DNA

Islamabad; 02 November: Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, while denouncing the recent statements by French President Emanual Macron, said that by encouraging Islamophobia and allowing blasphemous caricatures of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) is creating further polarization by hurting the sentiments of the Muslim Ummah and attacking the teaching and value system of Islam. He added that the Muslim Ummah should impose economic sanctions against France in the wake of this wicked move.

The President made these remarks while speaking to a seven-member delegation led by Member AJK Legislative Assembly Pir Ali Raza Bukhari, which called on the President here at Jammu and Kashmir House. The delegation also comprised of Chairman International Sufi Scholars Forum (ISSF) Dr. Masood Ahmad Raza Al-Rafai, and Chairman Al Mustafa Welfare Trust-UK Abdul Razzaq Sajid Chairman.

The President along with the delegation strongly condemned Emanual Macron’s hate-mongering. Masood Khan said that the 2 billion strong, Muslim Ummah is in itself an economic power, adding that we must collectively ban all French products, stop trade with France and reject any further economic ties with them.Speaking on the occasion, Chairman ISSF Dr. Masood Ahmad Raza informed the President of the activities of the organisation. He said that ISSF has worked towards bringing Sufis from around the world and in a coordinated fashion has helped carry out numerous educational and welfare projects. He said that it is our firm belief that Kashmiris have to be liberated from Indian occupation and that Kashmiris be given their right to self-determination. He also informed that the ISSF has actively advocated the Kashmir issue in all their conferences and helped sensitize the general public on the human rights crisis in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Chairman Al Mustafa Welfare Trust-UK Abdul Razaaq Sajid informed the President of various social welfare activities of the Trust in connection to organising free eye-camps and providing health facilities to the indigent segments of the population here in Pakistan and AJK. He said that Al Mustafa Trust has conducted over 100,000 successful eye operations, provided protection to women in its Dar-ul-Kafala and vocational training at its numerous vocational centres around the country. Apprising the President, he said that free eye camps are frequently set up in rural areas where patients are also provided transport to and from the camps. He said that recently a free eye-camp was also organised in Palandri and currently the Trust is conducting a 2-month long free eye camp campaign all over AJK, comprising 40 camps spread over 12 cities. He also requested the cooperation of the AJK Government for building an eye hospital in Muzaffarabad.

Abdul Razzaq said that under the banner of Save our Children in Kashmir, the Trust is also gathering international support to provide humanitarian aid to the people of IOJK. All these efforts, he said, would be made in collaboration with the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent Society of Pakistan.

Sardar Masood Khan, while welcoming the delegation expressed the gratitude of the people of Kashmir, AJK and Pakistan to the ISSF and its members for highlighting the Kashmir dispute. He said that the prayers and efforts of the global Sufi community would certainly lead to the liberation struggle of the Kashmiris to bear fruit. He said that the ISSF in a well-coordinated manner is paving the way for international opinion-making on Kashmir and millions of their followers can play a vital role in creating critical awareness on Kashmir. The AJK President said that Kashmir is the land of Sufis and there is a rich and well-documented history of Sufism in Kashmir. “This proves that the people of Kashmir are peace-loving people that aspire peace and condemn violence. Unfortunately, a war has been imposed on Kashmiris by India. IOJK has become a territory with the largest military concentration ever witnessed in modern history”, he said.

Masood Khan said that India has pushed IOJK to the brink and the BJP’s use of brute force, population transfer, land grab and genocide in the occupied territory have sown seeds for India’s own corrosion n dissolution. He inquired that whether witnessing where Europe stands today after the onslaught of Europe by Nazism and Fascism, will India escape that fate.

The President appreciated the efforts of Al Mustafa Trust and their focus on Azad Kashmir by organising over 40 free eye camps in AJK alone. He said that as social entrepreneurs they have provided timely intervention and saved the eyesight of thousands of people He said that the AJK Government would facilitate the setting up of an eye hospital in Muzaffarabad by the Trust. He commended that Al Mustafa Trust, in accordance with the teachings of the Prophet P.B.U.H, is helping the destitute, widows and orphans. “Here organisations like Al Mustafa Trust and others are bringing back the eyesight of the people, while in IOJK the Indian forces are taking away the eyesight of the Kashmiris by using pellet-firing shotguns”.

President Masood Khan expressed his profound gratitude to MLA Pir Ali Raza Bukhari, who he said has worked for unity in Pakistan and AJK through the platform of Paigham-e-Pakistan and has reached out to millions and spread the true message of Islam, peace and tolerance. He also acknowledged the critical role played by MLA Pir Ali Raza Bukhari in enacting Khatm-e-Nabuwat laws in AJK.