Pakistan’ PM slams ‘oppressor’ India over Kashmir

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan says India’s move last year to revoke Kashmir’s autonomous status was a “crime against humanity,” describing New Delhi as an “oppressor and aggressor.”

Khan said in a statement on Wednesday that New Delhi “stands exposed before the world, yet again, as an oppressor and aggressor.”

“Its so-called secular and democratic credentials stand fully discredited,” he added.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government announced in August last year that it was removing the Muslim majority region’s special status. India also announced the division of the state into two territories to be directly ruled from New Delhi.

Khan made the remarks as anti-India protests were planned across Pakistan to mark the first anniversary of New Delhi’s abolition of Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status.

The prime minister led a rally through Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, where thousands of people gathered to mark the anniversary.

He was due to address the region’s legislative assembly.

In the capital, Islamabad, a one-minute silence was held, along with a rally led by President Arif Alvi, who said India peruses Israel in changing the demography of Kashmir.

Protesters were displaying billboards and banners with graphic images purportedly of human rights violations by Indian authorities in Kashmir.

Dozens of rallies were also expected in other major cities across Pakistan.

SS