ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister of Azad Jammu Kashmir Chaudhry Anwar ulHaq has said that sham polls held in the disputed territory cannot be a substitute for Kashmiris’ birthright to self-determination.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Chaudhry Anwar ulHaq was talking to former AJK Prime Minister SardarTanveerIlyas Khan at his (TanveerIlyas) Islamabad residence. Both the leaders discussed, in detail, the prevailing political and human rights situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
He also rejected the ongoing so-called election drama being staged by the Indian government in the occupied territory under the vigil of over a million Indian military and paramilitary troops.
The AJK PM was accompanied by the AJK State Education Minister Diwan Ali Khan Chaghtai, Health Minister Dr. NisarAnsarAbdali, Information Minister PirMazharSaeed Shah, Member AJK Legislative Assembly Chaudhry Ali Shan Soni, Sardar Ahmad Sagheer, and SardarIftikhar Rashid on the occasion.
Meanwhile, leaders from across the country have categorically rejected the elections to the Legislative Assembly being held in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, saying that they were no substitute for the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination.
Speaking to a delegation, President Asif Ali Zardariemphasised that such elections were unacceptable to the people of Kashmir and called upon the international community to hold the Modi government accountable for the ongoing human rights violations in the occupied territory.
He further urged the need to take concrete steps toward conducting a plebiscite in line with the United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Meanwhile, AJK PM ChaudhryAnwarulHaq declared: “No one can talk about division of Kashmir in our presence.”
Speaking at an event in Palandri, he said: “Those who are comparing Azad Kashmir with the India-occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir must bear in mind the fact that the people of occupied Kashmir don’t have the right to offer prayers”.
AJK President Barrister Sultan MahmoodChaudhry also lambasted the Indian government’s efforts to legitimise its control over held-Kashmir through “bogus elections” held under the watchful eye of hundreds of thousands of troops.
He emphasised that these elections lack legitimacy and are merely a desperate attempt to mislead the international community. He highlighted the deteriorating human rights situation in occupied Kashmir since August 5, 2019, when India abolished the region’s special status by abrogating Article 370 and Article 35-A.
He stressed that this move was a blatant violation of international law, citing UN resolutions that call for a referendum in the region.“The discovery of over 8,000 unnamed mass graves in the occupied Valley is a testament to the brutality inflicted upon Kashmiris by Indian occupation forces,” he added.
The AJK premier maintained that the Indian government had turned occupied Kashmir into an open prison, where citizens were forced to live in fear, stripped of their basic human rights and identity. Haq also criticised India’s aggression along the LoC in AJK, which, he said, had resulted in the deaths of countless civilians, alongside significant material losses.
“How can the people on this side forget the death and destruction caused by unprovoked and relentless shelling by Indian troops [prior to the ceasefire]? How can they forget the brutal murder of innocent people grazing cattle, cutting fodder, or plucking medicinal plants along the LoC?” he asked.
“Instead of worrying about Azad Jammu and Kashmir and issuing ridiculous statements about it, Mr Singh and his ilk should feel remorse and shame for their ghastly actions in Kashmir and focus on ending the illegal occupation of the region,” PM Haq said.
He further called on the Indian government to respect the will of the Kashmiri people, withdraw its occupation forces from the territory, and allow Kashmiris to determine their political future in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.
The AJK premier noted that while the Indian Army was viewed as a murderous force by Kashmiris on both sides of the LoC, the Pakistan Army had always acted as a protector of the people. He also urged the international community to hold India accountable for its heinous and illegal actions and facilitate the UN-sponsored plebiscite in the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir.
