Youm-e-Istehsal: PM Imran says Modi’s Aug 5 action a 'strategic blunder'

Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s August 5 action was a “strategic blunder” as they are stuck in a “blind alley” now after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian constitution.

While addressing a special session of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly, PM Imran said that India had abrogated Article 370 and 35-A on “four assumptions”. “Modi decided to take the action after winning the election based on hatred of Pakistan and Hindu nationalism.”

“All he wanted was to lift his Hindu base,” said PM Imran. He added that Modi was fearful of taking the action in his first term as he was fearful.

“The second assumption was that Pakistan will remain quiet because we were trying to become friends with them,” he said, adding that they had taken this assumption because Pakistan wanted peace in the region.

“The third assumption of India was that the world would stay silent because they wanted to use India to counter China.”

The prime minister said the fourth miscalculation of New Delhi was that they thought they would be able to crush the Kashmiris under an environment of fear and change the demography of the region.

Prime Minister Imran Khan told the lawmakers that all these assumptions were proven wrong as Pakistan reacted strongly to their illegal actions. He also added that these decisions were taken by India because of its “ego” and explained that ego was behind the downfall of every major empire.

He said the UNSC has taken up the Kashmir issue multiple times since then.

“I spoke to the top leaders of the world such as Donald Trump, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and told them that Kashmir was a flashpoint. I explained everyone because they had no idea about Kashmir and they understood it slowly.”

PM Imran noted that the international media also spoke up about Kashmir and it was the first time that they started criticising India.

“Today Narendra Modi is exposed and the world is looking at Kashmir,” said PM Imran.

“India is now into a blind alley and there’s no way out from this situation.”

PM Imran also told the lawmakers that his government will confer Nishan-e-Pakistan to Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani.

'Article 35-A  real issue'

Earlier, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider said that the real problem was not the revocation of Article 370 but it was Article 35-A which India was using to change the demography of the region.

He urged the Kashmiris living in the occupied territory to kick out non-Kashmiris coming in the territory.

“Kashmiris do not want the restoration of Article 370,” said Haider about the extensively debated law in Pakistan.

The AJK PM also told the assembly that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is using Kashmir to test the world and see their reaction.

“I say that this is India’s test case to see Pakistan’s reaction and see the reaction of countries around India,” said Haider. He added that Pakistan should deal with the circumstances calmly and launch a diplomatic offensive.

At the start of his speech, Haider also presented a resolution condemning the August 5 move which was passed unanimously by the assembly. He also thanked PM Imran Khan and other ministers who came to the region to show solidarity with the Kashmiris.

Upon his arrival in Muzaffarabad, PM Imran also led a rally in Azad Jammu and Kashmir's capital. He was joined by AJK President Masood Khan and PM Raja Farooq Haider.

'Ambassador of Kashmir'

Early morning, PM Imran had tweeted that he will address the AJK Legislative Assembly today to show solidarity with the oppressed Kashmiris.

“Kashmiris in IIOJK have been subjected to a brutal fascist military siege by India since its illegal actions of 5th Aug last year followed by efforts to change the demography of IIOJK,” the prime minister said in a tweet on Wednesday.

“I will continue to be an ambassador for all Kashmiris whose voices India has tried to silence through its brutal illegal occupation of IIOJK,” PM Imran said, adding that after many years his government raised the Kashmir issue effectively at international forums.

“My government raised the Kashmir issue effectively before the UN and exposed the Hindutva Supremacist fascism of the Modi government,” he said.

PM Imran added, “We have also depicted the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and our commitment to UNSC resolutions in the political map of Pakistan released yesterday.”

‘IIOJ&K an open-air prison'

Separately, in an exclusive interview with Aljazeera, the prime minister had said the Modi-led government’s revocation of the special status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) last year has turned the disputed region into an ‘open-air prison’ with its economy destroyed.

“Modi was responsible for undermining his country’s legacy of secularism. India fell under the control of an extremist ideology [propounded by] the RSS,” the prime minister was quoted as saying by Radio Pakistan.

The premier added that what India’s Muslims were facing resembles what happened during the extermination of Jews in Nazi Germany.