| Dr Arif Alvi says Pakistan will not hold 
talks with India until it reverses Kashmir’s status to pre-August 5 situation | Imran Khan asks OIC, world to correct ‘huge injustice 
of history’ in IIOJK, Palestine

ISLAMABAD/THOTHA (AJK)   -  President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday called for urgent need for the reversal of all illegal and unilateral steps taken by India on and after August 5, 2019 in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). They also urged New Delhi to stop human rights abuses in the IIOJK, end communication blockade, and liberate the jailed Kashmiri leadership.

President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday urged India to quit its “belligerent and vicious” attitude towards Pakistan for the sake of prosperity of the two nations, saying with every conspiracy, Pakistan would emerge ever stronger. He warned India that it could face several challenges, such as poverty and underdevelopment, if it continued to focus on hostility towards its neighbours rather than resolving the outstanding issues.  

“If India thinks that it can suppress Pakistan, it is having a big misconception. Our stance on Kashmir will remain unchanged,” the president said in his address at the refugee camp of Kashmiris in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The visit of President Alvi to the AJK coincided with the marking of two years of India’s illegal and unilateral acts of August 5, 2019, which was observed as Youme-e-Istehsal (Day of Exploitation).

The president said India would fail in its attempt to wipe away the history of Jammu and Kashmir after scrapping Articles 370 and 35-A of its Constitution and changing the demography of Kashmir. He called upon India to restore the special status of the valley, end communication blockade, and liberate the jailed Kashmiri leadership.

“Pakistan will not hold talks with India unless it changes the status of Jammu and Kashmir to the pre-August 5, 2019 situation,” he said. Dr Alvi said India was giving the impression of normalcy in the occupied Kashmir, which was against the reality and on-ground situation.

“With every martyrdom, the voice of Kashmiris is getting stronger against India,” he said. To the Kashmiri refugees, President Alvi said the government of Pakistan would continue to highlight their demand for the right to self-determination and remind the international community for the resolution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute. He said the decades-long struggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir was a challenge to the oppressive rule of Indian occupation forces.

“When the Kashmiris view a bleak picture of their future under Indian rule, they demand their right to self-determination,” he added. He told the Kashmiris that Pakistan would continue to stand by them in their struggle for inalienable rights.

“Our hearts connect to you and we will extend all possible resources for your development,” he said.

The president said India faced defeat in every war waged against Pakistan and would meet the same fate as experienced in the Balakot airstrike.

Despite its military might, he said, India failed in its Balakot endeavour due to the preparedness of Pakistan’s Armed Forces and the resilience of the nation. He recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan on assumption of his government had extended a ‘hand of peace’ to India, however, regretted that India’s belligerent designs compelled it to shy away from the offer.

The president said Pakistan was making right decisions by focusing its resources towards the development of its people by promoting literacy and ending unemployment.

‘Huge injustice of history’

Prime Minister Imran Khan describing the situation in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and Palestine as a “huge injustice of history”, said it was important for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the world to take steps to correct it.

The prime minister expressed these views while talking to a delegation of the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), which led by its Chair Dr Saeed Al-Ghufli, called on him.

He expressed grave concern on the egregious violations of human rights in the IIOJK, which had assumed alarming proportions during the last two years. The prime minister shared his deep anguish over the hardships and sufferings being endured by the people of occupied territory, especially since August 5, 2019 when India took illegal and unilateral measures in the IIOJK.

He added that the people of IIOJK, demanding their inalienable right to self-determination promised to them under numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions, were being brazenly brutalized, extra-judicially killed, injured, maimed, tortured and arbitrarily detained.

The indiscriminate use of pallet guns, he said, had resulted in mass blinding of the Kashmiri youth. However, despite using every single tool of oppression, India had failed to break the will of the Kashmiri people, he added.

Dilating upon the Indian regime’s “Hindutva” ideology, Imran Khan emphasised that the Kashmiri Muslims were being targeted in order to suppress their demand for freedom from Indian occupation and repression.

He underscored that the Muslims in IIOJK were being denied their fundamental right to self-determination as well as freedom of religion or belief. The Kashmiri Muslims risked losing their majority and distinct identity due to the demographic changes being effected in the occupied territory, which was in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention and tantamount to war crimes, he added.

The prime minister appreciated the work of IPHRC in highlighting India’s gross, systematic and widespread human rights abuses in the IIOJK.

He recalled that as an independent expert body, IPHRC’s views were based on facts and grim realities existing on the ground. The IIOJK people were thankful to the Commission for understanding their plight and bringing it to the attention of OIC and the international community, he added.

The prime minister underlined that the strong unified voice of OIC was a vital element in the advancement of Muslim causes. He reiterated the urgent need for the reversal of all illegal and unilateral steps taken by India on and after August 5, 2019 along with an immediate end to the human rights violations in the IIOJK.

The prime minister also spoke about rising Islamophobia and stressed the need for the Muslim Ummah to make collective endeavours to counter the scourge.

The IPHRC delegation’s meeting with the prime minister today assumed added significance as it coincided with the completion of two years of India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019.

The delegation’s presence in Pakistan on this day is a manifestation of its staunch support to the Kashmiris’ just cause.

The IPHRC delegation is on a visit to Islamabad, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir in compliance with the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers’ mandate to assess the deteriorating human rights situation in the IIOJK.

The Commission has established a standing mechanism for that purpose, which regularly monitors and reports on the dire state of human rights in the IIOJK.