MUZAFFARABAD: Saying that the title of world’s largest democracy was a misnomer, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Thursday called India “the world’s largest hypocrisy”, where hollow slogans of secularism, democracy and diversity are raised to cover up caste-based societal operations, systematic intimidation, marginalisation of minorities, state-sponsored killings and terrorism.

In a near 50-minute address at a special session of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly, he also sent a clear message to Pakistan’s critics, saying that regardless of challenging economic conditions, the country will never budge on its core interests in the region, and beyond.

Criticising the Indian Supreme Court’s “politically motivated” decision to validate New Delhi’s illegal and unilateral measures of August 5, 2019, he said he had arrived in Muzaffarabad to express Pakistan’s unwavering commitment to the Kashmiri people in the wake of the grave injustice done to them.

“Today, I ask the world: When will its collective conscience awaken? How long will the people of Kashmir continue to make sacrifices? For how long will their voices be muzzled? How long will the leaders remain arbitrarily detained? And for how long will they continue to suffer torture and extrajudicial executions?” he questioned.“Keep your rants to yourself and if you are serious about the real issues, we are ready to talk about them,” he said, in a message to New Delhi.

“By the way, we should not forget that Muzaffarabad is not Gaza and Delhi is not Tel Aviv, even though [Binyamin] Netanyahu and [Narendra] Modi have many similarities,” he remarked.

Alluding to the recent statements by some BJP leaders, PM Kakar said no one could snatch even an inch of the territory of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.

He maintained that if support by the whole of Europe and US to Ukraine was legitimate, the same should also be legitimate in case of Indian-occupied Kashmir.

“India might be the need of the US for strategic confinement of China, but it’s not our need,” he said, without mincing words.“The way RAW’s belligerence is heading towards the western hemisphere should serve as a wake-up call for Western civilisation,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2023