MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday while talking to reporters in his hometown Multan said that the government is not afraid of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) upcoming ‘Azaadi March’.
“It is their democratic right and government won’t stop them from protesting but I would like to repeat it that time picked by them is wrong and the date is not suitable,” he said.
“October 27 is the blighted day when India occupied Kashmir. It is a black day. It is a day when Indian forces invaded Kashmir, so the day is observed as a Black Day every year,” he told reporters.
“It’s not just PTI government, the whole nation has called this decision of JUI-F distasteful. They will hurt sentiments of Kashmiri people who have already suffered a great deal at the hands of Indian forces,” he added.
He said that doing politics on such a sensitive issue is not a wise idea and political parties should reconsider their decision regarding march.
While talking on ongoing Kashmir issue, Qureshi said that it’s obvious that India can’t allow international leaders and journalists to visit the valley as they have committed gross violations of basic human rights that they don’t want anyone to see or report.
“US Senator Chris Van Hollen told me that he wanted to visit occupied Kashmir but he was denied permission and if India’s claims about ‘everything is normal there’ are true, then, why he was denied permission to visit,” he said,
Pakistan has and always will facilitate anyone from the international community who desire to visit Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
“It is sad that Indian media is also not allowed to report the exact situation because they are under extreme pressure of Hindu extremists,” he said.
“Pakistan had briefed the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Bangkok about its viewpoint and explained the measures, taken by Islamabad, to the FATF Asia-Pacific Group,” Qureshi replied to a question asked by a reporter about FATF.
“In my opinion, Pakistan has satisfied the reservations raised by many about money laundering by taking concrete steps to keep checks and by monitoring any suspected money laundering and terror financing.
“What we have done in almost a year is more than what had been done in the last decade,” he added.
India can try all it wants to push Pakistan into the blacklist of the FATF but it will never succeed as Pakistan’s viewpoint and efforts will be recognised in the FATF session in Parison basis of the work that has been done on it by the country.
