Fri 11 October 2019:
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday expressed puzzlement over the disproportionate amount of coverage accorded to the dire human rights situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir by the international media, especially in context of the widespread coverage of the Hong Kong protests.
In a series of posts on the social networking website Twitter, PM Imran noted that occupied Kashmir was an internationally recognized disputed territory that had been illegally annexed by India with almost 900,000 troops imposing a siege on the people of the valley, imprisoning millions of innocent Kashmir citizens in their homes.
“I am puzzled as to how international media continues to give headline coverage to Hongkong protests but ignores the dire human rights crisis in IOJK – an internationally recognised disputed territory illegally annexed by India with 900k troops imposing a siege on 8mn Kashmiris,” he wrote on Twitter.
I am puzzled as to how international media continues to give headline coverage to Hongkong protests but ignores the dire human rights crisis in IOJK – an internationally recognised disputed territory illegally annexed by India with 900k troops imposing a siege on 8mn Kashmiris
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 11, 2019
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had revoked the constitutional autonomy of occupied Kashmir on August 5, imposing a military curfew in the area and arresting thousands of politicians, businessmen, civil society activists and other ordinary citizens. Widespread allegations of torture against the detainees by Indian forces are routinely reported.
In his post on Twitter, PM Imran said that the communications blackout and curfew in occupied Kashmir was a growing humanitarian crisis. He also highlighted how the Indian occupation of the valley had resulted in the killing of almost 100,000 innocent Kashmiri people over the course of three decades.
“For over 2 months with a complete blackout of communications, thousands imprisoned,including entire spectrum of political leadership plus children, & a growing humanitarian crisis. In IOJK 100k Kashmiris have been killed over 30 yrs fighting for their right to self determination,” he wrote on the social networking website.
Last week, PM Imran had said that any one crossing the Line of Control from Azad Jammu and Kashmir to provide humanitarian aid or support for the Kashmiri struggle against aggression will play into the hands of the Indian narrative.
In a message shared on Twitter, the prime minister stressed that he understood the anguish of the people of Kashmir who were seeing their brethren across the LoC struggle to deal with an inhumane Indian curfew imposed on them since two months.
“I understand the anguish of the Kashmiris in AJK seeing their fellow Kashmiris in IOJK under an inhumane curfew for over 2 months. But any one crossing the LoC from AJK to provide humanitarian aid or support for Kashmiri struggle will play into the hands of the Indian narrative,” he wrote on Twitter.
PM Imran further added that the Indian narrative aimed to divert international attention away from the legitimate political struggle of the Kashmiri people for self-determination, and instead labelled it as militancy emanating from Pakistan.
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