ISLAMABAD – Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan Mondaybriefed the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres about theplight of 640,000 people living along the Line of Control (LoC) and invitedhim to visit Muzaffarabad.
During a meeting with the Secretary General, the president informed himabout the condition of 40,000 refugees/Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)living in the refugee camps in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), said a pressrelease.
The President thanked the Secretary General for calling to resolve theJammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Councilresolutions and for offering his role as a mediator by using his goodoffices.
President Masood Khan, thanked Antonio Gutteres’ call for de-escalating thesituation between India and Pakistan, both militarily and verbally,especially along the Line of Control.
The AJK President particularly conveyed his gratitude to the UN SecretaryGeneral for demanding full respect for human rights and fundamentalfreedoms of the people Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK) as being enjoyed by thepeople in Azad Kashmir.
“Don’t take India’s ‘NO’ for an answer for the use of good offices ordiplomacy and dialogue in accordance with the United Nations Charter. Thisis a collective obligation for all nations. One UN member cannot hold theentire organization hostage by its obduracy”, he said.
Sardar Masood Khan briefed Antonio Guterres about the highly concerning andprecarious situation of the civilians living along the LOC in AJK becauseof India’s frequent and unrelenting hostile fire.
The President proposed to the UN Secretary-General to make the submissionof the UNMOGIP reports to the UN Secretary General’s office and theircirculation to all members of the UN Security Council mandatory.
“Conversations on Kashmir in the Security Council must go on for theresolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. Silence at that highest forumis wrong and unfair to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who are under siegeand are being killed and brutalized every day.
The extremist ruling party in India wants the international community to besilent on Kashmir in order to hide its crimes. The UN has spoken up andmust continue to speak up for Kashmiris”, he told UN Secretary General.
The AJK President said that the United Nations was the flag bearer of theinternational order based on the rule of law. The UN Secretary General isseen as an international icon, who should demonstrate leadership to savehumanity from the scourge of war and liberate people living under aliendominations and foreign occupation.
In this context, the president thanked the secretary general for holdingdetailed conversations in the past with the Indian Prime Minister NarendraModi and other Indian leaders.
“War would be a devastating aberration for humanity; peace andreconciliation are a historic imperative in the region. This is onlypossible by ensuring the realization of the right to self-determination ofthe people of Kashmir”, said the President.