Norwegian parliament debates Kashmir dispute
Srinagar, May 24 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, the joint resistance leadership comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik has strongly condemned the awarding of Indian Army Major Leetul Gogoi with Army Chief’s Commendation Card for tying a Kashmiri youth to an army jeep and using him as a human shield in the territory.
The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Gilani in a statement issued in Srinagar termed the move as a severe crime against humanity. He urged the world bodies to intervene in the matter. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said such decisions have exposed the much flaunted democratic credentials of Indian state, globally. Muhammad Yasin Malik in his statement said that honouring an officer involved in serious human rights violations had once again proved that Jammu and Kashmir was a police state that was run according to whims and wishes of army, police and paramilitary forces.
The Amnesty International while reacting to the awarding of Indian Army Major over using a Kashmiri youth as a human shield said, the move gives the impression that the Army condones human rights abuses in occupied Kashmir. Executive Director at Amnesty International India-chapter, Aakar Patel, in a statement said that the action sent a disturbing message to Indian forces’ personnel that the human rights of Kashmiris could be casually violated without fear of punishment.
Meanwhile, Indian troops had to call off a search operation in Kakapora area of Pulwama district due to stiff resistance offered by local people. Media reports said that on hearing news about an encounter between Indian army and mujahideen, the locals came out of their houses and pelted stones on the troops. The troops fired teargas shells to disperse the protesters. Amidst clashes, people removed steel plates of a bridge at Gadoora to halt army vehicles from reaching the encounter site. Consequently, the resistance by locals forced the army to call off the operation.
Pro-India National Conference leader, Agha Roohullah, addressing a function in Srinagar revealed that India in consultation with notorious Israeli intelligence agency Mossad is trying to create a shadow ISIS to get an excuse to flex its muscles in the territory. The aim, he added, is to create an ideology that they can justifiably crush.
Senior Congress leader and former Indian minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, talking to reporters on the sidelines of the same function said that Bharatiya Janata Party Chief, Amit Shah’s assessment of Kashmir situation was totally wrong. He pointed out that a British viceroy had also claimed that the then India’s problem was confined to three districts only, but it won freedom despite the Viceroy’s claims. Amit Shah had claimed that Kashmir problem was confined to only three districts.
In Oslo, Norwegian Foreign Minister, Børge Brende, while replying to a motion on the Kashmir dispute in the Parliament stressed the need for a dialogue between Pakistan and India to settle the issue amicably. The Norwegian Parliament debated the Kashmir dispute on the adjournment motion tabled by Knut Arild Hareide, leader of the Christian Democratic Party. Hareide lamented the gross human rights violations by Indian forces in occupied Kashmir.
