal and 30 south of Pir Panjal. As for the complete hinterland, a total of 82 Pakistani terrorists and 53 local terrorists are there."
In an early morning tweet, the director general of the ISPR said: " the unwarranted statement of a high-ranking Indian army officer is an apt manifestation of Indian Armed Forces’ delusional mindset and showcases the vivid imprint of domestic political showboating on Indian military thought."
The military's media wing furthered that the "fallacious remarks" and "unfounded allegations" of launch-pads and terrorists in Pakistan are an attempt to shift the attention from the Indian Army’s "repressive use of force and gross human rights violations" in Indian-Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The ISPR statement maintained that the Kashmiris in the region are innocent, unarmed, and simply "striving for their right of self-determination, upheld by International Law and enshrined in UN Security Council Resolutions".
It stated that the Indian officer’s "lofty claims" and "surreal ambition" was intellectually insulting to the Pakistan military, which is "a force for good and a proponent of regional peace and stability".
The ISPR reiterated Pakistan Army's desire for peace but also highlighted its "capability and preparation to thwart any misadventure or aggression" against the country.
It noted that such an assertion has been "comprehensively validated on numerous occasions", referring to the Balakot episode.
The ISPR said that it would be "in the interest of peace for the region" for the Indian military to "abstain from irresponsible rhetoric and vitriolic communication to shore up electoral support for their political masters’ regressive ideology".
The ISPR's statement comes days after India's Northern Army Commander Lt General Upendra Dwivedi had said last week that the Indian Army is "always ready to make sure that ceasefire understanding is never broken as it is in the interest of both nations, but if broken at any time, we will give them a befitting reply," reported NDTV.
He added that the Indian military is ready to execute the government's orders, such as, taking back AJK.
"As far as the Indian Army is concerned, it will carry out any order given by the government of India. Whenever such orders are given, we will always be ready for it," said Lt Gen Dwivedi.
He further levelled allegations related to terrorism against Pakistan.
He said "we have almost 160 terrorists sitting at the launchpad of which there are 130 north of Pir Panjal and 30 south of Pir Panjal. As for the complete hinterland, a total of 82 Pakistani terrorists and 53 local terrorists are there."
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Indian Army ready to execute orders on taking back Azad Kashmir
"Time To Take PoK Back": Congress Leader Harish Rawat
New Delhi: In a befitting reply to Pakistan's new Army Chief Asim Munir's statement on Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Congress leader Harish Rawat on Sunday said that this is the time to take PoK back.
Mr Rawat said that currently Pakistan is in a weak condition and this is the time when we can take PoK from Pakistan.
Mr Rawat said, "It is our responsibility to free PoK, from the illegal occupation of Pakistan. We passed a resolution in the Parliament during the Congress government. Now, the Modi government should add this too in its agenda. At this time Pakistan is in a weak condition, this is the time when we can take PoK from Pakistan."
Referring to the Northern Army Commander Lt General Upendra Dwivedi's statement that the Indian Army is ready to execute orders like taking back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, COAS General Syed Asim Munir within a week of his appointment said that if his country is attacked, the establishment will defend its "motherland" and will also fight back against to the enemy.
"Let me make it categorically clear, Pakistan's armed forces are ever ready, not only to defend every inch of our motherland but, to take the fight back to the enemy, if ever, war is imposed on us," the press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) quoted him as saying.
"Any misconception resulting into a misadventure will always be met with the full might of our armed forces backed by a resilient nation," Pak Army Chief said.
Earlier on October 28, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reiterated New Delhi's resolve to take back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), saying all refugees would return their land and homes.
NDTV
New Delhi: In a befitting reply to Pakistan's new Army Chief Asim Munir's statement on Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Congress leader Harish Rawat on Sunday said that this is the time to take PoK back.
Mr Rawat said that currently Pakistan is in a weak condition and this is the time when we can take PoK from Pakistan.
Mr Rawat said, "It is our responsibility to free PoK, from the illegal occupation of Pakistan. We passed a resolution in the Parliament during the Congress government. Now, the Modi government should add this too in its agenda. At this time Pakistan is in a weak condition, this is the time when we can take PoK from Pakistan."
