MIRPUR: Azad Jammu & Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan has said that the role of US Congress is important to bring an end to Indian repression against the Kashmiri people, and as such, it should hold a debate and pass a resolution on the alarming situation of occupied Kashmir.
Addressing a gathering of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA) in US city of Houston late Saturday, he said that Pakistani-Americans and Kashmiri-Americans with the support of Congressmen and Senators who had raised their voice in favor of Kashmiri people, should get to Washington to seek diplomatic and political support of the US Congress for an end to the ongoing ethnic cleansing in occupied Kashmir. AJK Presidential Secretariat said on Sunday.
He said, “End to killings and persecution is first priority but the US Congress should also put its weight behind efforts to reverse the unlawful action taken by India on August 5,” and added that the political status of Jammu and Kashmir must be decided in accordance with the wishes of not Modi like fascist individual but the Kashmiri people themselves.
The AJK president called on the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee to take initiative in this regard and take steps to address the human rights crisis in occupied Kashmir.
Sardar Masood Khan expressed his deep disappointment over the silence and inaction of the UN Security Council since August 20 when it had convened an informal session at the request of Pakistan. “If the Security Council does not act, the people of Jammu and Kashmir themselves will have to take steps to defend their rights and there would be an irreversible drift to war with dire consequences,” he warned.
The AJK president said that India was threatening to use nuclear weapons against Pakistan which has necessitated the international community to restrain and discipline India. “Neither Kashmiri people nor Pakistan desire a war, however, their preference is to secure an end to repression in Kashmir and to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute through peaceful means, especially through multilateral efforts led by the UN.
He said “Now is the time not to be silent but to speak as a bloodbath has already started in Kashmir,” and pointed out that 13,000 Kashmiri youth have been picked arbitrarily by occupation forces and are being tortured in concentration camps.
Sardar Masood Khan lamented that India’s violent extremist government was celebrating its murderous campaign in occupied Kashmir and was seeking its endorsement from the world leaders, while Kashmiri people and Pakistanis are demonstrating outside the United Nations and in world capitals. “A day is to come very soon when the dawn of Kashmir’s freedom and self-determination would be celebrating in the streets and squares of Kashmir and all around the world, he added.
The AJK president thanked the people of Houston for organizing a big rally against the “Howdi Modi” rally of the Indian-Americans. The demonstration by nearly 30,000 people in New York on September 27 in front of the UN Headquarters, while Modi was addressing the General Assembly, showed the outrage of the world community against the aggravating steps taken by India’s extremist government.
He invited Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, Congressman Al-Green and members of the Pakistan Caucus in the US Congress to visit Azad Kashmir.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, Congressman Al Green and State Representative Sean Thierry also spoke on the occasion. They said that they would make concerted efforts for the restoration of the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and for averting a war in the region.
The AJK President thanked the leadership of Tahir Javed, the influential voice within the US Democratic Party for mobilizing the community.
Earlier, the AJK President had a meeting with Congressman Al Green and briefed him about the horrendous human rights situation in occupied Kashmir, and sought the help of the US Congressional leaders to rescue Kashmiri people from India’s state.
