Daily Times

Emphasising that granting due rights to the people of Kashmir is the only way to maintain peace and stability in the region, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged New Delhi to resolve the long-standing dispute via dialogue as Youm-e-Istehsal-e-Kashmir was observed on Monday.

In his televised address to the Azad Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly, the prime minister said the day was not far away when both India and Israel will be bound to give due rights to the people of Palestine and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) as all ways other than this lead to total destruction.

He said Pakistan was a nuclear power and that was part of its defence. However, he said Pakistan had never thought of aggression with regard to its nuclear power. “Therefore the better option is to adopt the peaceful way and sit together to find out the peaceful solution to the Kashmir dispute.”

The prime minister pointed out that this occasion reminded us of the grave consequences of India’s illegal actions of 5 August 2019 vis-à-vis IIOJK when PM Narendra Modi-led government revoked the semi-autonomous status of the disputed valley.

Ever since, he said today, in IIOJK, efforts were being made to silence the genuine leadership of the Kashmiri people and muzzle the media. “The number of political prisoners remains in the thousands, while 14 political organisations have been outlawed.”

Harassment of innocent people, arbitrary detentions, and the so-called ‘cordon and search operations’ have become a matter of routine. The Indian forces are operating with impunity, according to them under different draconian laws, he added.

PM Shehbaz vowed that until the Kashmiris get the basic rights and freedom, Pakistan will continue to extend the moral support and will continue to knock on the doors of all the international institutions.

Paying tributes to the people of Kashmir, he said: “We salute to their struggle for freedom who had been bearing the atrocities and cruelties of the Indian armed forces for 77 years.”

He also paid tributes to the Hurriyat leaders including Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas, Sardar Ibrahim Khan, Mirwaiz Muhammad Yousuf, Syed Ali Gilani, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Altaf Ahmed Shah, Moulana Abbas Ansari, and all the young workers and leaders who raised their voices against the Indian atrocities.

“We salute Asiya Andrabi, Yaseen Malik, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Mussarat Alam Butt, and Burhan Wani for their struggle for freedom.”

As regards, the Palestine situation, the prime minister said more than 40,000 Palestinians had been martyred so far including thousands of children. The unarmed Palestinians were still being martyred every day, he said.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, through his army, has broken the records of barbarism in Palestine, he said adding that recently, in Tehran, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was martyred.

In Pakistan, he said a day of mourning was observed and funeral prayers in absentia were offered across the country.

He also condemned the arrest of the Imam of Aqsa Mosque who talked about Haniyeh’s martyrdom.