Pakistan strongly condemns Indian Defense Minister's remarks about Kashmir: FO

Pakistan strongly condemns Indian Defense Minister's remarks about Kashmir: FO

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Pakistan has strongly condemned and categorically rejected Indian Defense Minister s remarks about the situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

According to foreign office, the statement is another manifestation of the BJP government s delusions about AJK and incurable obsession with Pakistan.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui has said that It has been clear to the people of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, and the international community, from the outset, that the motive behind the RSS-inspired BJP government s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 was to inter alia bring about demographic changes in the IOJ&K so that the Muslim majority in the region could be changed by deceit, fraud and brute force.

She said that the subsequent steps of promulgation of new domicile law and amendments in various laws, especially regarding acquisition of properties in IOJ&K, clearly show that the primary motivation remains the disempowerment and disenfranchisement of the Kashmiri people and further usurpation of their rights.

Aisha said that the BJP government has been seeking to force its decisions upon the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir through the muzzle of the gun by deploying more than 900,000 security forces in the region; a lockdown that continues for over 10 months; arbitrary detentions of thousands including political activists, civil society members, and common men, women and even disabled; snapping all means of communications; and imposing curfew-like strict measures restricting movement, assembly, peaceful political activities even religious congregations.

She said that the Indian Defense Minister s statement is another desperate attempt to divert attention from India s state-terrorism and unacceptable human rights violations in IOJ&K. It is also designed to ramp up flailing support for the BJP through unabashed political opportunism and reckless disregard for the peace, stability and security of the region.

Aisha Farooqui said that the assertion about "international recognition" of the BJP government s measures in IOJ&K can best be termed as "obdurate and willful amnesia." To assist the Indian Defense Minister s memory, the international opprobrium over the BJP government s human rights violations in IOJ&K has been unequivocal, including inter alia three UNSC consultations for the first time in about five decades, U.S. Congressional hearings, discussions in Parliaments around the world especially the EU, condemnation by international human rights and humanitarian organizations, scores of Parliamentarians, hundreds of editorials and op-eds in reputed international newspapers and magazines, and offers of mediation by different world leaders.

She said that for its part, Pakistan will continue raising the plight of the innocent Kashmiris and support their inalienable right to self-determination as enshrined in the UN Security Council resolutions through a free, fair and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations.