Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Kashmir Committee Shehryar Khan Afridi Thursday said that Indian occupational regime was replicating the Israeli occupational model in Jammu and Kashmir and the world must stand up to prevent another Palestine being removed from planet earth.

Addressing the participants of a seminar titled ‘Palestine and Kashmir Crisis: Call for Justice’, held here jointly by Kashmir Committee and Muslim Institute at PIPS, Afridi said that before August, 5, 2019, the Indian regime had sent its top Police and civil bureaucrats posted in Jammu and Kashmir to Israel for learning, training and then brought back to replicate the Israeli model in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that among those included infamous police officer, Imtiaz Hussain, who is blamed for killing 200 Kashmiri Muslims. Imtiaz Hussain was sent to Israel to understand the Israeli security system before August 5, 2019 and on return he was posted as security in-charge in Srinagar to suppress protests in Jammu and Kashmir. He said the disposition of local population from Jammu and Kashmir was another area where India is learning from Israeli regime and India is replicating the same in Kashmir.

“Settler colonial project of Israel is being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir in blatant violation of UN resolutions. 40,00,000 new domicile certificates have been issued out of which 500,000 issued to people from mainland India who never visited Kashmir. Non-local Indians are being given tourism opportunities while jungles are also being leased to people from mainland India while Kashmiris are being refused. Gulmerg hotels are being refused to locals and India is leasing those to Indians now. India is economically strangulating Kashmiris and dispossessing the Kashmiris in blatant violation of the UN resolutions,” he added.

He said in a bid to cement the military occupation on Kashmir, militarisation process is being pushed to a new high and new bunkers are being constructed with concrete material on sides of roads and streets. There is 400 percent increase in bunkers post August 5, 2019 and the military men harass the Kashmiri people on streets on one pretext or another just to provoke them. India has imposed military lockdown in guise of Covid-19 lockdown,” he said. He said Modi regime is silencing the genuine voices and rights activists in Kashmir, depriving families from their very basic livelihood opportunities in a fascist manner. The Indian authorities have illegally and illogically terminated the services of many Muslim government officials in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

He said the Indian authorities have set up a Special Task Force (STF) to initiate action against government employees on their social work and pro-freedom sentiments, beating youth to the submission.  The belligerent Modi regime in IIOJK had completed a list of 1000 Muslim employees for the termination and it is reported that more than 500 govt employees are being terminated from their services in IIOJK since Aug 5, 2019.  “The purpose behind the termination is to make Kashmiris subservient to New Delhi. Furthermore, Modi regime is hell-bent to kill the economy of Kashmir and is using various tools to keep naive people away from the benefits of their own resources,” he added. Other distinguished speakers included AJK President Masood Khan, President Muslim Institute Sahibzada Sultan Ahmed Ali, Ambassador of Palestine to Pakistan  Ahmad Rabaie, Ambassador of Turkey to Pakistan,  Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Pakistan  Ali Fikrat Oglu Alizada and Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs  Andleeb Abbas.

Speakers observed that Kashmir and Palestine issues present examples of worst human rights violations in the contemporary world. Both of the issues are outstanding and as old as the United Nations itself but yet they remain unresolved. Indian forces in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Israeli forces in Occupied Palestine are violating international laws and committing crimes against humanity.

During past few weeks Palestinians people were targeted by the Israeli forces. Both the areas are facing the forced demographic changes and Islamophobic policies. In the contemporary world, both of these unresolved issues remind us what Nazis committed in Europe in last century. Unfortunately, Palestinians are facing oppression by the people whose ancestors claim to face holocaust. People of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir are facing oppression on the hands of Nazi loving BJP that is backed by RSS, the ideological sibling of Hitler fascism.  Indian and Israeli occupying forces have converted occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Gaza strip into an open prison. It is the prime duty of United Nations to implement its resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine and provide them with due rights as promised in numerous resolutions. Attacks on religious gatherings in the holy month of Ramazan on the religious place like Masjid Al-Aqsa are condemnable. Every Muslim feels the pain of such attacks. However, the overall leadership of Muslim world has not been able to adopt practical policy to resolve either Kashmir or Palestine issue due to their own internal and sectarian conflicts. It is high time to ponder upon the future and adopt a unified policy based upon principle of humanity ensured in all international laws including UN Charter.