Referring to the Northern Army Commander Lt General Upendra Dwivedi's statement that the Indian Army is ready to execute orders like taking back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, COAS General Syed Asim Munir within a week of his appointment said that if his country is attacked, the establishment will defend its "motherland" and will also fight back against to the enemy.
"Let me make it categorically clear, Pakistan's armed forces are ever ready, not only to defend every inch of our motherland but, to take the fight back to the enemy, if ever, war is imposed on us," the press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) quoted him as saying.
"Any misconception resulting into a misadventure will always be met with the full might of our armed forces backed by a resilient nation," Pak Army Chief said.
Earlier on October 28, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reiterated New Delhi's resolve to take back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), saying all refugees would return their land and homes.
NDTV
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OIC working on plan to find solution to Kashmir issue
MUZAFFARABAD: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has said it has been working on a plan to find a channel of discussion between Pakistan and India in its earnest endeavours to see a solution to the longstanding Kashmir issue.
“I think the most important thing is to find the channel of discussion between stakeholders [India and Pakistan] and we are working on a plan of action in this regard in collaboration with Pakistani government and other member countries,” said OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha at a brief media talk at President’s House on Sunday.
“That’s why we need the mandate of member states and we should know that most of the issues in diplomacy should not be [discussed] on the street,” he added.
AJK President Barrister Sultan Mahmood and Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, Adviser to Pakistani Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs Qamar Zaman Kaira, OIC Contact Group on Kashmir members, senior officials of the OIC general secretariat were also present.
Mr Taha told the media that he had undertaken the tour to implement a resolution adopted by the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) at a recent session, as he wanted to see for himself the situation on the ground.
“We are here to express our solidarity, sympathy and determination of the OIC to find out a solution for this longest conflict between India and Pakistan [in collaboration] with our partners, with the international community and with our member states.”
He said Kashmir is part of OIC which has collective and individual responsibility to talk about this issue to find a solution.
Asked why some OIC member states were going “an extra mile” in expressing their “appreciation and fondness” for India despite the latter’s perpetual denial of right to self-determination to the Kashmiris, perpetration of war crimes in the occupied territory and state-sponsored persecution of Indian Muslims, he hinted at the limitations of the forum. “I just want to emphasise that in OIC we are working on the basis of the resolutions that were adopted by the member states. But all states have their own sovereignty even though we are [from] the same community,” he said.
About the OIC delegation’s visit to the Line of Control, he said he would submit a comprehensive report to the CFM in the backdrop of the visit and ask them to “take the right decision. Basically, the decision will be taken by the foreign ministers”.
The AJK president, in his introductory remarks, said Kashmir was not a territorial dispute rather an issue of the future of a nation. He appreciated the OIC secretary general for his all-out support to the right to self-determination of people of India-held Kashmir.
Earlier, the delegation, accompanied by Mr Kaira, drove to Chakothi sector, where it was briefed by a military commander on the LoC situation. The delegation visited the Martyrs’ Monument in Cha*ttar, where Mr Taha also laid a floral wreath. They also interacted with a group of victims whose families had faced deaths and destruction due to ceasefire violations.
DAWN
MUZAFFARABAD: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has said it has been working on a plan to find a channel of discussion between Pakistan and India in its earnest endeavours to see a solution to the longstanding Kashmir issue.
“I think the most important thing is to find the channel of discussion between stakeholders [India and Pakistan] and we are working on a plan of action in this regard in collaboration with Pakistani government and other member countries,” said OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha at a brief media talk at President’s House on Sunday.
“That’s why we need the mandate of member states and we should know that most of the issues in diplomacy should not be [discussed] on the street,” he added.
AJK President Barrister Sultan Mahmood and Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, Adviser to Pakistani Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs Qamar Zaman Kaira, OIC Contact Group on Kashmir members, senior officials of the OIC general secretariat were also present.
Mr Taha told the media that he had undertaken the tour to implement a resolution adopted by the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) at a recent session, as he wanted to see for himself the situation on the ground.
