MUZAFFARABAD, Aug 3 (APP):Kashmir Committee Chairman Shehryar Khan Afridi on Monday said the Indian government had imposed restrictions on the media in Indian Illegally Occupied jJammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) through draconian laws to gag voices of the innocent Kashmiris.
He was addressing a mass gathering here at Eidgah during his visit to the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to express solidarity with the Kashmiris and celebrate Eid-ul-Azha with them.
He was flanked by AJK President Sardar Masood Khan and Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan, and members of the Kashmir Committee .
Shehryar Afridi also addressed a function hosted by President Masood Khan and met a delegation of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) along with the AJK president and prime minister in Muzaffarabad.
Afridi said,”The Eid-ul-Azha teaches sacrifice and the brave Kashmiri people in the IIOJK are keeping the sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) alive by sacrificing their lives every day. By fighting the Indian army without weapons, they are setting a new tradition in the history of freedom struggle.”
He said he and his colleagues of the Kashmir Committee had come to Muzaffarabad on the occasion of Eid to express solidarity with the Kashmiris. It was an expression of the strong support of the Government of Pakistan and the Pakistani Parliament for Kashmir.
He said India was killing Kashmiris under its plan of genocide – that was a blatant violation of the freedom of expression of the United Nations.
Shehryar Afridi said India’s relentless failures at the international level and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s persistent raising of the Kashmir issue at the world fora were a reflection of the fact that the goal of Kashmir’s independence was near.
Afridi also called on the AJK president and prime minister.
Accompanied by Prime Minister Farooq Haider, he met the APHC delegation.
Talking on the occasion, Afridi said instead of telling stories of the past, “we have to formulate a strategy for the future so that the Kashmiris can get freedom.
“We have made a decision that enough is enough. Now we have to act now and turn claims into practice.”
He said the enemy was clever and was confusing the Pakistani youth through rumours and suspicions through hybrid war. The ban on Eid prayers in the Indian Illegal Occupied Jammu and Kashmir was a violation of the UN Charter and the International Convention on Religious Freedom.
Afridi said he would hold the fascist government of India accountable for the criminal act of sealing the Jamia Masjid Srinagar on the occasion of Eid and encircling people with barbed wire.
AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider said India was stockpiling weapons in Ladakh after facing a humiliating defeat at the hands of China.
He said India had engineered 19 massacres in its bid to change the demographics of Kashmir.
APHC leader Faiz Naqshbandi said the Indian forces imposed curfew and siege, besides stopping delivery of fruits to market.
He said it was time to accelerate the Kashmir independence movement.
Senator Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said the Kashmir Committee was fighting the case of Kashmiris at every forum and it would continue to raise its voice for them. He said the daughters and mothers of IIOJK were even today awaiting for the return of their missing sons and husbands