MIRPUR (AJK) Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan has called upon the US President Donald Trump to play his role to secure an end to the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri people and the crimes against humanity in occupied Kashmir before any process of mediation is initiated to resolve the Kashmir issue. Talking to media at Jammu and Kashmir House in the federal capital on Friday, he said that Pakistan and the people of Jammu and Kashmir had always supported the solution of Kashmir issue through peaceful means including mediation. He explained that efforts to resolve the Kashmir conflict through third party mediation or any other peaceful means should be in line with the UN Security Council resolutions and within the framework of Article 33 of the UN Charter. “If such an effort is made, it will further strengthen the UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir adopted under Chapter VI of the UN Charter,” he added. The AJK president said that for the success of any mediation effort, it is imperative to secure an end to the ongoing repression, get the human rights violations ceased, and to compel the Indian Government to reverse its recent actions related to Kashmir.Fo r the success of any mediation effort for a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue, it is necessary that this process is supported by all the three parties to the issue i.e. Pakistan, India and the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he added. Sardar Masood Khan said that the prevailing situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir is not conducive for efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue through mediation or talks. “If the US President Donald Trump, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres or any other world leaders were to play their role in resolving the Kashmir issue, they should first compel India to take necessary steps to normalize the situation in occupied Kashmir and stop the aggression against innocent Kashmiris. At present, he maintained, more than eight million people in the held territory are besieged, thousands of youth have been arrested and put behind the bars, the women are being molested, and all the pro-liberation leaders are under detention. The AJK President said that influential and powerful countries of the world cannot remain indifferent to what is happening in occupied Kashmir. The US President should use his clout with India to bring an end to the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri people and prevent New Dehli from turning the State into its colony. Touching upon bilateral talks, Sardar Masood Khan regretted that India had always used the bilateral talks to perpetuate its illegal occupation of Kashmir, and to deceive the Kashmiri people. The Kashmiri people, he added, were no longer going to be bystanders and in these circumstances, any mediation would be futile they are not within the parameters of existing UN Security Council resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. “The Kashmiri people being the key party to the issue, must be involved in all talks or mediation efforts on the Kashmir issue”, he declared.—APP
