AJK president warns of ‘Indian attack’
BY
MIAN ABRAR , (LAST UPDATED MAY 10, 2020)
–Masood likens new Indian domicile laws for Kashmir to Nuremberg Race Laws
ISLAMABAD: President of Azad Jammu Kashmir Masood Khan on Sunday warned the governments of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir against possible attack from India, saying that everyone must be prepared as there was no room for “complacency”.
In a conversation with
Pakistan Today, Masood said that following the killing of separatist leader Riyaz Naikoo, Kashmiris have been defying lockdown and there have been protests for the past four-five days.
He said Kashmiris are coming out in large numbers and funerals in absentia are taking place as the occupant regime did not release the bodies of slain youth to their families, fearing mass protests in spite of the heavy militarisation of the area.
He said the Indians came up with a new strategy to shift international focus from Kashmir. Indian National Security Advisor after meetings with Indian forces’ chief and other officials, again put blame on Pakistan, alleging that Pakistan was creating new outfits and alleged launch-pads in Azad Kashmir were being used for infiltration.
“So I fear that India is preparing for another false flag operation in Occupied Kashmir. They may also intensify proxy war in different parts of Pakistan. Their media is already claiming that India would wreak vengeance in different parts of Pakistan following Hundwara incident. We also should not rule-out a direct attack from India on Pakistan or Azad Kashmir. India may also accelerate hybrid warfare against Pakistan,” warned Masood.
He also equated New Domicile Laws introduced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in Indian Occupied Kashmir to Nuremberg Race Laws of Hitler’s Nazi Germany in 1930s.
“I compare these rules to Nuremberg race laws of Hitler’s Nazi Germany because at that time in 1930s Nazi Germany had reduced Jews to second rate citizens in their own country and snatched German identity from the Jewish people. India’s fascist regime wants to replicate the same model in Kashmir too.”
“Under the new illegal law, ordinary Hindus if they have ever lived in Kashmir for 15 years, or studies in Kashmir for seven years or someone has appeared in 10th or 12th class examinations, they qualify to have domicile of Kashmir. This is very sinister move. India by this law wants to pave the way to issue residence permits to ex-army officials, ex-civil servants, their families and children, and this number would be in hundreds of thousands. Since 1947, people from mainland India have lived in Kashmir a part of job. This includes occupation forces and civil servants part of occupation administration,” he said.
Khan said that hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Bihar, Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab who worked in IOJK have also been allowed Kashmir domiciles.
“Third category to get domiciles is so-called Hindu refugees who migrated to IoK from Punjab or from Azad Kashmir in 1947. Though these refugees had gone to East Punjab but Indians deliberately pushed them to Occupied Jammu & Kashmir. So that at some point they could change the demographic composition of the territory,” he said.
Masood Khan said that India is actually trying to take away Kashmiris land, their jobs, and their seats in universities to turn Kashmiris homeless in their own homeland, stateless in their own state, and aliens in their own habitat. Noting the lackluster world response to Indian move, Khan said it’s a pity that only the Organisation of Islamic Countries has condemned these illegal rules.
“The situation today in IOJK is dark, dismal and teary. It’s a wasteland as a matter of fact. It’s most brutalized region on the planet earth right now. Kashmir is under double-lockdown today as the rest of the world is under one lockdown – COVID-19. Coronavirus lockdown is designed to save lives but the siege in Kashmir laid since August 5 last year is designed to kill Kashmiris. India is pursuing a genocide in Kashmir,” he added.
He deplored the fact that India has, of late, started killing young people.
“Only in past one month, India has killed 40 young Kashmiris. Indian forces are taking advantage of Coronavirus lockdown as the world is focused on fighting the disease. The world needs to intervene and act before it’s too late,” he observed.
Khan said that India believes that it can remove Kashmir from the global agenda in guise of lockdown due to coronavirus but it was time for AJK government and Pakistan to keep the issue alive and engage extensively with the international audience to keep the issue a part of global agenda.
“For this we have to reach out to the parliamentarians, international media, think-tanks, human rights organisations, civil society and scholars and United Nations Security Council and project what’s happening in Indian Occupied Kashmir.”
“The UNSC must have intervened when India had introduced illegal domicile rules in violation of UNSC resolutions on Kashmir. India has also violated the fourth Geneva Convention, particularly its article 49. India also violated ICC statute. What India has done in Kashmir for past two month would be characterized as war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and genocide,” observed Masood Khan who also served as Pakistan’s senior diplomat.
He lauded the Foreign Office and the ‘twitter diplomacy’ of Prime Minister Imran Khan on Kashmir issue but urged for a more aggressive posture.
Masood Khan also refuted India’s claim that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between Pakistan and India.
“This is a lie because Simla agreement didn’t say that Kashmir is a bilateral issue. In any case if a bilateral agreement is not working between the two countries, the United Nations article 103 overwrites any bilateral agreement. So legally speaking, there is no locus standi for bilateralisation of the Kashmir issue. India also is not sincere to its commitment of bilateralism as far as Kashmir is concerned”.
Elaborating, Masood Khan said that when India took illegal steps of unilateral annexation of Jammu and Kashmir, it didn’t ask or consult Pakistan because it was according to them was a bilateral issue.
“Rather, India started saying that it’s an internal matter. We have not violated any of these bilateral agreements. Even since 1972, we have been engaging India at the bilateral level in sincerity and good faith. But Indians were dishonest about this bilateral approach. If we withdraw from international agreements, the international community would start blaming us”.
Masood Khan said that Pakistan’s biggest mistake was not Simla, Lahore or Tashkent agreements.
“Our biggest blunder was to invest our times, energies and political will in these bilateral talks as India was never sincere in negotiating the Kashmir issue with Pakistan. They were buying time to consolidate their occupation of the territory. They thought that the world would forget Kashmir,” Masood Khan concluded.
Mian Abrar
The writer heads Pakistan Today's Islamabad Bureau. He has a special focus on counter-terrorism and inter-state relations in Asia, Asia Pacific and South East Asia regions. He can be reached at
[email protected]
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/05/10/ajk-president-warns-indian-attack/