India turned IoK into world’s largest open-air prison, AJK PM tells UK lawmakers

LONDON: Azad Jammu & Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan told British parliamentarians that India has turned the occupied Kashmir into the world’s largest open-air prison, denying even basic human rights to a population of around seven million people.

During a meeting with the cross-party MPs at the House of Commons here, the AJK prime minister said that more than 800,000 occupation Indian army troops have made the whole area into the most militarised zone on this planet.

The AJK prime minister thanked the MPs for debating the issue of occupied Kashmir in the House of Commons for three hours last week and calling on the United Nations to intervene and speak out against Indian terrorism.

Raja Farooq Haider, who is here to attend a global education conference, told the MPS that the people of occupied Kashmir live in constant fear of being kidnapped, killed, maimed, tortured and simply disappeared for never to return. He told the MPs that thousands of young Kashmiri boys and girls have been blinded by the Indian army troops using pellet guns. He said the pellet gun victims were targeted for merely exercising their democratic right of protest.

He said India doesn’t tolerate any kind of criticism of its policies and hold the whole population of Kashmir in contempt for demanding right of self-determination. 

Addressing parliamentarians, the AJK premier said: “I am indebted and express my sincere gratitude to the UK parliament for showing solidarity to Kashmiris in their quest for right to self-determination on the pattern of Scotland and Brexit referendum. I am also grateful for expressing grave concerns over ensuing massive suffering and killings of Kashmiris and for condemning grave violations of human rights in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir valley is burning under complete siege of Indian forces since last couple of months after brutal killing of Shaheed Burhan Muzaffar Wani on 8 July 2016. India has used all brutal means and committed grave violations of human rights to suppress the peaceful wave of Kashmiri youth from protesting.”

The PM told parliamentarians “this is indigenous movement launched by the people of the state to silence their right to self-determination under human rights convention duly acknowledged by the UN resolutions”.

Raja Farooq Haider said that Kashmiris are being killed by India for protesting for water, electricity and roads and are met with bullets and women are being raped and dumped by Indian soldiers. He said that anyone who speaks up for the right of self-determination is treated as an enemy.

The AJK PM extended an invitation to visit Azad Kashmir as well as Indian occupied Kashmir to witness how India has brutalised people in the most barbaric manner ever in human history.

Speaking separately at a community event, organised by PMLN Azad Kashmir leaders Zubair Iqbal Kiyani and Raja Imtiaz Ahmed, the PM said that he had initiated campaign against land mafia in Azad Kashmir. He said that record of the land allotments for the last 10 years has been called to investigate fully how lands were allotted as a way of political bribes. He said that tens of thousands of acres of land has been usurped by former ministers and bureaucrats and he will ensure that all the occupied land is returned to the rightful owners or to the public register. He said it was his mission to introduce merit in Azad Kashmir and undo the wrongs done by the PPP governments in the last decade.