MIRPUR (AJK): Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan strongly condemned imposition of ban on Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in the Indian occupied Jammu Kashmir (IoK).
He also condemned unprovoked Indian firing from across the Line of Control (LoC) on the forward areas population in AJK.
President Masood made the remarks during the meeting with a Jamaat-e-Islami delegation led by JI AJK Ameer Khalid Mahmood, which called on him at the Jammu Kashmir House.
He said, “India instead of welcoming Pakistan’s peace gestures, continues to fan the flames of war and has also increased its cross border shelling along LOC.”
Condemning Indian government for declaring the JI as an “unlawful association” in the IoK, the AJK President said the Indian National Investigation Agency was raiding homes of Hurriyat leaders and Jamaat-e-Islami workers, and constantly harassing them in various parts of the Indian held valley.
Khalid Mahmood said the Jamaat-e-Islami was peacefully operating like any other political party and supporting the right to self-determination of the Kashmiris.
Despite that, he said, the Indian government has closed its offices, arrested its workers and even shut down the schools being managed by the organization.
After the Pulwama incident, the AJK President said the whole of Indian occupied Kashmir was being terrorized by the Indian forces, where tear gas, pellet guns and live ammunition had been used indiscriminately leading to the cold-blooded murder of Kashmiris, incidents of sexual violence and reports of homes being ransacked.
President Masood Khan strongly condemned the army operations in Srinagar, Islamabad, Bijbehara, Kupwara, and Handwara and demanded an immediate stop to all such measures adopted by the Indian occupation forces. He said in February alone, over 30 innocent Kashmiris had been killed in the IoK.
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The President said the Indian occupation forces had also opened indiscriminate fire along the Line of Control which had led to the martyrdom of numerous innocent citizens from Azad Kashmir. He said Kotli, Nakyal, Pandu, Tata Pani, Samahni, Neelum and Chakothi had been heavily affected by the shelling. The shells were deliberately fired at Nakyal Sub-Divisional Headquarter and the main market there.
He expressed his concern for the hundreds of affected families who had been displaced due to Indian shelling.
The President assured that the AJK government was taking necessary measures to address the concerns of its citizens living along the LOC and it was also arranging compensations in that regard.
He said even though post-Pulwama; tensions had escalated inside Kashmir and between the two nuclear neighbours, it had, on the other hand, made evident to the global community of the sensitivity of this region and the importance of resolving the Kashmir dispute.
The international community must take cognizance of India’s cross border violations and also the gross human rights violations in the IoK, he added.
The JI Ameer also invited the Azad Kashmir President as the chief guest to an All-Party Conference on Kashmir to be organized by them. The President accepted the invitation and expressed his pleasure in attending the conference.
APP