ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Chairman Shehryar Khan Afridi met with former Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Attique Khan at the National Assembly Secretariat on Wednesday to discuss developments in India-held Kashmir (IHK).

During the meeting, they discussed reports that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sang (RSS) — which they called a terrorist organisation — had received funding from the Indian diaspora in various countries.

They said the United Nations, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and other financial institutions should take cognisance of this, follow with immediate action to block these illegal transactions because the RSS was using these funds to kill and torture religious minorities in India and in IHK.

They said the RSS had carried out terrorist attacks across India, including the 2006 Malegaon blasts, the Mecca Masjid bombing in Hyderabad, the Samjhauta Express bombings and the Ajmer Sharif Dargah blasts.

They were shocked by the FATF’s silence over the transactions, and said the RSS was receiving funding from the Indian diaspora while Indian consulates were facilitating the transfer of funds to the organisation, which was killing and lynching Muslims in India and Kashmir and carried a Hindu supremacist ideology.

They demanded that the FATF take measures to “combat money laundering and terror financing to the Hindu terror outfits.”

Mr Afridi said that the people and leadership of Pakistan were committed to the Kashmir cause and would remain steadfast until the dispute is resolved according to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

Mr Attique congratulated Mr Afridi for his appointment to the committee, and said: “Kashmir dispute is a very complex issue and Pakistan has to focus on narrative building to put facts before the world.”

Welcoming the recently unveiled ‘Political Map of Pakistan’ and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s diplomacy on Kashmir, Mr Attique said that this could be a watershed moment in the history of Kashmiris as the world is now more sensitive towards the Kashmir issue.

Mr Attique also asked Mr Afridi to engage with the Kashmiri and Pakistani diaspora across the globe and said that it will play a huge role in raising awareness of the Kashmir dispute.

Mr Afridi assured complete support to the leadership of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and said that the Kashmir committee would go the extra mile to represent Kashmiri aspirations and make the world aware about the atrocities being committed by Indian forces in IHK.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2020