MUZAFFARABAD: Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Sunday made it clear that the conduct of the rulers of some Middle Eastern countries was not being appreciated in Pakistan.

“We have to prove at the global front that the attitude of some Middle Eastern rulers has no acceptance in Pakistan,” he said in his address to a gathering on the premises of the local press club.

The event was organised by the Muslim Conference, an opposition party that had contested the last general election in AJK as an ally of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

“If rulers in the Middle East are not with us, no worries, but… people living in the Middle East are with us,” Mr Ahmed claimed.

His statement came in the wake of conferment by the UAE of its highest civilian award on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently.

Separately, at an anti-India rally staged here on Sunday, a group of over a hundred youth was also heard shouting slogans against the UAE, which majority in Pakistan and AJK had always considered as a state tied with Pakistan by the bonds of Muslim brotherhood.

Mr Ahmed claimed that he had cautioned that attacks on Libya, Iraq, Yemen and Syria were conspiracies against Muslims.

“And now whatever has happened or is happening in occupied Kashmir it’s directed by the Hindutva,” he said, referring to the ideology seeking to establish the hegemony of Hindus and the Hindu way of life.

He said India was primarily upset at the all-weather friendship between Pakistan and China and its failure to alienate Pakistan.

“As long as Pakistan remains on the globe and Islamabad and Beijing have one voice, India cannot become a permanent member of the UN Security Council,” he said.

Stating that India’s agenda was to disintegrate Pakistan, he feared that Modi government could launch an attack on AJK.

“The attack on the AJK will be tantamount to declaring a full-fledged war...

And it will not be a war between Pakistan and India, but a war of the subcontinent,” he said.

“Pakistan may not have a satisfactory situation vis-à-vis conventional arms but our defence system and our fireworks are not for Shab-i-Baraat,” he said.

He pointed out that the poor Pakistani nation had tightened its belts to develop nuclear arsenal and thus made their country the first nuclear power of the Muslim world.

“It’s the same power that is prohibiting India from devouring Pakistan.”

Addressing India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, he said the life and death of a Muslim were meant for Islam and Pakistan and the Muslims prayed five times a day for martyrdom.

Mr Ahmed maintained that due to the belligerence of Mr Modi, an atmosphere of unity had been created in Pakistan.

“The opposition and the government are on one page on the issue of Kashmir, at least in drawing room if not in the Parliament and streets,” he said.

“Today there is not a single Pakistani that believes that there will be politics in this country on the issue of Kashmir... Whoever is with Kashmir is with Pakistan and whoever betrays Kashmiris is a friend of Mr Modi,” he added.

Stating that genocide was either taking place or about to take place in occupied Kashmir, he said that Muslims who would stay calm in their homes in this situation would in fact be waiting for their turn to be killed.

Earlier, Mr Ahmed also called on AJK President Sardar Masood Khan and discussed the situation in the region with him in the context of the Kashmir issue.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2019