Kashmir situation test for UN, says Pak PM Imran Khan

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 27

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said the situation in Kashmir was a test for the United Nations and demanded the lifting of curfew and giving its people the right of self-determination.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke, he blamed arrogance for PM Modi’s clampdown in Kashmir which he said hasn’t been thought through.

“There will be a bloodbath when the curfew is lifted and people come out to face the nine lakh troops? What do you think they will do after being boxed in like animals?

Tracing the crackdown in Kashmir to the ideology of RSS, Imran Khan said there is now no option left for India after humiliating its people.

“Whatever happens there (after the curfew is lifted) Pakistan will be blamed. They might come and bomb us again,’’ he said while warning that such a situation will bring two nuclear armed rivals face to face.

“Before we move in that direction, the UN has a responsibility. This is why the UN came into being. You were supposed to stop this happening. I feel we are back to 1939 when Czech was annexed. Are you going to appease a market of 1.3 billion or stand up for justice and humanity? If this goes wrong hope for the best and prepare for worst,” the Pakistan PM warned.

“Guess what? India will blame us. They are already blaming us,” he said.

However, unlike PM Modi’s speech which was heard in rapt silence, Imran gathered applause on six occasions and once cries of “shame, shame’’ when he referred to the crackdown in Kashmir.

Khan warned that the effects of radicalisation due to ill-treatment of Kashmirs because of their region will travel in the hinterlands of India.

“And if they too get radicalised, again we will be blamed. I am warning you right now. Not just 18 million Indian Muslims but 1.3 billion Muslims are watching this. What do you think the Jewish community will do if 80 lakh Jews are stuck like this?’’ he asked to applause from the audience.

Earlier Khan spoke on climate change, tax havens and Islamophobhia before devoting half his speech to Kashmir.

Most of what he spoke was mentioned by him at a press conference earlier this week and to US President Donald Trump when he met him on Monday.