MIRPUR: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan Thursday said the day of expressing solidarity with the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) aimed to assure them that they were not alone in the struggle for their right to self-determination and to draw world attention towards their legitimate and just demand.
Addressing a virtual seminar organized by Quaid-e-Azam University in the federal metropolis, he said the biggest challenge at present was that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Home Minister Amit Shah and the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat wanted to transform IIOJK into a Hindu majority state, said a press release issued here.
“The greatest crime taking place in IIOJK right now is the uninterrupted and illegal settlement of Hindus from all over India. Now they have come up with the plot to permanently make IIOJK a Hindu majority state.
Two million Hindus have already been imported. This illegal transplantation of population is a serious violation of international laws and conventions,” he asserted.
The state president regretted that the United Nations had declared to observe the Palestine day, but not such a day has been devoted to Kashmir. However, he went on to say that the event at Qaid-e-Azam University was a message to the academia and students across the world to raise voice in favour of the oppressed Kashmiri people is their moral obligation
The virtual seminar was also addressed by Qaid e Azam University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr Mohammad Ali, Ambassador Asif Durrani, Air Vice Marshal (retd) Shehzad Chaudhry, Prof. Dr Amina Mahmood and Prof. Raja Qaisar.
Earlier in a special message on the eve of Kashmir Solidarity Day to be observed on Friday, the AJK president expressed the confidence that the day was not far off when the entire world will stand by Kashmiri people as the gruesome crimes of India in the occupied territory have turned the Kashmir solidarity day into an international event.
He said the Kashmiri people have been rotting under the military siege of India for the last 73 years, and we express our resolute support to the besieged Kashmiri people.
He said that on an international day of solidarity with the Kashmiri people, tens of thousands of people were pouring into the squares, streets, chambers and halls in Pakistan, AJK and around the world.
“We see the beginning of an international uprising to convey outrage and condemnation over the deepening catastrophe and demand an end to killings, massacres, crimes against humanity, and illicit transfer of Hindus in the occupied territory,” he added.
The state president said that since 1947, the state-sanctioned oppression by occupation forces has claimed half a million lives, and now genocide is being perpetrated with impunity without accountability.
“Several generations of the Kashmiri people have shed their blood for justice, self-determination, peace and security and they will not rest until they have reached their destination”, he declared.
Sardar Masood Khan appealed to the international community, especially the United Nations, to take action to save the Kashmiri people from the scourge of annihilation.
“Stop sitting on the fence, stop appeasing India because when the evil deed is done, wringing hands in contrition would be too little, too late,” he warned.