“We are here to express our solidarity, sympathy and determination of the OIC to find out a solution for this longest conflict between India and Pakistan [in collaboration] with our partners, with the international community and with our member states.”
He said Kashmir is part of OIC which has collective and individual responsibility to talk about this issue to find a solution.
Asked why some OIC member states were going “an extra mile” in expressing their “appreciation and fondness” for India despite the latter’s perpetual denial of right to self-determination to the Kashmiris, perpetration of war crimes in the occupied territory and state-sponsored persecution of Indian Muslims, he hinted at the limitations of the forum. “I just want to emphasise that in OIC we are working on the basis of the resolutions that were adopted by the member states. But all states have their own sovereignty even though we are [from] the same community,” he said.
About the OIC delegation’s visit to the Line of Control, he said he would submit a comprehensive report to the CFM in the backdrop of the visit and ask them to “take the right decision. Basically, the decision will be taken by the foreign ministers”.
The AJK president, in his introductory remarks, said Kashmir was not a territorial dispute rather an issue of the future of a nation. He appreciated the OIC secretary general for his all-out support to the right to self-determination of people of India-held Kashmir.
Earlier, the delegation, accompanied by Mr Kaira, drove to Chakothi sector, where it was briefed by a military commander on the LoC situation. The delegation visited the Martyrs’ Monument in Cha*ttar, where Mr Taha also laid a floral wreath. They also interacted with a group of victims whose families had faced deaths and destruction due to ceasefire violations.
DAWN
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India decries OIC’s ‘meddling’ in Kashmir issue
KARACHI: India has condemned the visit of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) head to Azad Kashmir and called it an “interference” in its internal affairs.
“[The] OIC has no locus standi in matters related to J&K, which is an integral and inalienable part of India. Any attempt of interference and meddling in India’s internal affairs by OIC and its Secretary General is completely unacceptable,” Indian Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement said the OIC took “a blatantly communal, partisan and factually incorrect approach” to the issue.
India accuses China of ‘encroachment’
Separately, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday accused China of trying to “unilaterally change the status quo” on their disputed Himalayan border last week when clashes left troops on both sides injured, according to AFP.
“On 09 December 2022, PLA troops attempted to unilaterally change the status quo by encroaching on the Line of Actual Control, in the Yangtse area of Tawang sector,” Singh said.
The face-off led to “injuries to soldiers on both sides”, Mr Singh added.
“A scuffle ensued in this face-off. The Indian Army bravely prevented the PLA from encroaching on our territory and forced them to withdraw to their posts. Some soldiers from both sides were injured in the skirmish.” A military source told AFP that at least six Indian soldiers were injured.
In Beijing, PLA Western Theatre Command spokesman Long Shaohua claimed Indian troops had “illegally crossed the Line [of Actual Control]” and “obstructed” Chinese border patrol troops.
“Our response measures were professional, standard and forceful, and stabilised the situation on the ground. At present, China and India have disengaged,” said Long, according to a post on the PLA’s official WeChat account.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said earlier on Tuesday that the situation was “stable overall”.
DAWN
KARACHI: India has condemned the visit of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) head to Azad Kashmir and called it an “interference” in its internal affairs.
“[The] OIC has no locus standi in matters related to J&K, which is an integral and inalienable part of India. Any attempt of interference and meddling in India’s internal affairs by OIC and its Secretary General is completely unacceptable,” Indian Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement said the OIC took “a blatantly communal, partisan and factually incorrect approach” to the issue.
India accuses China of ‘encroachment’
Separately, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday accused China of trying to “unilaterally change the status quo” on their disputed Himalayan border last week when clashes left troops on both sides injured, according to AFP.
“On 09 December 2022, PLA troops attempted to unilaterally change the status quo by encroaching on the Line of Actual Control, in the Yangtse area of Tawang sector,” Singh said.
The face-off led to “injuries to soldiers on both sides”, Mr Singh added.
“A scuffle ensued in this face-off. The Indian Army bravely prevented the PLA from encroaching on our territory and forced them to withdraw to their posts. Some soldiers from both sides were injured in the skirmish.” A military source told AFP that at least six Indian soldiers were injured.
