MUZAFFARABAD: United Jihad Council (UJC) chairman Syed Salahuddin on Thursday asked Pakistan to extend “military support” to Kashmiri freedom fighters to help them accomplish their long-cherished goal of freedom from India.

“The festering (Kashmir) issue is not going to resolve through talks or resolutions… Pakistan should militarily support Kashmiris by providing resources to the mujahideen,” he said at a press conference here.

“If the mujahideen get military support, not only Kashmir will clinch freedom but the map of the subcontinent will also undergo a change,” he added.

He, however, declined to elaborate the kind of military support required by the freedom fighters.

“India invaded and occupied Kashmir at the strength of its military might and military occupation can hardly be brought to end through politics or diplomacy,” he maintained.

The UJC chief said that since the killing of Burhan Wani, the mass movement in Kashmir had been on the rise.

Over the past 105 days, the Indian government exercised each and every measure to suppress the unarmed freedom-seeking people, but, ironically, neither did the international community appeared upset over the atrocities nor the world powers tried to rein in the oppressor.

“When the world is paying no heed to us, the only option left with us is the armed struggle,” he said.

Along with brutal killings, the India government had also resorted to economic terrorism in Kashmir in a bid to pressure Kashmiris into surrendering their legitimate struggle, he said.

According to him, Indian intelligence agencies and their “touts” were trying to create disunity among the Hurriyat leadership as well as Kashmiri public. He was of the view that the base camp of the freedom movement — a reference to Azad Kashmir — should not only send a strong message of solidarity across the divide, but also adopt a forceful, rather aggressive, role in this regard.

Mr Salahuddin asked police in held Kashmir to stand by the unarmed public instead of being in the vanguard of the Indian army.

“Otherwise they [policemen] will have to face the wrath of Kashmiri people,” he warned.

He also drew attention towards the plight of Jammu-based Muslims, saying that they were being terrorised by the official ma­­chinery and radical Hindu organisation RSS alike into migrating from their native areas like in 1947.

“The governments in Islamabad and Muzaffarabad should also raise the problems of Jammu-based Muslims at national and international forums,” he said.

Mocking India’s “surgical strikes” claims, the UJC chairman said Indian troops did not have the courage or capability to cross the Line of Control (LoC) to conduct any such operation.

“The propaganda has made India a laughing stock in the comity of nations,” he said. In response to a question, he said in the prevailing circumstances all political and religious parties in AJK should give a unanimous call to trample the LoC.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2016