US sees Kashmir issue through prism of India, says Masood.

Byline: Ikram Junaidi

ISLAMABAD -- Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan has said that because of US support for India in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the latter is operating with absolute impunity in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

'This is where the realpolitik is steering dynamics of the Kashmir dispute. The US and India have economic and defence partnerships and this has become a barrier for the US, as it sees the Kashmir dispute through the prism of India,' Mr Khan said.

He also said there was a need that leaders like Senator Mitch McConnell, Richard Holbrooke and former US president Jimmy Carter to stand up and help mediate the dispute.

The AJK president was speaking at a virtual conference of the club members of IVY League institute.

In his introductory remarks, the AJK president, while explaining the genesis of the Kashmir issue, said that in 1947, the people of Jammu of Kashmir had to choose either to accede to Pakistan or India. The partition did not take place according to plan and India invaded the territory and has since occupied it. 'Things have not changed since then. The killing spree continues,' he added.

Mr Khan said that on Aug 5 last year, the people of held Kashmir were stripped of their special rights to education, employment, acquisition of property and permanent residence which had been protected under Article 35-A. Subsequently, the same year, on Oct 31 and April 2, India annexed IOJK (Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh) bringing it under the direct control of Delhi and then introduced New Domicile Rules.

'The Indian government has begun settling non-native Hindus from all over India in IOJK. He said the plan is to transform the demography and reduce the Muslim majority into a minority. This is, plain and simple, a land grab. Kashmiris...