ISLAMABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan has said that because of US support for India in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the latter is operating with absolute impunity in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

“This is where the realpolitik is steering dynamics of the Kashmir dispute. The US and India have economic and defence partnerships and this has become a barrier for the US, as it sees the Kashmir dispute through the prism of India,” Mr Khan said.

He also said there was a need that leaders like Senator Mitch McConnell, Richard Holbrooke and former US president Jimmy Carter to stand up and help mediate the dispute.

The AJK president was speaking at a virtual conference of the club members of IVY League institute.

In his introductory remarks, the AJK president, while explaining the genesis of the Kashmir issue, said that in 1947, the people of Jammu of Kashmir had to choose either to accede to Pakistan or India. The partition did not take place according to plan and India invaded the territory and has since occupied it. “Things have not changed since then. The killing spree continues,” he added.

Mr Khan said that on Aug 5 last year, the people of held Kashmir were stripped of their special rights to education, employment, acquisition of property and permanent residence which had been protected under Article 35-A. Subsequently, the same year, on Oct 31 and April 2, India annexed IOJK (Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh) bringing it under the direct control of Delhi and then introduced New Domicile Rules.

“The Indian government has begun settling non-native Hindus from all over India in IOJK. He said the plan is to transform the demography and reduce the Muslim majority into a minority. This is, plain and simple, a land grab. Kashmiris are running from pillar to post just to prove that they are State subjects. They are facing disenfranchisement, dispossession and displacement,” the AJK president said.

“The New Domicile Rules introduced in IOJK, are akin to the policy followed by Nazi Germany against the Jews, based initially on economic strangulation, followed by demonisation and marginalisation and finally physical extermination,” said Mr Khan.

The AJK president said that historically, the US was a facilitator in the successful passage of the UNSC resolutions on Kashmir. Back then, he said, the US demonstrated global leadership. He appealed to the US leaders not to support India’s crimes against humanity in held Kashmir.

“We need leaders like Senator Mitch McConnell, Richard Holbrooke and former US president Jimmy Carter to help mediate. The United States, please play a leadership role in restoring the world order you had created in the shape of the United Nations. I urge you to start a boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against India to strip India of its economic prowess,” he said.

Responding to questions asked by the participants, Mr Khan said the US could play an important role as a neutral party that could exude empathy. The US has no dearth of leadership and intellect. He said that unlike India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir were ready for talks and the only condition being that Kashmiris had to be involved in these talks.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2020