Islamabad; 24 September : Sardar Masood Khan has said that the Pakistan-Kashmir diaspora community in the United States and around the globe has played a very effective and dynamic role in highlighting the human rights violations taking place in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and also in advocating the right to self-determination of the Kashmiris. He added that the diaspora community has reached out to not only the general public but also lawmakers, thinktanks and the civil society.

The AJK President made these remarks during a meeting with a delegation led by Ms. Ghazala Habib, Chairperson Friends of Kashmir-International (FOK), that called on the President here at Jammu and Kashmir House.

Ms. Ghazala Habib informed the AJK President about the initiatives taken by their organization for awareness-raising on Kashmir. She said that FOK has been actively working on the Kashmir issue not only in the State of Texas but all over the USA. She informed that FOK has taken out demonstrations, protest rallies and organised webinars on Kashmir. She said that the cumulative impact of these efforts has led to greater awareness and mustering support for the Kashmir cause.

The AJK President lauded her advocacy efforts for demanding an end to grave human rights violations in IOJK. He also expressed his gratitude to the 14 Democratic and Republican Senators who have written to the US government to consider the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)’s recommendations to designate India a “country of particular concern” and demanded “targeted sanctions” be imposed against Indian agencies and officials responsible for escalating persecution against religious minorities in India.

Speaking to the delegation, the President urged FOK and other organizations advocating the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination, to create a critical pitch on this longstanding dispute in order to transform it into a global movement, in the same manner, seen during the anti-Vietnam War and apartheid movements which mobilized global support.