“Says November 21 was a good day for Kashmir in London”
Islamabad: (Parliament Times) While expressing satisfaction over his five-day long visit to the United Kingdom the President of Azad Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan has said that during his trip to UK he met members of Parliament at the House of Commons besides attending a number of other programs with a view to highlight the prevailing political and human rights situation in Indian occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The AJK President made these assertions while speaking to the media-persons on his return here on Friday. Terming November 21 as a good day for Kashmir in London he said, “In the morning, Honourable Lilian Greenwood raised the issue in the House of Commons”. In the afternoon, Khan said that Lord Qurban Hussain asked a question from the Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) about the steps the Government of the UK was taking in regard to serious and massive human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), especially the use of pellet guns that had blinded scores of Kashmiris.
“This triggered many other questions from the Lords and the overwhelming majority of them demanded an investigation into the reported human rights violations”, he said adding that the FCO Minister said that the UK was seized of the matter and had encouraged India and Pakistan to work out a formula to find out a solution of the problem in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmir people.
When the FCO representative said that the UK had good relations with both India and Pakistan, he said that one Lord pointed that human rights violations are human rights violations and there should be no politics on this subject. The FCO said that it would keep track of the human rights situation in IOK.
Regarding his other engagements in UK the President said, “I also addressed students and faculty at the University of Lancaster, the sixth in the top ranking universities in the UK, on the topic Global Governance and World Peace. He also spoke as the chief guest at a Kashmir Conference in London organised by the Pakistan and Kashmir Supreme Council; and attended and addressed a gathering to mark the Black Day on Kashmir organised by the Pakistan’s Consulate General in Manchester.
Shortly after arriving in London on November 18, Khan said he addressed a fundraiser hosted by a UK-based organization Quest for Education, which is supporting Kashmir Education Foundation’s schools in Basali (near Rawat); and Azad Kashmir.
President Masood Khan also briefed and updated the All Parties Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Kashmir. The President told the APPG that in Jammu too the situation was becoming alarming as the RSS militants, under the banner of Hindutva, were threatening Muslims with a pogrom and systematized killings. In Jammu, he said that village defence committees had been established in which hundreds of Hindutva militants were being recruited to target Muslims for which head money had been announced. He said the scenario of another massacre of Muslims was not hypothetical. “The Butcher of Bosnia has been brought to justice but when will the butchers of Jammu be brought to justice? Or will they ever be brought to justice?” the President asked
During his meetings with the Pakistani and Kashmiri diaspora community, Sardar Masood Khan recognised and commended their contribution to the Kashmir cause and said unity in the ranks of Kashmiris and Pakistanis will go a long way in winning freedom for the people of IOK and securing the right to self-determination for Jammu and Kashmir.
He said India was trying to sow seeds of division in the ranks of the people of Pakistan, Azad Kashmir and the diaspora community. He said: hold your ground, don’t be intimidated by India’s power or pelf, or be caught in its conspiracies. The President appealed to the youth to write to MPs, FCO and Prime Minister of the UK to apprise them of the appalling human right rights situation in IOK and hold India accountable for its crimes against humanity. He asked them to especially invest in the art and craft of communication to tell the world the truth about Kashmir and expose India’s false narratives.