Web Desk
Prime Minister Imran Khan has warned India against carrying out any misadventure, saying “it will be met by a nation that is ready to fight till the end for its freedom”.
“While the Nazis’ hate was directed at the Jews, the RSS directs it at the Muslims, and to a lesser extent, the Christians,” he said while addressing the 75th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session via video link on Friday.
Imran Khan said that the extremist ideologists believe that India is exclusively for Hindus and others are not equal citizens.
“The secularism of Gandhi and Nehru has been replaced by the dream of creating a Hindu Rashtra ( state) , by subjugating, even cleansing India’s 200 million Muslims and other minorities,” he said.
PM Imran spoke about the RSS’s attempt to destroy the Babri Masjid and the massacre of 2,000 Muslims in the Gujarat riots. “And this was [Gujarat massacre] under the watch of (then) chief minister Modi,” he said.
The premier spoke about India’s discriminatory policies for Muslims during the pandemic, saying that the government blamed the minority group for spreading the coronavirus and they were denied medical treatment on many occasions.
“Last February, Muslims faced target killings with police complicity in Delhi,” he said.
Referring to it as something that was “unprecedented in history”, PM Imran said that the Hindutva ideology sought to persecute 300 million Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.
PM Imran then spoke about India’s August 5 attempt to annex occupied Kashmir, adding that this was against the commitments India had made to the people of Kashmir and the world.
Live Stream: Prime Minister of Pakistan @ImranKhanPTI's Virtual Address at 75th United Nations General Assembly Session (25.09.2020)#PMImranKhanAtUNGA https://t.co/5E5MiNCb0x
— Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) September 25, 2020
“About 13,000 Kashmiri youth were incarcerated and thousands tortured [since the August 5 move],” he said. “Indian occupation forces have used brute force including pellet guns against peaceful protesters,” he added.
“The Kashmiri media and those daring to raise their voices are being systematically harassed through draconian laws,” he said, drawing the world’s attention to the Indian forces’ brutal act of killing hundreds of Kashmiris in fake encounters and refusing to hand over their bodies back to their relatives.
He called on the international community to prosecute the Indian civil and military personnel for their “crimes against humanity” in occupied Kashmir.
PM Imran said that India was attempting to obliterate the distinct Kashmiri identity by altering the area’s demography, to escape the plebiscite which is in line with the UN resolutions.
“This action is in violation of the UN charter, [Security] Council resolutions and international law, particularly the 4th Geneva Convention,” he said. “Changing the demographic structure of an occupied territory is a war crime.”
The prime minister praised the people of Kashmir, saying that “generation after generation of Kashmiris have laid down their lives to rid themselves of Indian occupation” and that they will never submit before the Indian state as their struggle was indigenous.
“The government of Pakistan is committed to stand by its Kashmiri brothers and sisters in their legitimate struggle for self-determination,” he said.
PM Imran warned that India was playing ” a dangerous game” by upping the military ante against Pakistan to divert the world’s attention in a nuclearised environment.
He said that if the fascist RSS-led Indian government decides to commit any misadventure against Pakistan, it will be met by a nation that is ready to fight till the end for its freedom.
PM Imran said that durable peace in South Asia will not be possible till the issued of occupied Kashmir is not resolved on the basis of international legitimacy, confirming the world’s concern that Kashmir is a nuclear flashpoint.
The prime minister used the occasion to speak about the Afghan peace process, stating that Pakistan’s efforts to bring about an end to conflict in the war-torn country were evidence of its desire for peace in the country.
“I have consistently maintained over the past two decades that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. The only way forward was and is a political settlement which involves the full spectrum of Afghanistan’s political actors,” he said.
He urged the Afghan leaders to seize the historic opportunity for peace to achieve reconciliation, saying that the process must be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned, and without any interference or outside influence.
“Early return of Afghan refugees must be a part of this political solution. After almost two decades of war, it is imperative not to allow “spoilers” – within and outside Afghanistan – to subvert the peace process,” he said.
