Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan has said the people of Kashmir remained committed to the pledge they had made 73 years ago on July 19, 1947 to accede their state to Pakistan.

Addressing the concluding session of a webinar on the Kashmir conflict ‘organised by the Centre for Security, Strategy and Policy Research.

Sardar Masood said the people of Kashmir while carrying and burying in the Pakistani flags, still struggling to achieve this goal.

The AJK president said the accession of Kashmir to Pakistan was the collective aspiration of the people of Kashmir but the Maharaja of Kashmir with the connivance of Indian government and the British colonisers sabotaged it.

He added had the Indian government not deployed their forces at Srinagar the whole State of Jammu and Kashmir would have been liberated. “The area we know as AJK and GB have now become a defensive rampart for Pakistan”, he said.

The AJK president said: “The people of Kashmir had suffered tremendously over the past 73 years. He added that in the month of November 1947, the Muslims of Jammu were forced to leave the area and were pushed towards Sialkot.

“This exodus resulted in the martyrdom of 237,000 unarmed Muslims at the hands of the Maharaja’s forces, Indian army and RSS goons, while another 300,000 were permanently displaced.  Till-to date, he said, 500,000 Kashmiris have sacrificed their lives for freedom and their right to self-determination.

“Since August 5 last year, the people of Kashmir have been getting through the darkest days. Almost three months into the occupational lockdown on October 31, the Indian government bifurcated, annexed and brought this internationally recognised disputed area under the direct control of New Delhi.

“India also issued fake maps in which they showed AJK and GB within the geographical boundaries of the Indian federation. The Indian government has gone a step further by introducing the New Domicile Rules leading to an unprecedented transformation of the local demography.

All these steps are a violation of international laws and conventions. India must be brought to task for their crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and human right violations. “

Last century, he said, the perpetrators of such crimes were tried and made an example but India, unfortunately, has been given a free pass due to its so-called strategic ties with major world powers.

India has falsely indicated that they will be able to very effectively check China’s economic growth in the region and beyond.

“The Indian leadership including Prime Minister Modi and Rajnath Singh have resorted to nuclear signalling and have publically claimed to use nuclear weapons against Pakistan.

“This kind of manoeuvring is unprecedented and no nuclear state has gone down this path”, he said.

About response to Kashmir by the international community, he said the leading media outlets of the world, human rights organisations, prominent parliaments and their parliamentarians helped raise the the dispute.  He especially praised the efforts of expats working very hard by organising major events and reaching out to political leaders in their country of adoption.