In Beijing, PLA Western Theatre Command spokesman Long Shaohua claimed Indian troops had “illegally crossed the Line [of Actual Control]” and “obstructed” Chinese border patrol troops.
“Our response measures were professional, standard and forceful, and stabilised the situation on the ground. At present, China and India have disengaged,” said Long, according to a post on the PLA’s official WeChat account.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said earlier on Tuesday that the situation was “stable overall”.
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JAMMU/SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - For the first time in her life, Asha, a street cleaner in the Indian city of Jammu, will be allowed to vote in upcoming local elections. And she's in no doubt who will get her ballot.
Asha plans to reward Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for scrapping policies in place for decades that denied her and a million more people in the region of Jammu and Kashmir many of the same rights as other Indians.
"We have faced the humiliation silently, but Modi-ji has changed our lives forever," she said, leaning on her broom. "It's not just me and my children, future generations from our community in Jammu and Kashmir will vote for the BJP."
The Hindu nationalist party is counting on Asha's vote as it pushes to take control of India's part of the Himalayan region that is hotly contested by neighbouring Pakistan and has been governed almost exclusively by Muslim chief ministers.
The BJP hopes the addition of up to a million mostly Hindu voters to the electoral roll, new electoral boundaries, seven more seats in the regional assembly and the reservation of nine for groups likely to back the BJP will give it a fighting chance of becoming the biggest party in the 90-seat legislature.
Reuters has interviewed three dozen federal and state officials, six groups representing disenfranchised residents, and analysed the latest data to lay out for the first time the scale of the BJP's push in Kashmir - and why it may succeed.
A BJP majority would be a seismic shift and even talk of a strong showing underlines how Modi has trampled on old taboos to push his agenda in every corner of the country of 1.4 billion people.
The 72-year-old, who is set to run for a third term in 2024, has combined promises of prosperity and social mobility with a robust Hindu-first agenda to dominate Indian politics.
A BJP victory in the disputed region could consolidate India's claim over the territory on the global stage.
"We have taken a pledge to cross 50-plus seats to form the next government with a thumping majority," the BJP's president for Jammu and Kashmir, Ravinder Raina, told Reuters. "The next chief minister will be from our party."
For many of Jammu and Kashmir's Muslims, the BJP's policies upending decades of autonomy and privilege represent a dangerous new phase in what they see as a nationwide push to champion the rights of the Hindu majority over minority groups.
Pakistan has claimed Kashmir since the partition of India in 1947 and the countries have fought two wars over the region, which is also partially claimed by China. Pakistan accuses India of trying to marginalise Muslims there with its policies.
"India is following a strategy to perpetuate its illegal occupation by disenfranchisement of Kashmiris by altering the demographic structure of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir from a Muslim majority to a Hindu-dominated territory," Pakistan's government said in a statement to Reuters.
Jammu and Kashmir is divided in two. Jammu has about 5.3 million inhabitants, 62% of whom are Hindu while Kashmir Valley has 6.7 million, 97% of them Muslim, according to a 2011 census. Estimates from survey officials and senior bureaucrats suggest the population stood at 15.5 million in 2021.
From 1954, the Indian region enjoyed special status under India's constitution.
The shift in the political landscape came in 2019 when the BJP-led parliament in New Delhi revoked this status, which had denied rights to many Hindu communities not considered indigenous to the region.
Since 2020, the BJP has required everyone in Jammu and Kashmir to apply for domicile certificates that allow them to vote in local elections, buy agricultural land and permanent homes, as well as apply for state universities and jobs.
Asha plans to reward Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for scrapping policies in place for decades that denied her and a million more people in the region of Jammu and Kashmir many of the same rights as other Indians.
"We have faced the humiliation silently, but Modi-ji has changed our lives forever," she said, leaning on her broom. "It's not just me and my children, future generations from our community in Jammu and Kashmir will vote for the BJP."
The Hindu nationalist party is counting on Asha's vote as it pushes to take control of India's part of the Himalayan region that is hotly contested by neighbouring Pakistan and has been governed almost exclusively by Muslim chief ministers.
