Islamabad, April 13, 2023 (PPI-OT): The Chairman of Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR), Altaf Hussain Wani, has brought the attention of the President of Japan, Fumio Kishida, towards the Indian government’s contentious plan to hold the next G20 meeting in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed territory awaiting final settlement.
Altaf Hussain Wani in a letter addressed to the President of Japan said that the controversial decision to hold the high-profile summit and/or a sideline meeting in the IOJK is based on malafide intentions aimed at deflecting world attention away from the real issue.
India’s present-day government which, in brazen violation of the UNSC Resolutions, unilaterally and unlawfully abrogated the special status of Kashmir in 2019, has since peddled lies and disinformation to promote its so-called ‘normalcy narrative’ on Kashmir, the letter said.
It may be recalled here that the individual trips of the Members of European Parliament to Kashmir last year were presented by the Government of India as official EU delegations, it said. Similarly, a trip to the Disputed Territory of foreign envoys stationed in New Delhi was arranged to keep the charade of normalcy alive and convince the world that all is well in Kashmir, it added.
The letter said almost two dozen diplomats, mostly from European and African countries, were invited for a curated visit to the region to help India project its “all is well in Kashmir” narrative and to ward off the growing calls for an independent probe into human rights violations. The guided trip was a replica of the past visit wherein the delegates were taken on a brief tour of “Naya (new) Kashmir”, which was skillfully transformed temporarily overnight from a war-torn city overnight with decorations, and removal of the barricades and barbed wire which are normally dotted all around the city, the letter maintained.
It said the Indian government has a history of using falsehood as a state policy to achieve its strategic goals. Keeping in view India’s appalling record, the Modi government’s decision to hold the G20 Summit in Kashmir has triggered genuine concerns amongst Kashmiris who fear that the government would yet again use the high-profile meeting as a tool to achieve its strategic objectives.
The people of Kashmir hope that your country will not allow the Indian State to use Heads of G20 countries as its ‘brand ambassadors’ to project its baseless normalcy narrative, without addressing the concerns, wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people. We hope that given the territory’s disputed status, Your Excellency would take a holistic review of the situation and influence the Government of India to change the venue of the Summit, the letter said.
It added rather than being swayed by India’s propaganda, what the world and the Heads of G20 countries need to know about Kashmir is that it has been classified as the world’s most militarized zone as well as the largest region occupied illegally by Indian forces.
It is the world’s largest open-air jail where Kashmiris feel caged in their own houses and exist without human rights, the letter said, adding the world needs to know that India has made Kashmir a living hell for its people where they feel exiled in their own homeland robbed of their rights and identity, cannot even mourn the death of their loved ones killed in fake encounters, eat the food of their choice, complain or support the victims of oppression, or raise their voice against the reckless state violence.
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