Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister (PM) Raja Farooq Haider Khan informed British parliamentarians on Saturday that India has turned occupied Kashmir into the world’s largest open-air prison, denying basic human rights to a population of around seven million people.
During a meeting with the cross-party members of parliament (MPs) at the House of Commons here, the AJK prime minister said that more than 800,000 Indian army troops have made the area into the most militarised zone on the planet, according to a press release issued on Saturday.
The AJK premier thanked the MPs for debating the issue of occupied Kashmir in the House of Commons for three hours last week and calling on the United Nations to intervene and speak out against Indian terrorism.
Raja Farooq Haider, who is in London to attend a global education conference, told the MPs that the people of occupied Kashmir live in constant fear of being kidnapped, killed, maimed, and tortured. He told the MPs that thousands of young Kashmiri boys and girls have been blinded by Indian army troops using pellet guns for merely exercising their democratic right of protest.
“India doesn’t tolerate any kind of criticism of its policies and holds the population of Kashmir in contempt for demanding their right of self-determination,” Haider said.
Addressing the parliamentarians, the AJK premier said, “I am indebted and express my sincere gratitude to the UK parliament for showing solidarity with Kashmiris in their quest for their right to self-determination, similar to Scotland’s and the Brexit referendum. I am also grateful to them for expressing grave concerns over the massive suffering and killings of Kashmiris and for condemning the violations of human rights in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.”
“The Kashmir valley is burning under a complete siege by Indian forces for more than six months now, since the brutal killing of Shaheed Burhan Muzaffar Wani on July 8, 2016. India has committed grave violations of human rights to suppress peaceful Kashmiri youths from protesting.”
The PM told parliamentarians that “this is campaign launched by the Indian state to silence the Kashmiri demand for their right to self-determination duly acknowledged by UN resolutions.”
Raja Farooq Haider said that Kashmiris are being killed by India for demanding water, electricity, and roads. “They and are met with bullets and women are being raped and killed by Indian soldiers,” the AJK premier said. “Anyone who speaks up for the right of self-determination is treated as an enemy.”
The AJK PM extended an invitation to the MPs to visit Azad Kashmir as well as Indian-occupied Kashmir to see for themselves how India had brutalised the Kashmiri people.