Pakistan has strongly condemned Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s delusional remarks about Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) - or what India calls Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir - and the situation in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) - Jammu & Kashmir state in India, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO) on Sunday, The Tribune reported. 

Islamabad also categorically rejected the defence minister’s remarks about the situation in IOJ&K and AJK through a video address to Jammu Jan Samvad rally today (Sunday). “The statement is another manifestation of the BJP government’s delusions about AJK and incurable obsession with Pakistan.”

FO spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said that it has been clear to the people of IOJ&K, Pakistan and the international community, from the outset, that the motive behind the RSS-inspired BJP government’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, was to inter alia bring about demographic changes in the occupied territory so that the Muslim majority in the region could be changed by deceit, fraud and brute force.

“The subsequent steps of the promulgation of new domicile law and amendments in various laws, especially regarding the acquisition of properties in IOJ&K, clearly show that the primary motivation remains the disempowerment and disenfranchisement of the Kashmiri people and further usurpation of their rights.”

The spokesperson went on to say that the Modi government has been seeking to force its decisions upon the people of Occupied Kashmir through the muzzle of the gun by deploying more than 900,000 security forces in the region; a lockdown that continues for over 10 months; arbitrary detentions of thousands – including political activists, civil society members, and common men, women and even disabled – snapping all means of communications; and imposing curfew-like strict measures restricting movement, assembly, peaceful political activities even religious congregations.

“Since August 2019, hundreds of innocent Kashmiris have been martyred in extrajudicial and custodial killings. The egregious human rights violations by the BJP government in IOJ&K and collective punishment of entire communities including the destruction of homes and means of livelihood are well-documented by international human rights and humanitarian organisations.”

The Indian defence minister’s statement is another desperate attempt to divert attention from India’s state-terrorism and unacceptable human rights violations in IOJ&K, she added. “It is designed to ramp up flailing support for the BJP through unabashed political opportunism and reckless disregard for the peace, stability and security of the region.”

Farooqui further said that the assertion about “international recognition” of the BJP government’s measures in IOJ&K can best be termed as “obdurate and willful amnesia”.