–FM says UAE will not ‘disappoint’ Pakistan after going through facts on IoK
MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday urged the international community to take action over Indian atrocities in the occupied Kashmir, saying it was the responsibility of international human rights organisations to highlight the plights of innocent Kashmiris
Speaking to reporters in Multan, the foreign minister questioned the silence of the rights groups, saying the curfew in the region has entered 21st consecutive day.
“Innocent people of the territory are facing extreme hardships of life, where they have no access to food and medicines,” he added.
The foreign minister also commented on the Indian prime minsiter’s visit to the United Arab Emirates wherein he was bestowed upon the highest civilian award by the UAE ruler amid on-going tensions in Kashmir.
Qureshi hoped the Arab country won’t disappoint Pakistan once facts regarding Indian atrocities are presented to the UAE’s leadership.
Modis’s visit to the gulf nation came amid a deteriorating situation Occupied Kashmir where a curfew has been lifted and basic human rights of the people there are being violated.
“India and the UAE enjoyed good diplomatic relations with a sizeable of number Indians adding to the UAE’S economy,” said Qureshi, hoping that once facts would be presented to the Arab country, it would not disappoint Pakistan. Pakistan also enjoys cordial relations with the UAE, he added.
In his message to the Sikh community amid reports that Kartarpur Corridor will be opened in November this year, he said that Pakistan welcomed the Sikh community in India to come to the country to visit their worship places without any restriction.
He said he would also visit Umar Kot Sindh on Sept 31 to deliver a message of the complete protection of temples in Pakistan to the Hindu community.
He said India through locking up mosques in [occupied] Jammu and Kashmir was establishing the fact that its secularism was a ‘farce’.
Pakistan, on the other hand, is determined to provide complete protection to the churches and temples, including all worship places of all minorities living in Pakistan.
Later addressing a rally in Multan, he said the Indian government committed an unconstitutional act by stripping the special status of occupied Kashmir which goes against the ideology of its first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
He said people in the occupied region are not even allowed to offer their prayers in mosques.
The minister lauded journalists who marched from Lahore to Azad Kashmir to express solidarity with the people of occupied Kashmir.
“Steps taken by Modi are not other than fascism and all intellectuals in India should openly condemn these steps,” he said in a separate comment to a TV channel
Earlier this month a constitutional provision granting special autonomous status to the occupied region was unlawfully revoked which invited huge international backlash.
The movement has been restricted in the IoK and internet and phone services have reportedly been disabled. In addition to that around 200 protestors have been injured in the valley, while the presence of military personnel in the region has gone up to over 800,000 troops.
