Jeddah, November 25, 2019 (PPI-OT): Speakers at a seminar at the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretariat in Jeddah expressed their grave concern over the plight of Kashmiris in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. A large number of diplomats and Pakistani and Kashmiri community representatives attended the event where OIC Secretary General’s representative on Kashmir and Assistant Secretary General Yousaf Bin Muhammad Al-Zabeay was the chief guest.
Addressing on the occasion Yousaf Bin Muhammad said the OIC attaches great importance to the Kashmiri people and their peaceful struggle for self-determination in accordance with the UN resolutions. He said the OIC has supported Kashmiris as the issue has long been on the agenda of all OIC summit and the Council of Foreign Ministers meetings. OIC also has formed a Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir since 1994 and since then it holds regular meetings to reiterate the support of the OIC members and has shown concern on the situation in Kashmir.
President of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Sardar Masood Khan said Kashmir was one of the oldest issues on the UN agenda and it still remains unresolved. “Our brothers and sisters living in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir have spent more than 100 days under a crushing curfew and media blackout imposed upon them by Indian occupation forces after the illegal and unilateral action of August 5.” Human rights violations in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir continue unabated, he said. “This highhandedness by Indian occupation forces has turned Kashmir into the largest prison in the world.”
Sardar Masood said that in these testing times the people of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir look to their Muslim brothers and sisters for support. The support extended to them by the OIC is not only instrumental in effectively projecting the Kashmiri cause but also a source of hope and strength for the Kashmiri people. He said that Kashmiri Muslims are being targeted because they are Muslims.
“We urge OIC member states to continue impressing upon India and the international community to fulfill their promise to the Kashmiri people as enshrined in the UN and OIC resolutions. The OIC should also stress India to give access to international media and independent human rights observers who can independently confirm reports of abuse, violations and use of excessive force,” he said.
Kashmiri representatives Syed Abdullah Gilani and Syed Faiz Naqshbandi, briefed the audience about prevailing situation and continued human rights violations in the Indian occupied Kashmir. Consul General Khalid Majid expressed gratitude to the OIC and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their continued support to the cause of Kashmir. He said that the pictures shown in the exhibition merely portray the sufferings of the people of Kashmir under occupation, though the real magnitude of violence remains out of the reach of media. Real sufferings are much more as India is obscuring the true picture by not allowing any world body to visit occupied Kashmir.
Speaking to media, Arshad Munir, Consular (Press) at Pakistan Consulate Jeddah said that later Masood Ahmed Puri and members of the Kashmir Committee Jeddah presented a resolution to the secretary general, calling on India to stop forthwith the gross human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
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