President warns India not to play with fire by oppressing Kashmiris

Islamabad: President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday warned India to end its continuous subjugation of Kashmiris in Occupied Kashmir as it could no longer suppress their voice.

“The voice of Kashmiris for their right to self-determination is getting stronger against India’s atrocities and the day is not far when the Indian government will have to surrender,” the president said in his address to the participants of the Kashmir solidarity rally, in front of the Parliament House.

The president led the Kashmir solidarity rally on Youm-e-Istehsal, which marked two years of India’s illegal revocation of Kashmir’s special status on August 5, 2019, in sheer violation to the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

President assured the Kashmiris of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) that Pakistan would support them in their struggle for inalienable rights.

 “I warn India not to play with fire and give Kashmiris their due right which has been pledged by the United Nations,” he said. Unless, India stopped acts of killing, torture and abductions, normalcy could not be returned to the Valley, he added.

He expressed confidence that with a government strongly supporting the Kashmir cause, Pakistan would remain steadfast in advocating the demands of Kashmiris.

“I believe that emerging Pakistan will make a strong point before the world to press India to end violence in Kashmir and give Kashmiris their right,” he said.

President Alvi said Pakistan would not hold talks with India unless it rescinded its illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019.

“This is a clear narrative of Pakistan until India restores the Articles 370 and 35-A of its Constitution that ensures the special status of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

The president said the oppression of Dogra rule against the people of Kashmir even continued today by the incumbent government of India.

“Under the rule of Indian occupation forces, our Kashmiri brothers and sisters are being martyred, children blinded with pellet gunshots and thousands of women left widowed,” he said.

He regretted that the United Nations and the world after decades had maintained a silence on the resolution of the Kashmir dispute, however said that “Kashmiris cannot be silenced”.

He paid tribute to the Kashmiris who laid down their lives in their struggle for freedom from Indian rule and always upheld the spirit of ‘Kashmir banay ga Pakistan’ (Kashmir, one day will become part of Pakistan).

He said a large number of occupation forces deputed in IIOJK must be a source of concern for the international community.

On the human rights situation, he said, there was a stark difference between the human rights situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the IIOJK.

He said international media and diplomats were free to visit AJK, while India refused such fact-finding missions to IIOJK to cover its violations.

Dr Alvi urged the Kashmiris to remain steadfast as Pakistan would continue to extend them political, moral and diplomatic support.

“I want to tell my Kashmiri brothers that we are with you. No Pakistani will inch back from his clear stance of extending support to Kashmiris,” he said.

The Kashmir solidarity rally that originated from the Foreign Office and culminated at the Parliament House was joined by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Science and Technology Minister Senator Shibli Faraz, parliamentarians and a large number of people from all walks.

Foreign Minister Qureshi told the media that the rally was a gesture to assure the Kashmiri brothers and sisters that the government and people of Pakistan stood united with them.

Talking to reporters, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that Pakistan called upon the international community to take notice of the human rights crisis in IIOJK, adding that Pakistan as the fifth biggest nation of the world would remain undeterred in its support to Kashmiris.

Earlier, the rally offered prayers for the martyrs of the Kashmir cause. A one-minute silence was observed as the sirens blared on the occasion.

The participants of the rally chanted slogans demanding the right for Kashmiris and waved the Pakistani and Kashmiri flags.