'India's revocation of Kashmir's special status has imposed a war on us'.

Byline: Ikram Junaidi

ISLAMABAD -- Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan, while discussing the revocation of India-held Kashmir's special status by the Indian government last August, said that 'a war has been imposed on us and we will have to fight this war for our existence'.

'This is a war for our sovereignty, for protecting our cultural and religious identity, and the rights of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters,' AJK President Khan said at a web conference on 'Solidarity with Kashmir during Covid-9 and lockdown effects on Kashmir and Pakistan'.

The conference was organised by National Youth Empowerment and attended by students from Lahore and Sahiwal.Mr Khan said many were still unaware of the gravity of the situation in India-held Kashmir (IHK), especially after Aug 5. He said that IHK, despite being internationally recognised as disputed territory, was divided into two parts - Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir - by the Indian government without the consent of the people living there.

He said as a result, India brought these two areas under Delhi's direct control, and inadvertently internationalised Kashmir.

'The area now occupied by India is actually a part of Pakistan as its people had wished to accede to Pakistan and despite all efforts of India to coerce them into submission they have rejected their rule and writ,' he said.

Mr Khan said the rights to permanent residence, ownership of property, livelihoods and education - as protected by international law - have been usurped by Delhi.

Since April this year, after the introduction of the new domicile rules, Kashmiris have been made homeless in their own homeland, he said. He added that Hindus from all over India were being allowed to settle in IHK and their domiciles are being prepared in just 5 days on Delhi's instructions.

Mr Khan added that according to a recent report, more than 3, Kashmiri boys have been picked up by Indian forces and imprisoned in prison houses all over IHK and northern India. He said that under the cover of the pandemic, Kashmiris have been killed in staged encounters and...