The BJP hopes the addition of up to a million mostly Hindu voters to the electoral roll, new electoral boundaries, seven more seats in the regional assembly and the reservation of nine for groups likely to back the BJP will give it a fighting chance of becoming the biggest party in the 90-seat legislature.
Reuters has interviewed three dozen federal and state officials, six groups representing disenfranchised residents, and analysed the latest data to lay out for the first time the scale of the BJP's push in Kashmir - and why it may succeed.
A BJP majority would be a seismic shift and even talk of a strong showing underlines how Modi has trampled on old taboos to push his agenda in every corner of the country of 1.4 billion people.
The 72-year-old, who is set to run for a third term in 2024, has combined promises of prosperity and social mobility with a robust Hindu-first agenda to dominate Indian politics.
A BJP victory in the disputed region could consolidate India's claim over the territory on the global stage.
"We have taken a pledge to cross 50-plus seats to form the next government with a thumping majority," the BJP's president for Jammu and Kashmir, Ravinder Raina, told Reuters. "The next chief minister will be from our party."
For many of Jammu and Kashmir's Muslims, the BJP's policies upending decades of autonomy and privilege represent a dangerous new phase in what they see as a nationwide push to champion the rights of the Hindu majority over minority groups.
Pakistan has claimed Kashmir since the partition of India in 1947 and the countries have fought two wars over the region, which is also partially claimed by China. Pakistan accuses India of trying to marginalise Muslims there with its policies.
"India is following a strategy to perpetuate its illegal occupation by disenfranchisement of Kashmiris by altering the demographic structure of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir from a Muslim majority to a Hindu-dominated territory," Pakistan's government said in a statement to Reuters.
Jammu and Kashmir is divided in two. Jammu has about 5.3 million inhabitants, 62% of whom are Hindu while Kashmir Valley has 6.7 million, 97% of them Muslim, according to a 2011 census. Estimates from survey officials and senior bureaucrats suggest the population stood at 15.5 million in 2021.
From 1954, the Indian region enjoyed special status under India's constitution.
The shift in the political landscape came in 2019 when the BJP-led parliament in New Delhi revoked this status, which had denied rights to many Hindu communities not considered indigenous to the region.
Since 2020, the BJP has required everyone in Jammu and Kashmir to apply for domicile certificates that allow them to vote in local elections, buy agricultural land and permanent homes, as well as apply for state universities and jobs.
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Pakistan on Friday said it would welcome facilitation by the United States to break the stalemate with India on the longstanding Kashmir dispute.
“Regarding the Pakistan–India relations and the facilitation by third parties, including the United States, Pakistan has always said that we would welcome the international community to play their role in promoting peace in the region including in facilitating dialogue and resolution of the core dispute between Pakistan and India i.e. the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters at weekly briefing in Islamabad.
“Regarding the Pakistan–India relations and the facilitation by third parties, including the United States, Pakistan has always said that we would welcome the international community to play their role in promoting peace in the region including in facilitating dialogue and resolution of the core dispute between Pakistan and India i.e. the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters at weekly briefing in Islamabad.
sweep_shot
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Realistically speaking, Kashmir issue cannot be resolved with current status quo.
I think military solution is the only solution for liberation of Kashmir. It is unlikely right now but that seems to be the only solution.
I think military solution is the only solution for liberation of Kashmir. It is unlikely right now but that seems to be the only solution.
KingKhanWC
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Only because India has the BJP/RSS and Pakistan has PDM puppets in power.
There is a shift in global alliances, Russia and China are looking for partners to go against the west. If the right leaders were in place, Kashmir issue could be resolved esp because the world going forward will struggle with their economies.
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Military solution doesn't really work as both India and Pakistan have tons of nukes at their disposal.
cricketjoshila
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And what makes you think China or Russia are looking to change their current strategic allies?
Pakistan right now is begging the west for money, and you want Pakistan to join a anti west alliance?
Hitman
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Pakistan tried it before unsuccessfully.
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British parliamentarians condemn HR violations in IIOJ&K
Muzaffarabad: British Parliamentarians reiterated their support for Kashmiris' right to self-determination and condemned the violation of human rights in Occupied Kashmir.
