Staff Reporter
Muzaffarabad
President Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Masood Khan on Tuesday urged the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to play its active role for the oppressed people of Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK). Masood Khan while demanding Indian to end its atrocities in held valley also stressed upon the Saudi government to use its influence for the solution of the Kashmir conflict. Extending support to the Kashmiris, the AJK president said, “Kashmiris are not orphans, Pakistan will continue to support them at every forum”, Masood said. He maintained that the OIC should take notice of the grave rights violations in the held valley.
Meanwhile, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Tuesday said Kashmiris wanted freedom and right to self-determination and would never bow in front of India’s aggression. Addressing a seminar on Kashmir, he said the courage showed by the Kashmiris against the Indian forces in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir could not be defeated through aggression.
The seminar titled “Kashmir: The issue, Global Scenario and Policy Imperatives” was arranged by Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Islamabad in collaboration with Policy Research Forum, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (PRFAJK) and Maritime Study Forum (MSF). He said the international community had been told that Kashmiris would never accept the India’s August-5 action. He said “Kashmiris will defeat India. As per the United Nations and Geneva Convention, the freedom struggle of the Kashmiris is legitimate”.
The Prime Minister said the division of Kashmir was not acceptable to Kashmiris at any cost as it was against the international laws. He thanked the government and people of Pakistan for always supporting Kashmiris in their right to self determination. Raja Farooq Haider said Kashmiris should be allowed to present their case at the international forum. He said Indian occupied forces were committing massive human rights violations in occupied Kashmir and urged the international community to end their silence.
PM Haider said India through its unilateral actions wanted to change the demography of the occupied valley and was suppressing the indigenous liberation movement. India was continuing atrocities against Kashmiris for the last 72 years, but it failed to end the resilience of the people. The PM said Indian forces were also involved in targeting innocent people on the Line of Control by opening un-provoked firing on civilian population. He suggested that 10 to 15 influential countries should be activated to press India for peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue.
He said Kashmiris had rendered unmatched sacrifices for the freedom of Kashmir from the clutches of Indian occupation. Dr Roger van Zwanenberg, a veteran scholar of history and political economy based in London, Professor Dr Yashpal Amarchand Tondon, a Ugandian-British policymaker of Indian descent, Dr Akis Kalaitzidis.
