MUZAFFARABAD:

While welcoming US Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden’s statements on restoring the rights of Kashmiris, Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan has said that Biden’s statements are proof that the world community has refused to buy the Indian narrative of Occupied Kashmir.

Biden has called on New Delhi to take all necessary steps to restore the rights of all Kashmiris, arguing that restrictions on dissent, such as preventing peaceful protests or shutting down or slowing the internet, weaken democracy.

The US former vice president also expressed disappointment over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the enforcement of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in various states of India.

“We welcome the remarks of the leader of the US Democratic Party and urge Indian-Americans and Muslim-Americans to applaud Joe Biden’s political statement together because no one wants India to be ruled by theocratic fascists. The freedoms and fundamental rights of Kashmiris, especially their right for self-determination, should be restored. It is a just demand,” President Masood said in Muzaffarabad on Sunday.

Earlier speaking at a function held in connection with the disbursement of cash grants among those affected by Indian shelling living along the Line of Control (LoC), the AJK President said that relief is being provided by the federal government to 610,000 members of 80,000 families is the recognition of their sacrifices as well as the recognition of the responsibility shouldered by the state government.

“Azad Kashmir is not only a strong line of defense for Pakistan, but the people living close to the LoC and facing India’s direct aggression are the defenders of the motherland,” he added.

While commenting on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s announcement to include more than 100,000 people affected by the Indian firing on the LoC in Ehsaa’s Emergency Cash Program and to issue health cards to 1.2 million people in Azad Kashmir, he said that the people of the occupied and liberated territory wants to become a part of Pakistan not because of geographical location but on the basis of their faith and ideology.

Joe Biden seeks to restore people’s rights in occupied Kashmir

The AJK President said that India’s ruling party BJP and RSS have planned to eliminate the Kashmiri people, occupy their lands, reduce the number of Muslims in the assembly in Occupied Kashmir and to make the entire state a colony of India, but people from both the liberated and occupied parts of Kashmir would put up stiff resistance.

He went on to say that it is high time that the government and people of Pakistan as well as the valiant people of Azad Kashmir adopt an aggressive policy to counter India because “India is constantly threatening to attack Pakistan, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit -Baltistan”.

“Instead of saying that we will defend Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, we should also talk about the liberation of Khalistan, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Mizoram and tell the world that India is no longer a secular state but it has emerged like a fascist state,” he added.

President Masood also said that India’s anti-Muslim movements have awakened the Muslims all over the world and a wave for the renaissance of Islam has been raised throughout the Muslim world. “It is now clear that whether it is Kashmir or Palestine, the Muslims are prepared to protect their interests.”

Referring to Azad Kashmir, he said the liberated territory can emerge as an economic engine for Pakistan. At present, he maintained that 2,000 megawatts of electricity are produced in Azad Kashmir, while the territory has a potential to produce another 8,000 megawatts of electricity “although our own demand is between 300 and 400 megawatts and excess electricity is injected into national grid”.

After the completion of Kohala, Gulpur, Azad Pattan, Dudhnial and many other projects in the coming decade, Azad Kashmir will become the largest power producing region of Pakistan.

President Masood said that Azad Kashmir is not only strategically important for Pakistan’s defense but can also play an important role in the country’s economic upliftment. “That is why we say that Pakistan is incomplete without Kashmir and Kashmir has no identity without Pakistan.”