- Salahuddin says welcoming Indian minister in Islamabad tantamount to rubbing salt into Kashmiris’ wounds
- Says 65 innocent Kashmiris martyred, over 5000 injured, 125 lost their sight in 25 days of Indian brutality
Hizbul Mujahideen supreme commander Syed Salahuddin has said that Indian Home Minister Raj Nath’s planned visit to Islamabad is unjustifiable and welcoming him in the federal capital will be tantamount to rubbing salt into the wounds of the Kashmiri people.
Addressing a press conference at Mansoora, the Jamaat-e-Islami headquarters, the Hizb chief called upon the Pakistan government to give up its cowardly attitude, and adopt a bold and clear-cut policy on the Kashmir issue.
“The Kashmiris were expecting that the Nawaz Sharif government would express its sympathies with the Kashmiris on the martyrdom of Burhan Wani at the hands of Indian occupation forces, but it did not have the courage to utter a few words on time,” remarked Salahuddin, who joined JI’s Kashmir Freedom March on Sunday. He said that Pakistan should have recalled its ambassador in New Delhi in protest, but it failed to do so, and this was something highly painful for the Kashmiris.
“The Kashmir issue is an international issue and the UN Security Council had adopted 18 resolutions on it. But still the UN together with world community and the OIC is totally indifferent to this issue,” deplored the Hizb leader. He said that as long as Kashmir was in India’s occupation, Pakistan’s independence, sovereignty, security, economy, agriculture, defence and geographical borders would be insecure.
Salahuddin said the bomb blasts, bloodletting and terrorism from Waziristan to Balochsitan amply proved that Indian spy agency RAW and its Israeli counterpart MOSAD were behind all these activities.
He said that the Modi government had taken a basic decision that a non-resident could secure lands in Kashmir on lease for ninety years and set up factories there when under article 370 of the Indian constitution, a non-resident could not purchase any property in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Besides, the Indian government was striving to convert Indian soldiers deputed in held Kashmir so far into permanent citizens of Kashmir. The real aim behind this move is to turn Muslim majority into a minority to benefit New Delhi in case of a plebiscite,” added Salahuddin.
According to the Hizb chief commander, around 550,000 Kashmiris have been martyred during the struggle for their right to self-determination in the past 69 years. “Hundreds of habitations have been destroyed so far,” he said, adding that yet the morale of the Kashmiris was high and they had decided to win their freedom through their muscle power.
In response to a query, Salahuddin said it was unfortunate that Pakistan’s Foreign Office and diplomatic missions had failed to draw the world’s attention to the prevailing situation in Kashmir where the Kashmiris were under siege for the past 25 days, and at least 65 innocent people had been martyred and more than 5000 injured, while 125 people, including innocent children, had lost their sight. He said Pakistan as a primary party to the Kashmir issue, was under moral obligation to raise its voice in support of the Kashmiri people.