Our Correspondent
Muzaffarabad
Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan, citing the reoccupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India in August 5, has said that a war has been imposed on Kashmiries and we would have to fight this war for our existence.
‘This is a war for our sovereignty; for protecting our cultural and religious identity, and the rights of our Kashmir brothers and sister’, he said.
The president made these remarks while addressing a web-conference on ‘Solidarity with Kashmir during COVID-19 and lockdown effects on Kashmir and Pakistan’ organized by the National Youth Empowerment (NYE), AJK President office told media on Wednesday .
Students from Lahore and Sahiwal were present at the conference. Abdullah Hamid Gul, Chief Patron NYE also addressed the conference.
The AJK president in his remarks said that many still were not aware of the gravity of the situation in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, especially post-August 5, when India re-occupied the disputed territory. India, he said, had even issued fake maps showing AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan as part of India.
‘These fake maps are now available all over the internet’, he said while condemning these actions as a grave violation of international law and UNSC resolutions. Masood Khan said that IOJK despite being an internationally recognized a disputed territory had been divided into two parts – Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir – by the Indian government and that too without the consent of the people living there. Resultantly, he said, India had brought these two newly divided areas under the direct control of Delhi and in turn inadvertently internationalized Kashmir.
‘The area now occupied by India is actually a part of Pakistan as its people had wished to accede to Pakistan and despite all efforts of India to coerce them into submission they have rejected their rule and writ’, Masood said.
Terming August 5 and October 31 actions taken by India in IOJK as lebensraum, irredentism and expansionism, the president said that the rights to permanent residence, ownership of property, livelihoods and education – as protected by international law – have been usurped by Delhi. Since April, this year, after the introduction of the New Domicile Rules the Kashmiris have been made homeless in their own homeland, he said. Masood Khan said that hindus from all over India are being allowed to settle in IOJK and their domiciles are being made ready in a period of only 15 days on the instructions of Delhi.
The president informed the audience about the dire situation in IOJK. He said that according to a recent report, over 13,000 Kashmiri boys had been picked up by Indian forces. These young Kashmiris – some as young as 9 years-old – have been imprisoned in prison houses all over IOJK and northern India where they are being subjected to unimaginable torture.