Online Desk: Illegally detained Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party Shabbir Ahmed Shah has termed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks regarding Jammu and Kashmir as unrealistic and said peace in the region is linked to settlement of Kashmir dispute in line with the United Nations resolutions. Shabbir Ahmed Shah in his message from infamous Tihar jail said the Modi’s third term in the office as prime minister of India presents him a unique opportunity to resolve the age-old disputes and ease tension in South Asia.
He said that it was high time for the Modi government to revisit its Kashmir policy and adopt a pragmatic approach to find out a peaceful solution to the conflict that has been the main cause and consequence of unrest in the region.
Shabbir Shah said rather than fomenting trouble in its neighborhood, India must shun its hegemonic policy and ensure peace and stability in the south Asian region.
Commenting on Modi’s speech he delivered during his recent visit in Kashmir, he said that the Indian Prime Minister’s attitude towards Jammu and Kashmir was unrealistic. India must realize the reality that it cannot subdue Kashmiris by the dint of force, he added.
Referring to the Indian premier’s speech, he said that Modi’s mantra of peace and development in Kashmir was nothing but a fig leaf to cover its barbarism and brutality, loot and plunder of state resources.
Terming the contents of the Indian Prime Minister’s speech as far from the facts, he said, “Had the people of Jammu and Kashmir taken such things seriously, hundreds of thousands of young and old Kashmiris might not have embraced martyrdom.”
Terming freedom from India’s illegal occupation as the only way forward, Shabbir Shah said Kashmiris have burnt down their boats. Kashmiris, he added, have never accepted the India’s illegal control over their motherland.
He said that Kashmiris have been demanding their legitimate right to self-determination guaranteed to them by the international community. “No concessions or economic packages offered to the Kashmiri people by the Indian government present a solution to the lingering dispute”, he said and added that Kashmiris had rejected the empty assurances and hollow slogans of the Indian government in the past and would reject them in future too.
He said elections being conducted under the shadow of guns have no legitimacy. “Elections are not a substitute to Kashmiris’ right to self determination”, he said, adding that the Kashmiri people have every right to decide their political future.
Terming cordial relationship between India and Pakistan key to development and peace in the region, Shabbir Shah said that a just and peaceful solution of the Kashmir issue would open new vistas of peace, progress and development in the region.