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Tag: Kashmir

  • Video shows Gandapur accusing ex-PM Nawaz of ‘issuing visas to Indian spies’

    Video shows Gandapur accusing ex-PM Nawaz of ‘issuing visas to Indian spies’

    With tensions soaring on both sides of the border as the Kashmir crisis worsens, an old video of Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur, accusing ex-prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif of issuing visas to Indian spies, has resurfaced.

    Fear grips Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) ever since New Delhi imposed a curfew after scrapping Article 370 of its constitution — robbing the disputed territory of its autonomy. Pakistan has strongly reacted to the moves on all fronts, as it believes the development could lead to the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in the troubled valley.

    Amid tensions running high, an old video of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader has surfaced, wherein Gandapur is accusing Nawaz of “issuing visas to Indian spies and employing them as millworkers”.

    He also accuses the outgoing government of “giving a safe passage” to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, who continues to remain in the custody of security agencies after the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The video further shows Gandapur’s statements attracting a strong response from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Zubair and the anchorperson, who ridicule the federal for his ignorance.

  • U-turn: India admits Kashmir is disputed territory, not ‘internal matter’

    U-turn: India admits Kashmir is disputed territory, not ‘internal matter’

    Soon after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held its first-ever meeting over the Kashmir issue in almost 50 years, India has backtracked on its statement and admitted that Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) is disputed territory.

    According to The Express Tribune, facing a barrage of questions in a press briefing following the historic meeting at the UN headquarters on Friday, India’s envoy to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin said that India was committed to the Shimla Agreement inked with Pakistan in 1972, which explicitly declares Kashmir as disputed between the two countries.

    Earlier, New Delhi had regularly blocked discussion on held Kashmir at the UN, saying it considers the matter an “internal affair”.

    “So let me begin by coming across to you and shaking your hand… as we’ve already extended our hand of friendship by saying we are committed to Shimla Agreement. Let us wait on that from the Pakistani side,” said the Indian ambassador while awkwardly reaching out to Pakistani journalists and shaking their hands.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Responding to a question, he said: “In closed consultations at the UNSC, anyone, especially parties to the dispute, can try and throw in anything at the members of the Security Council. That’s the nature of the beast.”

    “We are ready to address these issues in a matter in which states who have normal approaches to international ties address them… and in our case, we are committed to Shimla Agreement,” he added.

  • Islamabad responds to Indian hint at ‘using nukes against Pakistan’

    Islamabad responds to Indian hint at ‘using nukes against Pakistan’

    Pakistan has taken exception to Indian defence minister’s statement on the use of nuclear weapons, saying the “substance and timing of the statement was highly unfortunate and reflective of India’s irresponsible and belligerent behaviour”.

    Rajnath Singh had on Friday said that New Delhi may see a major shift in its nuclear weapons doctrine by doing away with the ‘no first use’ policy in the future. ‘No first use’ is a pledge to not use nuclear weapons as a means of warfare unless first attacked by an opposition using its nuclear arms.

    “Till today, our nuclear policy is ‘no first use’. What happens in future depends on the circumstances,” the Indian defence minister had said while addressing a gathering in Pokhran, the site of India’s nuclear tests in 1998.

    In a subsequent tweet, Singh had added:

    “It further exposes the pretense of their no first use policy, to which we have never accorded any credence,” Pakistan Foreign Office said while reacting to the Indian defence minister’s statement.

    “No first use pledge is non-verifiable and cannot be taken at face value, especially when the development of offensive capabilities and force postures belie such claims,” the statement read and added that Pakistan always proposed measures relating to nuclear restraint in South Asia.

    “Pakistan will continue to maintain a credible minimum deterrence posture.”

  • Fact Check: Is the UNSC meeting on Kashmir crisis an emergency session?

    Fact Check: Is the UNSC meeting on Kashmir crisis an emergency session?

    Claim: United Nations Security Council is to convene in an emergency meeting on revoking Kashmir’s special status

    Fact: UNSC was to convene in a mostly informal, closed-door session and not in an emergency

    The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will meet behind-closed-doors on Friday at the request of Pakistan and China to discuss India’s decision to revoke the special status of occupied Kashmir.

    However, contrary to earlier reports, the meeting is not an “emergency session”, but a consultation, which is mostly informal, closed-door and does not allow the participation of non-members, lawyer Reema Omer tweeted.

    In letters to the UN secretary general and the UNSC rotating chair for the month of August, Poland, Islamabad had sought an open discussion at the top-decision making forum, with a personal pitch from Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to his Polish counterpart Jacek Czaputowicz.

