Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi while voicing his deep concern over the constant ban on Friday – Jumma prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid in occupied Srinagar has urged the global community to play its much-needed role in restoring Kashmiris’ fundamental political and religious rights.
Terming it as an atrocious assault on the religious rights of the Kashmir masses the AJK PM said in a statement on Saturday that persisting ban on the Jumma prayers was the obvious manifestation of a crooked Hindutva mindset that seeks to impose its communal agenda in Kashmir.
He said that besides minority communities settled in India, the people of Kashmir have been the worst victims of this creeping communalism within the rank and file of the RSS influenced regime. Describing Srinagar’s grand mosque as a religious and spiritual epicenter, he said that the grand mosque has been a monument of resistance for Kashmiris from where they have been advocating their religious and political rights for centuries.
He regrettably noted that Kashmiris Muslims were being deprived of their basic right to worship in their own homeland. “Imagine how Hindus will feel if they are not allowed to visit temples”, he said. About the prevailing political and human rights situation in the occupied Kashmir, Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi said that IIOJK has been turned into a military garrison where all basic rights of Kashmiris have been taken away. He called on the international community to take effective cognizance of the fast-deteriorating situation in the IIOJK and force India to restore fundamental rights of Kashmiris, including their right to worship in an environment free from coercion and intimidation.
Meanwhile, the PM AJK urged the Kashmiri masses to attend the all party Kashmir Rally that is scheduled to be held on February 24 in Islamabad. He said that the all party Kashmir rally would be a historic gathering which would send a strong message to India to stop atrocities on Kashmiris and give them the right to self-determination.
