Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday highlighted the troubled and tight condition of eight million Kashmiris who are suffering “in an open jail” under a lockdown in India-occupied Kashmir. He warned against the possible massacre of residents once the curfew is lifted.
The premier, during a press conference in New York, shared his conversations with various people he met in the city, who had relayed their stories of not being able to contact their relatives and family members.
He reminded the media that there are 11 UN Security Council resolutions recognising the fact that Kashmir is a disputed territory which give the right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir through a plebiscite.
He said that the fear now is that the BJP-led government are set on changing the demography of the region, an action tantamount to “war crimes” under the Geneva conventions.
He said that a bigger worry was regarding what will happen after the curfew imposed by India in occupied Kashmir is lifted.
“I fear that after the curfew is lifted, there would be a massacre [of Kashmiris] by the 900,000 Indian troops deployed there,” said the premier.
Imran Khan added “Once a conflict starts between two nuclear armed nations, it goes beyond our hands. I have said this to the Indian people too. And it is madness to allow this situation to deteriorate further.”
The prime minister reminded all those listening that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who subscribes to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology, was responsible for the massacre in Gujrat.
“Unfortunately, India today is governed by a racist, Hindu supremacist party RSS which was once banned in India […] Just google it and you will find that [Benito] Mussolini (former Prime Minister of Italy) was their hero.”
PM Imran said that Modi had remarked that “Pakistan should stop terrorism” but questioned the state terrorism on the part of India and asked what the justification for jailing eight million people was.
At least eleven thousand people, mostly political leaders, have been detained or arrested by authorities since the Indian government nixed Article 370 of the Indian constitution.
