Pakistan Asks Muslim Countries to Support Kashmiris

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has urged the Organisation of Islamic Coopertaion and other Muslim countries to raise voice for their Kashmiri brothers and sisters.

By Rakesh Raman

Pakistan is leaving no stone unturned to internationalize the burning Kashmir issue as local Kashmiris are facing the wrath of Indian security forces which are hell-bent to crush all voices that demand freedom from India.

After taking the Kashmir issue successfully to the United Nations (UN), now Pakistan is giving an Islamic color to the trouble in Kashmir where more than 85% of people are Muslims.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has urged the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Coopertaion) and other Muslim countries to raise voice for their Kashmiri brothers and sisters “whose fundamental human rights have been desecrated by Indian security personnel through use of brute force.”

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Nawaz Sharif raised the issue during his meeting with Prince Mohammed Bin Naif Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia on Monday.

He asked the international community to realize the gravity of the issue and play its role to resolve this political issue through dialogue according to the wishes and aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir, in accordance with the UNSC (United Nations Security Council) Resolution.

“Kashmiri people must be allowed to decide about their destiny,” Nawaz Sharif said.

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Sartaj Aziz, Adviser to the Pakistan Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Syed Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry assisted Nawaz Sharif during the meeting held in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly.

According to Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), a news site run by Pakistan government, Nawaz Sharif pointed to the state atrocities in the Indian-Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and said the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir has been reduced to a jail by the Indian occupation forces.

Referring to the recent threatening statements from the Indian government, Nawaz Sharif said such statements would put regional peace and stability in danger.

The tension between India and Pakistan has increased during the past couple of days as militants had attacked an Indian army camp on Sunday and killed 17 soldiers in Uri in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). While India – as usual – blamed Pakistan for the attack, the latter rejected the Indian allegations vehemently.

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Kashmir has been facing a series of violent incidents since the killing of a 22-year-old rebel leader Burhan Wani by the Indian security forces on July 8 in an encounter which many believe was avoidable.

Nearly 80 people have died and thousands injured in the conflicts between the supporters of Burhan Wani and the Indian security forces in Kashmir, which is a disputed territory between India, Pakistan, and China.

Although Burhan Wani was branded as a terrorist by the Indian rulers, he was a freedom fighter for the tens of thousands of local Kashmiris. They rallied behind Burhan Wani to face the excesses of security forces who have been given a free hand by the Indian government to deal with all those in Kashmir who demand freedom.

Kashmir has always been a conflict area between India and Pakistan since 1947 when both these countries got freedom from the British rule. In order to stake their claims over Kashmir, India and Pakistan have fought two bloody wars in 1965 and 1971, besides incessant skirmishes between the rival armies.