ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has rejected the remarks of Narendra Modi, prime minister of India, claiming he was able to “resolve” the Kashmir dispute by following the footsteps of Vallabhbhai Patel, the first home minister of his country.
Addressing a public rally in the state of Gujarat, Modi — a lifetime disciple of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a far-right ideology which believes in the supremacy of the Hindu religion and idealises Adolf Hitler — said he, by “walking in the footsteps of Sardar sahib, completed the task of Kashmir”, the Indian Express reported.
Patel is credited for integrating some 562 princely states with the Union of India and preventing the Balkanisation of the newly-independent nation.
Responding to Modi, the Foreign Office, in a statement, dismissed his “farcical contention” that he had somehow “resolved the Kashmir issue,” observing that his statement was not only false and misleading but also reflected how “oblivious” the Indian leadership was to the ground realities in the occupied region.
The statement further said that Jammu and Kashmir was an internationally recognised disputed region, the resolution of which had been on the agenda of the United Nations since 1948.
“Despite clear UN resolutions that prescribe a free and impartial plebiscite for the final disposition of the dispute, India has not only illegally occupied the territory but is also guilty of egregious human rights violations employing over 900,000 brutal occupation force,” it said.
Just last week, India was snubbed by the United States and Germany in back-to-back statements supportive of Islamabad’s claim on the picturesque Himalayan region.
The controversy erupted when Donald Blome, Washington’s ambassador to Islamabad, made a three-day visit to the autonomous region of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). “I’m honoured to visit during my first trip to AJK,” the US embassy quoted Blome as saying on Twitter after touring historic sites there.
“The Quaid-e-Azam Memorial Dak Bungalow symbolizes the cultural and historical richness of Pakistan and was famously visited by Jinnah in 1944. I’m honored to visit during my first trip to AJK.” -DB #AmbBlome #PakUSAt75 1/3 pic.twitter.com/KKIEJ17sUo
— U.S. Embassy Islamabad (@usembislamabad) October 2, 2022
Days later, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, in a rare backing for Islamabad’s stance on the territorial rivalry, said that Berlin had a “role and responsibility” with regard to the tension over Kashmir. She further stressed that Germany supports “intensively the engagement of the United Nations” to find a peaceful solution to the dispute.
The Foreign Office said the fact remains that the people of Kashmir continue to brave reprehensible occupation of New Delhi which it seeks to perpetuate through malicious demographic changes and strong-arm tactics.
“The craftily staged visits of the Indian leadership to the occupied territory and choreographed launches of so-called development projects in a bid to create a facade of normalcy will neither dampen the spirit of the Kashmiris nor would it deceive the world into believing India’s deception,” the statement added.
It said that instead of making delusional statements about having resolved the dispute unilaterally, India must deliver on their commitments to the people of Kashmir and to the world, and ensure that the people of Kashmir are accorded their inalienable right to self-determination.
The Foreign Office further said Pakistan has consistently called upon the international community to assume its role and responsibility with regards to the region and the atrocities in the occupied territory.
“India must also be held responsible for its nefarious scheme of altering the demography of [occupied Kashmir], as well as for its brutal repression of the innocent Kashmiris,” it added.
The Foreign Office noted the only solution to the dispute lies in ensuring that the people are allowed to exercise their right of self-determination through the democratic method of holding an UN-mandated free and impartial plebiscite as espoused in the Security Council resolutions.
