Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday said that India was trying to distract world attention from the atrocities perpetrated by its occupation forces in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) against innocent and defenceless Kashmiris, including children and women.

“These atrocities have intensified since the extra-judicial killing of Kashmiri youth leader Burhan Wani in July this year. In the last seventy-five days, Indian occupation forces have brutally martyred more than 100 Kashmiris, blinded hundreds and injured thousands,” Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said in response to queries regarding Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address in Kerala in which he tried to malign Pakistan.

He said that it was unfortunate that Indian leadership continued to indulge in a well thought out vilification campaign against Pakistan by making provocative statements and baseless accusations. Such irresponsible display of behavior at the highest political level is regrettable, he remarked.

The spokesman pointed out that the international community had taken notice of these blatant human rights violations, with concerns expressed by several countries as well as UN and OIC. There are increasing demands of independent investigations and fact finding missions to be sent to IHK, he added.

Moreover, he said while India had cast aspersions on Pakistan, it continued to sponsor terrorism in Pakistan directly through its state apparatus.

“The arrest and confession statements of a serving Indian Navy officer and intelligence operative, Kulbhushan Yadav, reveal beyond a shadow of doubt as to how India fuels terrorist activities in various parts of Pakistan, including Balochistan and FATA,” he added.

Last week, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the Indian government should have probed into the Uri incident in Indian-held Kashmir before blaming Pakistan for it.

“An enquiry or investigation should have been held into the incident. Probe into such incidents take several days or weeks. Can you reach to conclusion within 10 to 12 hours? Doing this within no time has caused doubts in every mind,” the prime minister said talking to the newsmen.

Separately, AJK President Masood Khan said Pakistan’s clear stance on Kashmir has convinced the world leaders that the long-standing dispute poses a grave danger to the world peace and must be resolved.

Praising Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for presenting the strongest ever case for the Kashmiri people at the United Nations, the AJK president said that the Obama administration and the United Nations were alarmed by the growing tension between Pakistan and India over the issue of Kashmir and wanted to see an early resolution to the lingering dispute.

“There is now a realization that the Kashmir issue cannot be put to back-burner anymore and has to be resolved. This is not our success, this is the success of the people of Kashmir who continue to raise the slogan of freedom in spite of reign of terror unleashed by the Indian government,” Khan said.

He said since taking over the charge, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had adopted a principled stand on Kashmir but his speech to the United Nations this week was the most effective narration on the dispute that had sent a clear message to the world community about the danger to the world peace, if the issue was not resolved in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmir people.

“The prime minister held out an unequivocal assurance to the Kashmiri people that Pakistani nation fully share their pain and will never stop from extending their moral, political and diplomatic support to their just cause.”

Khan said that acting as a statesman and as a leader of a nuclear nation, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had shown political sagacity and had not just presented facts from the point of view of Pakistan and the Kashmiri people, but had spoken in the context of regional and world peace.