Muzaffarabad (Staff Report/Agencies): Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday termed Indian premier Narendra Modi’s move to revoke the occupied Jammu and Kashmir's special status as “strategic blunder”.
Addressing a special session of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of India's move to annex the disputed valley, PM Khan slammed Modi, saying that he is 'trapped' and that Kashmiris will be free soon from India's reign of terror.
The premier said that Modi had made a huge mistake on August 5 last year. He said that the Indian prime minister was afraid of revoking Article 370 of the Indian constitution earlier but after winning the elections by appeasing his extremist Hindutva base, Modi took the disastrous step.
PM Khan further said that Modi had revoked Article 370 on the basis of four assumptions.
Pointing out that Modi's assumptions were miscalculated, he said that Pakistan had not remained silent. "The United Nations discussed the Kashmir issue thrice during the last year for the first time since 1965. It also published two reports on human rights abuses in occupied Kashmir."
The premier said he believed that India's conditions would deteriorate. "India is stuck in a blind alley. If it retreats, Kashmir will be free. The question is how long can they maintain this [when] the world is watching."
PM Khan paid tribute to Kashmiris for "how their morale is high even after such torture and provocation". He said that there was"so much hatred in people for India that no pro-India politician would be able to succeed in occupied Kashmir". He also assured Kashmiris that "we will raise and continue to raise [the Kashmir issue] on every forum."
