ISLAMABAD, June 12: Chairman, National Kashmir Committee, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan has said India is misleading the world by projecting the just Kashmir struggle as terrorism in order to conceal its own state-terrorism against the Kashmiris.

He said following its failure to suppress the ongoing freedom struggle, particularly after the Sept 11 events, India was bent upon depicting the movement as terrorism.

He cautioned the international community not to be misled by the Indian propaganda.

Sardar Qayyum was briefing a meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir held in New York, says a message received here on Wednesday.

Drawing the attention of the Group to the ongoing struggle of the Kashmiri people, Sardar Qayyum said the Kashmiri people “have been waging a heroic struggle against the Indian repression for the last fifty years, during which they have given countless sacrifices.”

The human rights excesses and Indian atrocities against the innocent Kashmiri people have been amply documented by leading human rights organizations, he said.

Sardar Qayyum added that as the international pressure was mounting on India, it now planned to hold yet another farcical election in the occupied valley in September.

He emphasized that such elections “have been rigged in the past” and “are no substitute to an impartial and free plebiscite,” which was promised to the Kashmiri people by the United Nations in the relevant Security Council resolutions.

The chairman of the Kashmir committee urged the international community not to get carried away by such cosmetic steps by India, emphasizing that the situation on the ground remained tense.

He said that, on its part, Pakistan had fulfilled its commitment given by President Musharraf in his speech on Jan 12 and taken tangible steps to reduce tension in the region.

The international community needs to urge India to meaningfully reciprocate by de-escalating tension, demobilizing troops and commencing a purposeful and serious dialogue to address the root cause of tensions.

He said that Pakistan was willing to resume dialogue with India to arrive at a peaceful solution of the Kashmir issue in keeping with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

An intra-Kashmir dialogue would also be a right step, he remarked.

Thanking the OIC for its support to the Kashmiri struggle, Sardar Qayyum expressed the hope that the OIC will continue to lend its full support to the Kashmiri people at this critical juncture.

The forthcoming Islamic Foreign Ministers Conference in Khartoum will provide the opportunity for the OIC countries to reaffirm their solidarity with the Kashmiri people.

The OIC Contact Group was also briefed by Mushahid Hussain Sayed and P.K. Shahani who were the members of the delegation led by Sardar Qayyum.

Later, Chairman of the Kashmir Committee and his delegation attended a luncheon hosted by the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, Ambassador Munir Akram, which was attended by a number of Muslim Ambassadors.—APP