Masood asks world to send peacekeepers in Kashmir

• AJK president says Pakistan should stop talking to India on Kashmir

LONDON: Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) President Masood Khan has said that the Indian-held Kashmir – the paradise on earth – is on fire and the world community is not sending any firefighters or peacekeepers to extinguish the raging fires there.

Addressing a convention, hosted by the Pakistan High Commission, of lord mayors, mayors and councilors here in the British capital, he said that this was no accidental fire, but Indian forces were the arsonists who would not let any firefighter enter into the region and extinguish the fires.

“The world is busy appeasing India and the arsonists instead of sending peacekeepers to the region because they say they have their economic interests tied with that country.” He said that Jammu Kashmir was the most obscure conflict in the region where thousands of people are killed, maimed, tortured, and incarcerated every year.

Unlike other conflicts, Kashmir has little visibility on the international radar screen and Kashmir was also the least reported conflict, the Kashmiri leader said. He said that the UN Security Council and the UN secretary-general, instead of hiding behind bland statements, should intercede to take full cognizance of the situation in the disputed Kashmiri state and stop massacres, killings, and illegal detentions.

He asked that India would never agree to the UN secretary-general’s good offices but why should the secretary-general be deterred by India’s non-compliance? Has the UN not intervened in South Sudan, Mali, Central African Republic, Yemen, and Libya, without waiting for the consent of the parties to the conflict, he asked.

President Masood said that the UN Security Council should, instead of acting as a bystander in the Kashmir issue, should take full cognizance of the matter and play its rightful role. He appealed to the British public representatives to raise the visibility of the Kashmir issue in the parleys in the legislative bodies, conventions and conferences.

He said that this could be done by raising questions on the floors, moving resolutions, and holding events on the sidelines. He said that Pakistan should stop talking to India on Kashmir because of three reasons: Kashmir is an international, not a bilateral, issue; secondly, India has closed all doors for bilateral dialogue; and thirdly, the rounds of bilateral engagement so far have proved to be a mirage and totally unproductive.

He said that the real pressure for the solution of the Jammu Kashmir issue would come from the international forums and global civil society. He clarified that Jammu Kashmir never was and never would be an integral part of India. “That’s a falsehood coined by India, which it cannot sustain or justify, as is evident from the situation on the ground,” he said.

President Masood underlined that Kashmir was a trilateral issue between Pakistan, India and the Kashmiri people and the Kashmiris were the most important party in this dispute because they have to decide their political future in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.

He said that India wants to resolve the Jammu Kashmir through the use of unbridled and brutal state terrorism; whereas Pakistan believes in dialogue, diplomacy and the rule of law as written into the UN Charter. He said that Kashmiris were not terrorists but were waging a peaceful movement for the libertarian of their own homeland.

“This is neither terrorism, nor a crime by any law or standard; this is a legitimate aspiration.” He introduced Azad Kashmir as a destination for investment, commerce and economic activity and apprised his audience how the Kashmiri state had become part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and a hub for economic activity focusing on roads, hydropower generation, education, health, tourism and agriculture sector.