AJK PM slams Indian Minister’s ridiculous statement
On Wednesday, the leadership of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) strongly condemned recent comments made by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who invited AJK residents to join India.
In response, AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq criticized Indian leaders for their “absurd rhetoric” and called for allowing the people of the disputed region to decide their future independently.
Singh had made his remarks at an election rally in Ramban last weekend, suggesting that AJK residents should become part of India. He asserted that AJK residents were considered “our own” by India, unlike in Pakistan where they are considered as “foreigners.”
The Hindustan Times reported that Singh statement was answer to Additional Attorney General Munawar Iqbal Duggal, who described AJK as a foreign territory. However, Pakistani media stated Duggal statement was, AJK operates under its own “constitution and judicial system”, making Pakistani court decisions foreign judgments.
AJK Prime Minister Haq denounced Singh’s statements, accusing Indian politicians, particularly those from the BJP, of displaying extreme audacity while being responsible for the deaths of countless innocent Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC).
Haq said India had denied Kashmiris their fundamental right to self-determination and its forces had been involved in the deaths of numerous civilians. He highlighted severe human rights abuses by Indian forces, including mass rapes, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances.
“The discovery of over 8,000 unnamed mass graves in the occupied region is evidence of the brutality wreaked upon Kashmiris by Indian forces” Haq stated. He further argued that India has turned occupied Kashmir into an open prison where people live in fear, deprived of their basic human rights.
Additionally, Haq ridiculed India questioning how people could forget the destruction caused by Indian shelling and the brutal killings of innocent people in the border area. He demanded on the Indian government to respect the will of the Kashmiri people, withdraw its forces, and allow Kashmiris to decide their political future as per UN Security Council resolutions.
The AJK Prime Minister also emphasized that while the Indian Army is seen as a force of oppression by Kashmiris on both sides of the LoC, the Pakistan Army is regarded as a protector. He appealed to the international community to hold India accountable for its actions and support a UN-sponsored plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir.
