Modi interferes in Pakistan’s internal affairs again

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi again interfered in the internal affairs of Pakistan on Monday saying that the people of Balochistan, Gilgit and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) had thanked him a lot in the past few days for “raising issue of atrocities against them”.

In his 90-minute address to the nation on the 70th Independence Day from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Modi made no reference to the situation in the Indian occupied Kashmir, which has been rocked by violence after the killing of Hizbul Commander Burhan Wani by the Indian security forces but accused Pakistan of glorifying terrorists and celebrating killings in India.

Modi came out openly in support of freedom for Balochistan and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir.“I want to speak a bit about the people in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir,” he said.

“The world is watching, the people of Balochistan, Gilgit and Pakistan occupied Kashmir have thanked me a lot in the past few days and I am grateful to them. The way people from these Pakistani regions wished me well gives me great joy,” he said.

Modi asked the international community to judge the behaviour of India and Pakistan in the context of terror attacks in each other’s country but avoided the reference of Indian occupation forces atrocities in the Held Kashmir.

“When children were killed in the APS terror attack in Peshawar (about two years back) there were tears in our Parliament. Indian children were traumatized. This is the example of our humanity. But look at the other side where terrorism is glorified,” Modi said.

Referring to the eulogising of Burhan Wani in Pakistan, he asked what kind of policy was the one which celebrated a terrorist. Responding to Modi's speech, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said his statement was proof of Indian involvement in Balochistan unrest and asked him to talk to Pakistan on the Indian Occupied Kashmir.

In a statement, Sartaj said Modi was only trying to divert world attention from the grim tragedy that had been unfolding in the Indian Occupied Kashmir over the past five weeks. “Modi’s reference to Balochistan, which is an integral part of Pakistan, only proves Pakistan's contention that India through its main intelligence agency RAW has been fomenting terrorism in Balochistan.

This is also confirmed by the public confession of RAW's active service Naval Officer Kulbhushan Yadav in March this year.” The adviser said Kashmir was not an internal matter of India but a core dispute between the two countries.

“Thousands of unarmed youths are protesting every day for their right to self-determination. More than 70 innocent Kashmiris have been killed and more than 6000 injured,” the adviser said.

He said there was constant curfew and complete media blackout for the past 37 days in the Occupied Kashmir. These events (protests in occupied J&K), he said, have nothing to do with terrorism. 

“It is an indigenous movement for self-determination, a right promised to the Kashmiris by the UN Security Council. At this time the contrast between the Indian Occupied Kashmir and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir could not be starker,” Aziz said.

He said India was a large country and in fact the second largest in the world and this must be acknowledged but a large country does not automatically become a great country especially when it unleashes such brute force on innocent citizens to suppress their right to protest or when it deliberately uses pallet guns to permanently destroy the eyesight of over 100 youths.

“India should recognise that the core issue of Kashmir cannot be resolved by bullets. It requires a political solution through serious negotiations between India and Pakistan,” he concluded.