    What Pakistan has been granted at the UN is a “consultation”, not an “open” or a “closed meeting”.

    DIFFERENCE:

    Both open and closed meetings are formal meetings of the UNSC. Closed meetings are not open to the public and no verbatim record of statements is kept, instead, the UNSC issues a press release.

    Consultations, on the other hand, are informal meetings of the council members.

    Clarifying the situation further, Reema tweeted:

    While it is not a formal meeting, it is extremely rare for the UNSC to discuss Kashmir, which has been divided between Pakistan and India since independence from Britain in 1947.

    The last time there was a full UNSC meeting on the Himalayan region was in 1965.

    Verdict: MISLEADING

  • Indian media falls for Pakistani meme, fact checks Arya Stark’s picture as ‘Kashmiri girl’

    Indian media falls for Pakistani meme, fact checks Arya Stark’s picture as ‘Kashmiri girl’

    Amid the ongoing unrest in held Kashmir, a viral picture of Game of Thrones (GoT) character Arya Stark being portrayed as a Kashmiri girl, has been fact-checked by Indian media.

    As per the details, the image was first shared by a Twitter handle, “Fan of Zaidu”, mentioning Arya — played by Maisie Williams — as a Kashmiri girl “who had gone blind after being hit by a pellet gun”.

    https://twitter.com/TheZaiduLeaks/status/1157727539873402882?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1157727539873402882&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewsmobile.in%2Farticles%2F2019%2F08%2F14%2Fpicture-of-gots-arya-stark-shared-as-kashmiri-girl-heres-the-fact-check%2F

    It wasn’t later that the image took the micro-blogging website by storm.

    Despite the handle clearly stating that its tweets are nothing but satire and “100% fake”, Indian media has started doing fact checks over the image, claiming that Pakistan’s premium intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was “leading the propaganda campaign against India”.

    Moreover, a noted Indian scholar and activist, Madhu Kishwar, has retweeted the image and asked Fact Check India to “confirm if it is real”.

    India TV Editor-In-Chief Rajat Sharma has also accused Pakistan of spreading false propaganda.

    https://twitter.com/TheZaiduLeaks/status/1161722132214308864

    The image comes as tensions soar on either side of the border ever since India robbed occupied Kashmir of its special status. Pakistan fears the move can lead to a Muslim genocide in the troubled valley.

  • Gandapur announces heading to LoC, leading from front if war breaks out

    Gandapur announces heading to LoC, leading from front if war breaks out

    As tensions soar on either side of the border, Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Khan Gandapur has announced heading to the Line of Control (LoC) and leading from the front if a war breaks out.

    Heavy troop movements reportedly continue along the LoC in both Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) after India revoked Article 370 of its constitution last Monday.

    The move that snatched away the disputed territory’s autonomy, can lead to the ethnic cleansing of Muslims and ultimately result in the transformation of the region into majority-Hindu.

    READ: Articles 370 and 35A explained

    Speaking to a private media outlet, Gandapur on Friday eulogised those who had laid their lives for the Kashmir cause and said that if India imposed war, he would be in the forefront in fighting the occupying forces.

    “The entire nation stands in solidarity with Kashmir and if needs be, I will head to the LoC to fight the war,” the minister added.

    In an earlier statement, Gandapur had said that Kashmir was the country’s jugular vein and every Pakistani was ready to fight for it till death. He had further said that the country’s armed forces were ready to befittingly respond to any Indian misadventures.

  • Kashmir crisis: Russia steps up to support India

    Kashmir crisis: Russia steps up to support India

    Russia has come out in support of India’s move to revoke Article 370 of its constitution and integrate occupied Kashmir, which can lead to the ethnic cleansing of Muslims and transform the region into majority-Hindu.

    According to media reports, Moscow has become the first among the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to formally state that abrogation of the provision is “an internal matter for India”.

    “Moscow expects that Pakistan and India will not allow aggravation of the situation in the region due to the change by New Delhi in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir,” Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quoted as saying.

    “We proceed from the fact that the changes associated with the change in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir are within the framework of the Constitution of the Republic of India,” it said.

    The ministry further said that Russia was a consistent supporter of peace between the two neighbouring countries.

    “We hope that the differences between them will be resolved by political and diplomatic means on a bilateral basis in accordance with the provisions of the Shimla Agreement of 1972 and the Lahore Declaration of 1999.”

