Srinagar
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said on Tuesday that the US State Department’s statement following India’s Prime Minister’s visit gave the impression as if the American government did not care about the lives of “innocent Kashmiris”.
Nisar expressed his concerns a few hours after the US declared Syed Salahuddin, the supreme commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, a “global terrorist”, express tribune reported.
Nisar said the US administration was siding with India, which was not only involved in grave human rights violations in Indian occupied-Kashmir (IOK) but had also been portraying the legitimate freedom movement there as terrorism from the very beginning, the report added.
“It seems as if international human rights laws are not applicable in Kashmir and the killing of innocents there means nothing to the US,” he added.
“Ignoring the worst form of state terrorism [in IOK] does not only mock justice and international norms, but also exposes the dual standards of those upholding human and democratic rights.”
In this situation, Nisar maintained, it was the need of hour to exhibit national unity and resilience and assure our Kashmiri brethren that Pakistan and its people would not stop extending political, diplomatic and moral support to them.
“We will continue to advocate Kashmiris’ cause at every platform and stir up the conscience of the international community.”
The minister reiterated that Pakistan would continue to struggle until Kashmiris were given their rights as per the requirements of justice and the resolutions of the United Nations. “Kashmiris are destined for their right to self-determination and freedom from Indian oppression and no power on earth can deprive them of that,” he added.
