Mirpur (Ajk)
Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan on Wednesday the Muslims of oppressed regions like the Indian Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK), Palestine and Myanmar were looking towards the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) as their voice.
“As the OIC’s Special Envoy, Yousef Aldobeay represents all the 57 OIC member states and all the Muslims of the world. The Muslims all over the globe and particularly the Muslims of oppressed regions like IOJK, Palestine and Myanmar look towards the OIC as their singular voice.”
Sardar Masood was talking to OIC’s Special Envoy on Jammu and Kashmir Yousef Aldobeay, who called on him at the President House in Muzaffarabad. They discussed prevailing situation in the IOJK, particularly the humanitarian crisis.
Yousef Aldobeay was accompanied by a high level delegation comprising Ambassador Rizwan Shiekh, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the OIC Ahmad Sereer, Director Asian Affairs OIC Secretariat, members of the Political Affairs Department of OIC Secretariat, and representatives of the Islamic Development Bank and the Islamic Solidarity Fund, an AJK Presidential Secretariat press release said.
Welcoming the OIC delegation to the AJK, Sardar Masood highly appreciated the proactive and constructive role of the Special Envoy and the organization for highlighting the Kashmir dispute in the wake of recent developments in the region.
The AJK president said the OIC was the only multi-lateral organization that had designated a Special Envoy on Kashmir and over the years issued concrete and strong-worded statements on the repression taking place in the IOJK.
He especially thanked the OIC for its bold communiqué that it issued in backdrop of the August 5 moves taken by India, during the meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session.
He said the IOJK people were facing genocide, which had been acknowledged by the international media, world parliaments and also human rights organizations. The US-based Genocide Watch had declared that the IOJK had entered the 8th stage of the 10 stages of genocide that had been defined by them.
India, he said, was now in the preparatory stage for genocide in the IOJK which would be followed by the execution of the genocide. “We must act fast and stop the extermination of the innocent Kashmiris living in the IOJK,” he said
He cited the report issued by the National Federation for Indian Women that after August 5 (2019), 13,000 young Kashmiris had been illegally picked up and detained in prison houses all over India. The current Chief of Defence Staff of India had said that the young Kashmiris were more dangerous than the pellet-firing shotguns as they chanted the slogans of Azadi (freedom).
The detained young Kashmiris would be sent to the so-called ‘de-radicalization camps’, where they would be subjected to unimaginable torture, he added.
“Our hearts bleed when we narrate these horrifying stories of torture and subjugation. The whole population of IOJK looks up to Allah Almighty for salvation.”
President Masood said the IOJK with the presence of 900,000 Indian troops had become the most heavily militarized area of the world. Deployment of troops in such a concentration was not even seen during the World War II, he added.
Indian officials, he said, had cited the figure of 200-250 as the total number of “miscreants” active in the IOJK and the claim of infiltration of personnel across the Line of Control was totally false. The 900,000 troops were not in the IOJK to fight terrorism but they were deployed in fear of the growing indigenous freedom movement led by unarmed Kashmiris, Masood Khan said.
He also highlighted the persecution of Muslims taking place in New Delhi and other major cities of India. The Indian people in large numbers were protesting against the Citizen Amendment Act. Some 46 Muslims had been killed till now and those were random killings but were planned by the Hindutva zealots.
He said whatever now was taking place in Indian cities had been taking place in the IOJK for the past 70 years. “We request the OIC to intervene and save our Muslim brothers and sisters. They too are part of the Muslim Ummah,” Masood Khan added.
Yousef Aldobeay, while speaking on the occasion, said the Kashmir issue was very close to their heart and all the 57 OIC member nations were on the same page regarding its resolution, which was only possible through peaceful means.
He stressed that the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir, along with those of the OIC, must be implemented. The OIC, he said, appreciated the restraint shown by Pakistan in the trying times and “we believe that political and peaceful dialogue is the only solution for the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue”.
He said his regular interactions with the AJK president had been very motivating and had considerably helped him in understanding the issue.
The AJK president also informed him of the grave situation along the Line of Control and appreciated the initiative of the Special Envoy to visit the LOC and see for himself the on ground situation.—APP