    Tensions are soaring between Pakistan and India after New Delhi on Monday revoked Article 370, which gave special status to held Kashmir and moved a separate bill to split the state into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

    Pakistan believes the move, other than snatching away occupied Kashmir’s autonomy, can pave way for a Muslim genocide as it allows people from all over India to settle in the disputed territory which could result in a massive demographic shift.

  • MS Dhoni spotted polishing military boots in occupied Kashmir

    MS Dhoni spotted polishing military boots in occupied Kashmir

    Former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, commonly known as MS Dhoni, has been spotted polishing military boots in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK), where he is serving the army.

    The 38-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman, who holds the honourary rank of lieutenant colonel in the Territorial Army Unit of the Indian army’s Parachute Regiment since 2011, had earlier made himself unavailable for the West Indies tour.

    He had then left for the troubled valley to undertake the duties of patrolling, guard and post for a period of 15 days starting July 31.

    “As requested by the officer and approved by army headquarters; he will be taking on the duties of patrolling, guard and post and would be staying with troops,” the Indian army had said in a statement issued last month.

    In the Men in Blue’s ongoing West Indies tour, the two teams are crossing swords in three T20s, three ODIs and two Test matches.

    Earlier, Dhoni was received with “Boom Boom Afridi” chants by the Kashmiris. Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi aka Boom Boom Afridi has been known to voice out his opinion when it comes to Kashmir.

    Recently, after the Indian government’s recent decision to scrap Article 370, Afridi had taken to Twitter to highlight the unprovoked aggression and crimes in IoK.

    He had also urged the United Nations (UN) to take action and asked United States (US) President Donald Trump to mediate on the matter.

  • Kashmir crisis: Pakistan’s aggressive diplomacy at UN puts India on backfoot

    Kashmir crisis: Pakistan’s aggressive diplomacy at UN puts India on backfoot

    Islamabad’s aggressive diplomacy, ever since India revoked Article 370 of its constitution to snatch occupied Kashmir’s autonomy, has put New Delhi on backfoot at the United Nations (UN), ARY News reported.

    According to reports, Pakistan’s Representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi has highlighted the need to ensure that the crisis triggered by India’s unlawful annexation of Jammu and Kashmir is addressed in accordance with UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions on the disputed region.

    During Lodhi’s meeting with UN Political Affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo on Thursday, she focused on the illegality of Indian actions and called on the UN, especially the secretary general, to clearly enunciate its position on the subject.

    The meeting was part of a series of contacts Pakistan’s envoy has been making to brief senior UN officials from all regions of the world about Pakistan’s stance on the Indian government’s decision to strip Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) of its special status and placing the disputed state under a lockdown.

    She also informed DiCarlo about the complete lockdown in IoK, including shut down of internet services and landlines that had begun even before the announcement of the controversial decision.

    A statement issued on behalf of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has also acknowledged the critical importance of UN Resolutions on Kashmir to deal with the crisis.

    Lodhi also met three non-permanent members of the UN Security Council — Kuwait, Indonesia and South Africa — as India, on backfoot, also stepped up its campaign to have the world believe that the decision was taken for the socio-economic development of the Kashmiris and that they enjoy the same rights as Indians.

  • Now anyone can get married to a white-skinned Kashmiri woman: BJP lawmaker

    Now anyone can get married to a white-skinned Kashmiri woman: BJP lawmaker

    A lawmaker from Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said that his colleagues are “excited because they will now be able to get married to white-skinned women from Kashmir”.

    In a video that went viral after the hardliner BJP-led government abolished Article 370 of the Indian Constitution — lifting restrictions that barred non-Kashmiri individuals from permanently shifting to the majority-Muslim region — Vikram Singh Saini can be seen speaking at an event to celebrate the scrapping of Kashmir’s special status.

    “The [BJP] workers are very excited and those who are bachelors, they can get married there. There is no issue now. If a woman from there [Kashmir] got married to a man from Uttar Pradesh, her citizenship would be revoked,” the lawmaker can be heard as saying.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://twitter.com/Benarasiyaa/status/1158767988243234816

    “Muslim party workers should rejoice in the new provisions. They can now marry white-skinned women of Kashmir. There should be celebrations. Everyone should celebrate… be it Hindus or Muslims. This is something the entire country should be celebrating,” he says, which is followed by applause.

    Social media in India has been flooding with misogynistic remarks ever since the India government revoked Article 370 and 35A.

    The development now allows people from all over India to permanently move to occupied Kashmir and start businesses there. Natives of the troubled valley fear that it may lead to the ethnic cleansing of Muslims to transform the region from majority-Muslim to majority-Hindu.