ISLAMABAD-Minister for Information and Broadcasting Syed Shibli Faraz says Pakistan under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan has dedicated all its efforts to project the Kashmir dispute at international fora.
Addressing a seminar on 'Kashmir Under Siege' organized by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in Islamabad on Friday, he said Pakistan shall continue to lend its moral and ethical support to the Kashmiri brethren in their just struggle for right to self-determination.
The Information Minister said the subjugation of Kashmiri Muslims has been going on for the last several decades. However, the present Indian government has crossed all limits of oppression, human rights violations and breach of international laws by abrogating the special status of the disputed territory.
Syed Shibli Faraz said a year has gone by since Modi government revoked Articles 370 and 35-A of Indian Constitution and the Kashmiri Muslims continue to face abject misery at the hands of Indian occupation forces.
The Information Minister said India has unleashed a reign of terror in the occupied territory in the shape of killing of unarmed Kashmiri people, siege, lockdown and total blockade of communications. He said the Kashmiri youth and children are being blinded through the use of pellet guns. The ruthless practice of disappearances has intensified. He pointed out that Modi government has also accelerated efforts to change the demographic composition of the territory by facilitating the non-Muslims from outside Kashmir to settle there.
Addressing the seminar, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan urged Kashmiri and Pakistani Diaspora to intensify their efforts in highlighting Kashmir issue at international forums.
He said India is pursuing the policy of Neo Nazism which is threat to regional peace. He stressed the need for building pressure on India to stop human rights violations in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
While citing the reoccupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India on August 5, the AJK President said that a war has been imposed on us and we will have to fight this war for our existence.
He said not only Kashmiris are being targeted but under the fascist rule of the RSS-BJP regime, Muslims all over India are being lynched.
He said Pakistan has done a lot for Kashmiris and it has to do more for the freedom of Kashmiri people.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister for National Food Security Fakhar Imam said Prime Minister Imran Khan courageously presented the Kashmir case at the UN General Assembly last year. He said Indian security forces are involved in abduction, killing, and maiming of innocent Kashmiris. He said the spirit of Kashmiris is going to give India a defeat. He said Pakistan is not complete without Kashmir as a sovereign nation state.
Speaking on the occasion, Special Assistant on National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning Moeed Yusuf said India is involved in grim violations of basic human rights in the held valley and breaching the international laws every single day as well. He said world parliaments, international media, and global human rights organizations have been portraying Modi-led Indian government as a fascist regime after the illegal revocation of Article 370, which gave special status to Kashmir.
He said the incumbent government has vigorously highlighted the Kashmir issue with the help of its effective diplomacy and strategy. He said the Kashmiris will succeed in getting their just right to self-determination. Moeed Yusuf said India is misleading its own people due to its false narrative.
Senator Waleed Iqbal gave a historical perspective of the Kashmir struggle. He said the people of Kashmir have been facing unabated oppression of tyrannical forces since long. Quoting Quaid-e-Azam's historical words, he said Kashmir is the jugular vein of Pakistan and no nation or country allows its jugular vein to remain under the sword of enemy.
Highlighting the plight of the Kashmiri women in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, former minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Farzana Yaqoob said women have been facing worst kind of oppression in the held valley at the hands of Indian forces. She said cases of rape and killing of Kashmiri women by the Indian troops are licking dust in Indian courts, but they are alive in the minds and memories of Kashmiris. She said Kashmiri resistant fighters are not terrorists as they are fighting to protect their rights. She said even the women of Kashmir, like Asiya Andrabi, are on streets against the Indian oppression.
Renowned international journalist and bureau chief of Al-Jazeera Ahmed Barakat said there are terrible reports of gross human rights violations in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control. He regretted on the silence of the international community over abrogation of special status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and massive human rights violations in the held valley. He said we are interested in peace, not war. He demanded for early resolution of Kashmir and Palestine issues to protect people's right to live.
Academician Professor Dr Munawwar Hussain said India's belligerent behavior is aimed at ethnic cleansing of Kashmiris and disturbing peace and stability in the region. He said any direct clash between nuclear armed Pakistan and India can pose a serious threat to the international peace and stability. He said growing dependence of the United States on India is emboldening it to suppress minorities, across the country, especially Muslims.
Expert on International Relations Dr Raja Qaisar Ahmed said India has deprived Kashmiris of their right to live with dignity, which has been enshrined in the UN Charter. He said Kashmiris have been living under siege since long.
In his note of thanks, Secretary Information Akbar Hussain Durrani said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has started a series of seminars on Kashmir, which will continue in coming days. He said Pakistan will continue highlighting the plight of the people of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir until they achieve their right to self-determination.