Observer Report
New York
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that the world needed to understand the gravity of the human rights situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir and pressure India to lift the military curfew in the valley.
In an interview with American network CNN, conducted by anchor-journalist Christiane Amanpour, PM Imran talked at length about the issues discussed in his address to the United Nations earlier on Friday. Highlighting the situation of occupied Kashmir, the premier said that the enormity of the situation could be gauged from the presence of nine hundred thousand Indian troops in the occupied territory.
Ruling out a meeting with his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PM Imran noted that besieging Kashmiris for over fifty days was a testament to the hateful mindset of the Indian leader.
He added that Modi represented the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, that was established in 1925 after being inspired by Adolph Hitler and Nazism. “RSS believes in ethnic cleansing of Muslims in India. This ideology of racial superiority is also responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, who was considered soft on Muslims” PM Imran said.
Responding to a question about the role US could play to ease tensions in South Asia, PM Imran said that President Donald Trump headed the most powerful country in the world, and was in the best position to do something about the issue of Kashmir.
“Modi does not want international mediation as he knows the moment this issue becomes internationalized, the world will understand that Kashmiris are fighting for the right to self-determination and are subject to the worst human rights abuses by Indian forces,” he maintained.
The prime minister urged the international community to move on this issue as it was a flashpoint between two nuclear-armed countries. “If it was something localized, the world would not have been pushed about it,” he stressed. In response to a question regarding Iran-US tensions, PM Imran said Pakistan does not want conflict near its borders. Conflict in the Persian Gulf could lead to an increase in global oil prices and a host of other issues, he noted.
“To be fair with President Trump, all his instincts are against war. I also spoke to President Rouhani of Iran and let’s see where the situation leads,” he shared. Lamenting that global powers have yet to react in an appropriate manner, the premier warned of a massacre once the curfew imposed by a 900,000-strong occupying garrison is lifted.
“The moment, the curfew is lifted [in IOK], there are 900,000 Indian troops there and I fear a massacre,” the premier told the US broadcaster. He added that Islamabad has apprised almost all top leaders of the world of the precarious situation.
“A lot of leaders did not realise this but I think, even the ones who realise look upon India as a market for 1.2 billion people and trade and so on. And this is the sad thing. Material wealth over humans.”
Expressing hope, the prime minister further said that the world would move on the Kashmir issue before it becomes a flashpoint – possibly nuclear.