An extraordinary meeting at the Parliament House here Thursday was attended by President Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry and 50 Parliamentarians including Richard Burgon, Dr Rosena Allin Khan, Khalid Mahmood, McDonald, Baroness Gohir, Imran Hussain MP, Steve Baker MP, John Spellar, Afzal Khan, Paul Bristow, Naz Shah, Debbie Abrahams, Lord Qurban Hussain, Lord Wajid Khan and several other dignitaries. On this occasion, the AJK president briefed the British lawmakers about the latest situation in the Indian Illegally-Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJ&K) and sought their proactive role to stop the bloodbath of innocent Kashmiris.
Reminding Britain of its legal and moral obligations to settle the long-running dispute, Barrister Chaudhry said that it was incumbent on Great Britain to play its role in resolving the Kashmir issue.
The president said that he was happy to see so many British MPs in the House of Commons have declared their support for the right of self-determination of the Kashmiris. Referring to the rising tides of xenophobia and hate crimes in India, the president said: "Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Untouchables, Dalits and other minorities are being mistreated in India. The international community must take notice of the growing intolerance within Indian society and stop the persecution of minorities.”
...
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1035008-g20-moot-coming-to-held-kashmir
Muzaffarabad: British Parliamentarians reiterated their support for Kashmiris' right to self-determination and condemned the violation of human rights in Occupied Kashmir.
An extraordinary meeting at the Parliament House here Thursday was attended by President Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry and 50 Parliamentarians including Richard Burgon, Dr Rosena Allin Khan, Khalid Mahmood, McDonald, Baroness Gohir, Imran Hussain MP, Steve Baker MP, John Spellar, Afzal Khan, Paul Bristow, Naz Shah, Debbie Abrahams, Lord Qurban Hussain, Lord Wajid Khan and several other dignitaries. On this occasion, the AJK president briefed the British lawmakers about the latest situation in the Indian Illegally-Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJ&K) and sought their proactive role to stop the bloodbath of innocent Kashmiris.
Reminding Britain of its legal and moral obligations to settle the long-running dispute, Barrister Chaudhry said that it was incumbent on Great Britain to play its role in resolving the Kashmir issue.
The president said that he was happy to see so many British MPs in the House of Commons have declared their support for the right of self-determination of the Kashmiris. Referring to the rising tides of xenophobia and hate crimes in India, the president said: "Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Untouchables, Dalits and other minorities are being mistreated in India. The international community must take notice of the growing intolerance within Indian society and stop the persecution of minorities.”
...
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1035008-g20-moot-coming-to-held-kashmir
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Kashmir Solidarity Day tomorrow
Minister says govt, provincial govts arranged several ceremonies to express solidarity with the Kashmiris
Kashmiris living on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and elsewhere in the world would observe Kashmir Solidarity Day on Sunday (tomorrow) in a befitting manner, Minister of State for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs Nawabzada Iftikhar Ahmed Khan Babar said on Friday.
Addressing a joint news conference with National Assembly member (MNA) Wajiha Qamar and leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), the minister said that the government of Pakistan and the provincial governments had arranged several ceremonies to express solidarity with the Kashmiris.
He appealed to the Pakistanis to participate in the demonstrations to convey a strong message of solidarity to their Kashmiri brethren. He particularly asked the young people to raise their voice for rights of Kashmiri people on social media.
Express Tribune
Minister says govt, provincial govts arranged several ceremonies to express solidarity with the Kashmiris
Kashmiris living on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and elsewhere in the world would observe Kashmir Solidarity Day on Sunday (tomorrow) in a befitting manner, Minister of State for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs Nawabzada Iftikhar Ahmed Khan Babar said on Friday.
Addressing a joint news conference with National Assembly member (MNA) Wajiha Qamar and leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), the minister said that the government of Pakistan and the provincial governments had arranged several ceremonies to express solidarity with the Kashmiris.
He appealed to the Pakistanis to participate in the demonstrations to convey a strong message of solidarity to their Kashmiri brethren. He particularly asked the young people to raise their voice for rights of Kashmiri people on social media.
Express Tribune
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