Religious, political leaders urge G20 countries to boycott meeting in IIOJK: Ashrafi

Lahore, May 04, 2023 (PPI-OT): The Chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC), Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, has said that leaders of various schools of thought, political and religious parties of Pakistan have appealed the G20 countries’ political and religious leaders not to participate in the upcoming meeting being held in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing a conference at Lahore Press Club in Lahore, Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, who is also Special Representative of the Prime Minister on Interfaith Harmony and Middle East, urged G20 countries not to be part of any activity in IIOJK.

He said according to the United Nations (resolutions and international law, Jammu and Kashmir was a disputed territory and any such meeting or activity would be a violation of the UN resolutions and international law. The G-20 countries participation in the meeting would support the Indian atrocities being faced by the innocent people of Occupied Kashmir, he added.

He said Pakistan has a clear-cut stand on the Kashmir dispute as announced by the Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir in the Kakul Academy recently, which was in accordance with the international law and UN resolutions and Pakistan could never deviate from this position at all costs.

Ashrafi made it clear that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s participation in the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was not related to the relationship between Pakistan and India. The restoration of Pakistan and India relations would be possible through Kashmir route, he added.

He said they should force Indian government to stop its barbaric acts immediately because the minority communities were not safe in India. He mentioned that Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, people of scheduled caste and other religions and their worship places were constantly being targeted in India.

More than 200 churches, over 500 mosques and a number of Gurdwaras have been demolished while in Ramadan, the mosques had been sealed and Muslims were prevented from their fundamental right to worship, he added.

Ashrafi said the same was done with the Christian community on Easter, Christmas and New Year and the entire process had the full patronage of the Indian government as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was carrying out terrorism under the auspices of it.

He said the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and other global organizations have already been told about the situation in India that the minorities were being treated worst and, in these circumstances, the meeting of G20 countries in India and some of its activities in IIOJK could not be acceptable anyway. Pakistan had always talked about solving the Kashmir problem according to the UN resolutions, he added.

He said the world should immediately react to India’s plans to hold the G20 and meetings in the occupied territory, adding that due to the worst human rights situation and atrocities on minorities and Kashmiris, the international human rights organizations, the UN, and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should also take an immediate action against it.

Ashrafi appealed to all countries, including Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, China, Russia, America, Canada and others among the G20 countries, to consider their request keeping in view the current situation of India’s aggressive actions on minorities and Kashmiris and conspiracies to spread unrest in the region.

He also urged the OIC, Muslim World League (OIC), Grand Mufti of Russia, Islamic Conference of Iran, Nahdlatul Ulema Indonesia, Pope Francis, Bishop of Canterbury, United Kingdom, and the leadership of all religions and sects to also take this matter into account and play their full role and express solidarity with the oppressed Kashmiris and minorities and declare non-involvement in all kinds of activities in India, thwarting its nefarious intentions.

He said a delegation of the leaders of all religions and schools of thought of Pakistan would also meet with the ambassadors of G20 countries in Pakistan and convey their concerns to the heads of these countries by writing letters from the platform of Pakistan Ulema Council and International Interfaith Harmony Council.

Ashrafi informed that an All Parties Kashmir Conference would also be held on May 19, in Islamabad under the Pakistan Ulema Council.

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